SUNSET: 
Curiosity Finds a Once-Habitable Mars
Ancient Mars seems to have had all the necessities as a comfy habitat for microbial life.
An Outburst of Andromedid Meteors
Astronomers report that a nearly forgotten meteor shower — famous for its prodigious "storm" in 1872 but long since inactive — has displayed surprising activity.
S&T's Audio Sky Tour for January 2014
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.
Tour December's Sky! | December 1st, 2013
December's crystal-clear skies offer Venus low in the west after sunset, a “tower of brilliance” (including Jupiter) rising in the east, and the prospect of a nice showing by Comet ISON in the predawn sky early in the month.
S&T's Audio Sky Tour for December 2013
December's crystal-clear skies offer Venus low in the west after sunset, a “tower of brilliance” (including Jupiter) rising in the east, and the prospect of a nice showing by Comet ISON in the predawn sky early in the month.
"Tails" of a Very Unusual Asteroid
What at first looked to be a comet that had snuck its way into the asteroid belt now appears to be a bizarre, fast-spinning space rock that's occasionally shedding tails of dust.
New Chelyabinsk Results Yield Surprises
The mega-meteor that exploded over Russia last February has provided impact specialists with some surprising — and sobering — revelations.
November’s Hybrid Eclipse: First Reports
From high over the western Atlantic to the sandstorm-swept plains of northern Kenya, adventurous eclipse-chasers converged along the Moon’s ultra-narrow shadow on November 3rd to get fleeting views of the Sun’s blackened disk.
Tour November's Sky! | October 31st, 2013
Returning at last to standard time, you'll find Venus low in the west at sunset, Jupiter rising in late evening, and the winged horse Pegasus galloping across the November night sky.
Why Do We Call Them "Asteroids"?
When astronomers discovered the first objects orbiting between Mars and Jupiter, at first they didn't know what to call them. Today we know them as asteroids, and the creator of that term has finally been identified.
A Timely Cover-up by Ceres
Before dawn on Friday, October 25th, observers along the East Coast have an opportunity to watch the large asteroid Ceres cover a faint star — an event that could aid the forthcoming arrival of NASA's Dawn spacecraft.
(Maybe) Watch a Binary Asteroid "Wink Out"
If you live along the U.S. midsection, from California to the Mid-Atlantic states, you've got a chance to watch a star occulted by the binary asteroid Patroclus on October 20–21.
Undue Ado About Asteroid 2013 TV135
The world's news media are making a big deal about a largish near-Earth asteroid discovered on October 8th that has a very slim chance of striking Earth in 2032.
Huge Meteorite Pulled from Russian Lake
Meteorite specialists around the world have wondered whether a massive fragment of the Chelyabinsk mini-asteroid would ever be resurrected from the murky bottom of Lake Chebarkul in Russia. Today they got their answer.
November 3rd's Rare Solar Eclipse
Syzygially speaking, the year's big event is a "hybrid" solar eclipse with a path that zooms across the Atlantic Ocean and central Africa. Lucky viewers along the Eastern Seaboard can (carefully) view a partial solar eclipse at dawn.
Warm Glow from an Orphaned Planet
Observers have found an object floating in Capricornus, far from any star, that appears to be a free-floating planet with six times the mass of Jupiter.
A Night to Howl at the Moon
You can gawk, study, sketch, image, or just howl. No matter how you do it, head outside on October 12th to celebrate International Observe the Moon Night.
Juno's Hi-and-Bye Flyby
A NASA spacecraft bound for Jupiter made a close flyby of Earth to gain speed for the long trek outward, and amateur astronomers prepared to watch its passage.
Is Oxygen a False Positive for Alien Life?
Photosynthetic life has infused Earth's atmosphere with abundant oxygen that otherwise wouldn't be here. So can oxygen be used as a dependable signature for life on other worlds? Maybe not, according to a new analysis.
S&T's Audio Sky Tour for November 2013
Returning at last to standard time, you'll find Venus low in the west at sunset, Jupiter rising in late evening, and the winged horse Pegasus galloping across the November night sky.
