SUNSET: 
Views of the Pale Blue Dot
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor has become the latest spacecraft to image the Earth-Moon pair from afar.
An Astronaut, Bargains, and Telescopes Highlight NEAF
One highlight of the annual Northeast Astronomy Forum in Suffern, New York, is Tele Vue's factory-second sale. As attendees streamed into the exhibition hall at Rockland Community College, many headed straight for the Tele Vue booth, where they lined up to buy eyepieces and other telescope accessories at bargain prices.S&T…
Lots of Knots
While avoiding the Leonid meteor shower, the Hubble Space Telescope captured this magnificent image of the Helix Nebula in Aquarius.
Neptune's Forecast: A Cloudy Summer
Although sunlight barely warms distant Neptune, bright clouds are building in the planet's sunny southern hemisphere.
Chandra Spies Shock Front in Stephan's Quintet
The Chandra X-ray Observatory turns its eye toward the aftermath of a high-speed galaxy collision.
Astro News Briefs: May 5–11
New Mars and Moon Rocks Found May 6, 2003 | This week scientists announced the discovery and identification of eight new lunar meteorites and four more from Mars — the largest of the Martians weighing nearly a half kilogram. To date collectors have snatched up 27 distinct meteorites from the…
The Deepest Photo Ever Taken
The Hubble telescope's newest and best camera has broken the record for imaging the faintest stars and galaxies.
S&T Rocks!
Four more asteroids were named for Sky & Telescope staffers, bringing the total of S&T current staff and alumni with asteroids to 24.
Astro Image in the News:
When Galaxies Collide
Courtesy NASA and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA). Sometimes you can stare and stare at something and never quite see what's there. But if you're part of NASA's Hubble Heritage Team, you can use Hubble's resources to make the picture clear. That's exactly what happened with this famous galaxy NGC…
Titan's Surface: Mostly Ice, Not Goo
Saturn's large, haze-shrouded moon is covered mostly with dirty ice rather than exotic hydrocarbons, according to the best spectral evidence yet.
Galaxy Evolution Explorer Launches
NASA lanuched a new ultraviolet-light telescope to map the origin of galaxies.
Astro Image in the News:
Rough Seas in Sagittarius
The Archer is home to a gaseous ocean with waves generated by the radiation from nearby young massive stars.
Astro News Briefs: April 21–27
Meade Instruments Chairman and Founder to Retire April 24, 2003 | On Monday Meade Instruments announced that John C. Diebel, the company's chairman, chief executive officer, and founder, will retire on May 31st. Assuming the role of CEO will be Steven Murdock, Meade's current president and chief operating officer. Harry…
Chicago's Rain of Meteorites
It's not often that hundreds of meteorites cascade out of the sky — and it's even rarer when that happens over a major urban area.
Mount Stromlo: A Status Report
The Near-Infrared Integral-Field Spectrograph (NIFS) was only months from completion when a bush fire roared across the Mount Stromlo Observatory and destroyed the instrument as well as five major telescopes and thier buildings. The cost to reconstruct the spectrograph will be covered by insurance, and the Australian National University plans…
Secret Documents Rewrite the Discovery of Neptune
Long-suppressed documents from the 1840s are changing one of the best-known stories in the history of astronomy.
NASA Sets Its Sites on Mars
With a mass of roughly 180 kilograms, NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers will be able to trek up to 100 meters per day during their three-month explorations. Each lander carries a suite of five instruments, collectively called Athena, and an abrasion tool for exposing fresh surfaces on rock faces.Courtesy NASA/JPL. After…
Astro News Briefs: April 14–20
Two More Moons for Jupiter Make 60 April 14, 2003 | With Jupiter high in the sky, astronomers are taking advantage. In past few weeks nearly a dozen new planetary moons have been discovered — two of which were certified by the International Astronomical Union on April 12th and 14th.…
Hubble's New Camera Snags First Supernovae
Hubble's newest camera has joined the hunt for exploding stars billions of light-years away.
