SUNSET: 
Waves Might Heat Solar Atmosphere
Astronomers are working to unravel the mystery of the Sun's superhot corona, but new work implicating magnetic waves isn't the final word on the matter.
Sky & Telescope August 2012
Sky & Telescope's August 2012 issue is now available to digital subscribers. Some print subscribers may have already received it, and it's officially on-sale at newsstands starting July 3rd.
The Universe’s Lost Lithium
Astronomers are still struggling with a 30-year-old mystery that puts modern cosmology in a head-to-head clash with stellar observations. A new study may make the problem even worse.
All-Sky Survey Sees Millions of Stars
A collaboration between professional and amateur astronomers is producing a careful map of stellar brightnesses and colors across the entire night sky. The survey should fill a hole that sometimes hampers quick, accurate measurements of events such as supernovae.
2012 Venus Transit: S&T Reports
Clouds, veering cabbies, and old optics didn’t deter committed spectators of this last-chance astronomical event.
The "Exoplanet" Venus
Observing the Transit of Venus won’t be just a memorable experience. Astronomers hope the event will help them understand alien worlds around other stars, too.
Pro-Am Teamwork on the Rise
As demonstrated this week during a gathering of observers in Big Bear, California, amateur and professional astronomers are joining forces as never before.
Explore Binary Stars on Your Computer
Additional information from the August 2012 article Solve Binary Stars Yourself. Provides links to various programs that allow users to explore binary stars up close and personal.
Martian Dunes On the Move
Images from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter caught dunes migrating across the Red Planet's surface, contradicting the common wisdom that the planet's current climate can't get sand moving on a large scale.
Cosmic Ray Origin Still Mysterious
Observations out of Antarctica support the idea that the most energetic of the superspeedy space particles raining down on Earth are not from gamma-ray bursts. The new result prolongs a long-standing mystery in astrophysics.
Interview with Jim Bell
Planetary scientist Jim Bell chats with S&T's Camille Carlisle about NASA's incredible new moon images, featured in the June issue. Plus, see more spectacularly detailed lunar landscapes.
Hubble Celebrates as Shuttle Retires
Hubble is beginning celebrations early for its 22nd birthday with this composite image, a fantastic combination of ground- and space-based observations of the Tarantula Nebula.
WISE Identifies Mystery Sources
Astronomers are using infrared observations from NASA's WISE spacecraft to identify sources seen at energies a million times greater. The work may help astronomers figure out whether they've detected unknown cosmic phenomena.
Far-out Black Hole Hints
“Star cities” orbiting galaxies may reveal the mass of the gargantuan black hole hidden deep in the galaxy’s heart. The new relation could be more evidence for a large-scale black hole-galaxy link — or, it could mean one of the latest revolutions in astrophysics isn’t the full story.
New ALMA Images Stoke Exoplanet Flame
Astronomers have released the first new science results from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), a still-under-construction network of 66 antennas in northern Chile. The new observations suggest the contentious Fomalhaut star system may have two small planets shepherding its gigantic ring.
Venus Passes the Pleiades
Venus is passing through the Pleiades in a breathtaking spectacle that reaches its peak on April 3rd. This unique pairing is part of a series of Venus events in 2012, culminating in the June transit of the Sun.
Sky & Telescope May 2012
Sky & Telescope's May 2012 issue is now available to digital subscribers. Some print subscribers may have already received it, and it's officially on sale at newsstands starting April 3rd.
Twin-Eyed Telescope Sees Sharp Stars
The Large Binocular Telescope has opened one of its new eyes on the sky, revealing exoplanets and stars with a precision that rivals the best ground-based observatories astronomers have.
Smooth Sailing on Titan
Waves don't grow much — if at all — on Saturn's moon Titan. However, the calm lakes and seas might see some surface wrinkles in a few years when the northern hemisphere's summer arrives.
Distant Galaxies Hint at Exotic Physics
Observations of galaxies shooting high-powered jets from their cores suggest the existence of a hypothetical particle. While speculative, the results could mean that photons aren't as dependable as we envision them to be.
