SUNSET: 
Hubble Study Gets Under Way
The US National Academy of Sciences has assembled a stellar committee of experts to weigh options for extending the life of the Hubble Space Telescope.
Astro News Briefs: April 12–18
Mars Rover Missions Extended April 12, 2004 | On April 5th the rover Spirit celebrated its 90th day on Martian terrain. On April 26th Opportunity will do the same. These birthdays are particularly poignant as they represent the end of the rovers' primary missions. Due to the missions' tremendous success,…
For Many Amateurs, NEAF is a Rite of Spring
A record number of attendees came to Suffern, New York, on April 17–18 to the Northeast Astronomy Forum & Telescope Show.
One Planet, Two Moons, Three Shadows
This coming weekend, weather permitting, almost anyone with a telescope in North America (and northwestern South America) can see the shadows of three Jovian moons at once.
One Planet, One Moon, and Three Shadows
Clouds and poor seeing plagued much of North America on the night of March 27–28, 2004, but some observers still managed to see the remarkable triple shadow transit on Jupiter.
Gravity Probe B Puts General Relativity to the Test
Gravity Probe B should measure the warp of space due to the geodetic effect as 6.6144 arcseconds of drift in the gyroscropes' spin direction, and only 0.0409 arcsecond due to the frame-dragging effect.Courtesy NASA/MSFC. It took nearly 90 years of theory, 40 years of engineering, and 10 years of lobbying…
Black-Hole Construction Zone
The inner region of the galaxy M82, imaged by the Chandra X-ray Observatory. The brightest source seems to be an intermediate-mass black hole. It is located near M82's center, which is marked by a green cross.Courtesy NASA / SAO / CXC. Mother Nature usually forms objects in a continuum of…
First Planet Found by Microlensing
Astronomers have detected a Jupiter-mass planet by its gravity's effect on the light from a background star.
Astro Image in the News:
No Moon for Sedna
Images from the Hubble Space Telescope reveal that Sedna is solitary and smaller than initially indicated.
Building Planets in Plastic Bags
A science demonstration on the International Space Station may have solved a lingering question concerning planet formation.
Hubble Servicing: Robot to the Rescue?
NASA is considering whether robots, instead of shuttle astronauts, might be able to upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope.
Star Formation Peaked Later than Thought
A new study show that the universe's star formation peaked 5 billion years ago.
Janet Akyüz Mattei (1943–2004)
Janet Mattei served as director for the American Association for Variable Star Observers for 30 years.
Martian Methane Mystery
Three teams find a new gas in Mars's atmosphere that may be indicative of life.
A Disturbance In Jupiter's Clouds
A new, 40°-long, diffuse blue feature is currently visible at the interface between Jupiter's South Equatorial Belt and the Equatorial Zone.
A Faint Southern-Sky Visitor
Although likely never brighter than 9th magnitude, Comet C/2002 O7 passes by some interesting sights during its tour of the southern sky.
The Changing Face of Comet Encke
For Northern Hemisphere observers, this will be Comet Encke's closest approach to Earth since November 1838.
Two Comets in 2004
A pair of comets will grace the evening sky in May; Southern Hemisphere observers will have fine views of both.
Faulkes Telescope Project Launched
A man with a vision. British entrepreneur Dill Faulkes holds a scale model of one of the twin 2-meter-aperture telescopes his educational trust helped fund. Through the Faulkes Telescopes Project, UK schoolchildren now have access to professional-grade robotic telescopes.Courtesy PPARC. Last March 16th the IMAX Theatre of London's Science Museum…
