SUNSET: 
Titan's Tropical "Oases"
With a surface temperature hundreds of degrees below zero, Saturn's biggest moon is hardly a vacation paradise. But new Cassini results suggest that future visitors might be able to splash around in some liquid-methane lakes near Titan's equator.
Green Light for Largest-ever Telescope
It's hard to imagine a telescope with a primary mirror as tall as a 13-story building. But that's just what European astronomers are hoping to build now that the E-ELT project has been approved.
M31 to Hit Milky Way Head-On
If anyone's still around 4 billion years from now, they'll have a ringside seat for a true clash of titans, as the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies smash into each other and merge.
Closure Nears for Two Observatories
Although not a total surprise, a decision announced on May 31st by the United Kingdom's Science and Technology Facilities Council means that two long-time residents of Mauna Kea's observatory complex might soon be shut down.
S&T's Audio Sky Tour for July 2012
This month, you can see a pair of planets before sunrise and another pair after sunset. In each case, one of them is situated near a bright star.
Tour July's Sky! | May 30th, 2012
This month, you can see a pair of planets before sunrise and another pair after sunset. In each case, one of them is situated near a bright star.
Square Kilometer Array: A Split Decision
Astronomers from South Africa and Australia had each made a case for hosting what will become the world's largest radio telescope. But the international partners decided to award portions of the project to both countries — an unexpected compromise.
Europe's New Eye on the Sun
The just-completed Gregor telescope, situated on Tenerife in the Canary Islands, ranks as Europe's largest solar sentinel and the third largest in the world.
Millennial Calendar Found in Mayan Ruins
Never mind what the doomsayers tell you: Remarkable paintings in a room amid Guatemalan ruins prove that the ancient Maya knew more about celestial cycles than we thought — and that they didn't predict the world's end in December 2012.
Dawn Confirms Vesta's Link to Meteorites
Spectral mapping by NASA's Dawn spacecraft has confirmed what planetary scientists have suspected for decades: hundreds of meteorites on Earth are rocks blasted from the surface of the second-largest asteroid.
Astronomy and Stargazing Projects
Join the "Target Asteroids!" Project
If you're an amateur observer with decent equipment and an itch to do some serious observing, a team from the OSIRIS-REx mission wants to hear from you!
Venus Takes the Plunge
The brightest planet has dominated the evening sky for months. But during May it sinks rapidly toward the setting Sun — and its historic transit across the solar disk in early June.
New Eye for Giant Russian Telescope
From 1975 until 1993, Russians astronomers could boast about having the world's largest optical telescope. Now they're hoping to extend the 6-meter scope's cosmic reach by completely refurbishing its original primary mirror.
S&T's Audio Sky Tour for June 2012
Mars and Saturn are the two bright planets in the evening sky. They're joined by a host of springtime sparklers, including Arcturus (overhead at dusk) and Vega. This month also features the long-awaited transit of Venus and a partial lunar eclipse.
Tour June's Sky! | April 17th, 2012
Mars and Saturn are the two bright planets in the evening sky. They're joined by a host of springtime sparklers, including Arcturus (overhead at dusk) and Vega. This month also features the long-awaited transit of Venus and a partial lunar eclipse.
S&T's Audio Sky Tour for May 2012
Follow the giant arc of bright planets that leads eastward from the just-set Sun: Venus low in the west, Mars midway up in the south, and Saturn over in the east. Then look overhead for the Big Dipper — the "Swiss Army knife" of the night sky.
Tour May's Sky! | April 15th, 2012
Follow the giant arc of bright planets that leads eastward from the just-set Sun: Venus low in the west, Mars midway up in the south, and Saturn over in the east. Then look overhead for the Big Dipper — the "Swiss Army knife" of the night sky.
Comet Pan-STARRS: Still on Track
The inbound comet C/2011 L4, discovered last year, has been brightening steadily the past few months. It could still fizzle — or it could become a pretty bauble in post-sunset skies next March.
Sky & Telescope's New Moon Globe
The year-long effort was time consuming and tedious, but S&T's staff is proud to unveil the first wholly new globe of the lunar surface in more than four decades.
Kepler Mission Gets Four More Years
NASA's incredibly successful planet-hunter has had its mission extended to 2016 — giving it extra time to find Earthlike worlds in Earthlike orbits.
