SUNSET: 
Meade CEO Announces Retirement
Steven G. Murdock, who has been at the helm of Meade Instruments since 1990, has announced his retirement. in the coming months.
Asteroid Smashup Yields Dust Shower on Earth
Deep-sea sediments provide conclusive evidence that the collision of two large asteroids about 8 million years ago showered Earth with a gentle rain of dusty debris.
Stardust Science Begins
Astronomers have begun their analysis of the dust specks inside the Stardust return capsule.
Stardust Comes Home
NASA's Stardust sample return capsule touched down at the US Air Force Utah Test and Training Range at 5:10 a.m. Eastern time on January 15th. Scientists quickly retrieved the craft in order to examine the cometary and interstellar dust grains it contains inside.Courtesy NASA. The Stardust probe landed successfully on…
Spinning Pulsar Smashes Record
New pulsar picks-up first place as the fastest spinning object yet.
Astro News Briefs: December 12–18
Hayabusa's return delayed for three years; astronomers "weigh" the closest white dwarf; Mars rovers celebrate an anniversary
Vega Mystery Solved; Red Dwarf Mystery Grows
Hidden in plain sight. Familiar Vega, one of the brightest stars in the sky, has just yielded up a surprising secret about its true nature.Photo by Akira Fujii. Astronomers have finally figured out the long-standing mystery of why Vega, the fifth-brightest star in the night sky, is brighter than it…
Probing Polaris
Using the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have "weighed" the North Star and seen its stellar siblings.
More Evidence that Black Holes Are For Real
A team of astronomers announced on Monday compelling new evidence that black holes do exist in nature.
Feeding the Monster
An international team has peered deep into the heart of an active galaxy, giving astronomers their best view yet of how streams of gas feed black holes in galactic cores.
Astro Image in the News:
The Infrared Helix
The Spitzer Space Telescope has peered at the Helix Nebula with its infrared eyes.
Hubble Spies New Uranus Rings and Moons
Scientists looked at the Uranus four times between July 2003 and August 2005 with the Hubble Space Telescope and found two new moons and two new rings.
Milky Way Supernova Rate Confirmed
This image from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory shows detailed structures in the supernova remnant Cassiopeia A. The supernova that produced this remnant was probably the one observed by John Flamsteed in 1680 — the last observed supernova in the Milky Way Galaxy. Click on the image to view a larger…
A Creator's Possible Calling Card
The cosmic microwave background (CMB) is leftover radiation from the Big Bang redshifted (stretched) by the universe's expansion into the microwave region of the spectrum. In this image NASA's Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) records minuscule temperature fluctuations in the CMB as different colors. In principle, an advanced civilization could…
Year in Astronomy: 2005
Titan's surface looks orange in full-color images. This shot was taken after the Huygens probe touched down onto Titan's surface on January 14th. The two 'large' rocks in the middle of the image are really only about 15 centimeters (left) and 4 centimeters (center) across.Courtesy ESA/NASA/University of Arizona. As 2005…
Mars Receding in the Evening Sky
Blazing in the eastern sky these evenings, Mars is putting on a rare appearance not to miss.
A Short-Lived Spiral?
Will M77's pinwheel pattern soon wind its way out of existence?
Greenwich Observatory Fund Drive Succeeds
The Royal Greenwich Observatory, once the center of the timekeeping universe, will become an even more inviting astro tourist site.
The Highest Full Moon Overhead
On Thursday, December 15, 2005, the full Moon will be just about at the most northerly declination it can ever attain.S&T: Rick Fienberg. When the Moon is full this Thursday, December 15th, go out around midnight and look up. I mean really up. If you live in the world's midnorthern…
