SUNSET: 
Dawn of a New Cosmos
A big-budget television series about astronomy — a much-anticipated sequel to the iconic 1980 original — debuts this weekend in 174 countries and 47 languages.
Tour March's Sky! | March 1st, 2014
A stunning array awaits you overhead once the Sun sets. Brilliant Sirius, along with Procyon, Betelgeuse, and even-brighter Jupiter, form a giant diamond in the evening sky.
S&T's Audio Sky Tour for March 2014
A stunning array awaits you overhead once the Sun sets. Brilliant Sirius, along with Procyon, Betelgeuse, and even-brighter Jupiter, form a giant diamond in the evening sky.
New Record for Oldest Earth Rock
No rocks on Earth are as old as the planet itself. But a tiny grain of zircon from Western Australia shows that <em>terra firma</em> existed within about 160 million years of the solar system's formation.
Moon and Venus Dance at Dawn
If your dawn sky is clear on Wednesday, February 26th, don't miss the lovely pairing of brilliant Venus with a very thin crescent Moon.
Cosmos Reborn
FOX Beginning Sunday evening, March 9th, Cosmos: A SpaceTime Odyssey will air on the Fox television network, the rebirth of Carl Sagan's classic Cosmos. In the cover story of our April 2014 issue, contributing editor J. Kelly Beatty reveals a behind-the-scenes look at the new series. (All of the images…
Pesky Problems for Lunar Reflectors
For more than 40 years, astronomers have been firing lasers at specially-designed reflectors left on the lunar surface. But over time they've gotten dusty — and especially finicky whenever there's a full Moon.
How to See Jupiter: Big, Bright, and Beautiful
Jupiter, the King of Planets, is a captivating sight no matter how you look at it.
Tour February's Sky! | February 1st, 2014
Jupiter is well up in the east as darkness falls, surrounded by a cohort of bright winter stars and constellations.
S&T's Audio Sky Tour for February 2014
Jupiter is well up in the east as darkness falls, surrounded by a cohort of bright winter stars and constellations.
Opportunity's 10-year Martian Marathon
Can you believe it? A robotic rover designed to last 90 days on the Red Planet is celebrating 10 years of successful exploration on the Red Planet — even taking a "selfie" for its handlers back on Earth.
"Dwarf Planet" Ceres Exhales Water
There'll be a new wrinkle facing NASA's Dawn spacecraft when it reaches Ceres next year: what's causing this big round ball to give off puffs of water vapor?
John Dobson, 1915-2014
Ask any long-time stargazer who has had the greatest impact on amateur astronomy, and the name of this barnstorming, telescope-making revolutionary will surely come up.
Cosmologist Halton Arp (1927-2013)
A contentious yet gifted astronomer, Arp challenged a key underpinning of the Big Bang throughout the 1970s and 1980s and ultimately fell into disfavor among his colleagues.
Huge Sunspot Group Now Observable
The Sun is off to a fast start this new year. An enormous sunspot group, big enough to be seen (carefully) by eye, has rotated into view.
A New Year's Resolution
Let's commit to stopping the spread of light pollution, the single greatest threat to our enjoyment of the night sky.
Small Asteroid 2014 AA Hits Earth
Spotted on New Year's Eve by a telescope in Arizona, a small asteroid struck Earth over the Atlantic Ocean — apparently unnoticed — less than one day later.
Tour January's Sky! | December 27th, 2013
Start the new year right with a little evening stargazing! Venus is dropping from sight low in the west just as Jupiter and mighty Orion are ascending in the east.
Mapping the Milky Way's Arms
Astronomers continue to debate whether our home galaxy has big arms and some smaller appendages — or, as new results suggest, four major arms.
Chang'e 3 Brings Rover to Lunar Surface
For the first time since 1976, a spacecraft has landed safely on the Moon. Within hours, the Chinese spacecraft Chang'e 3 had deployed an instrumented rover.
