SUNSET: 
Tour December's Sky! | November 26th, 2011
Venus lurks low in the western twilight after sunset. But after it gets good and dark, swing around to the east to see dazzling Jupiter, the King of Planets, amid a tower of brilliant early-winter stars that extends from the horizon to overhead.
Curiosity Heads for Mars
NASA's latest interplanetary mission seeks to put a one-ton rover on the Martian surface. With Saturday's picture-perfect launch, Curiosity is safely on its way.
Black Friday's Partial Solar Eclipse
On what's become the busiest shopping day of the year, a deep partial solar eclipse swept across the bottom of the world.
If An Impact Looms, Then What?
A group of scientists, policy-makers, and science journalists recently tackled the tough who-where-how-and-why questions that will have to be answered if astronomers discover an asteroid or comet on a collision course with Earth.
A "Whodunit" of Cosmic Proportions
Most everyone credits Edwin Hubble with discovering that the universe is expanding. But historians believe the honor should really be shared with a lesser-known Belgian priest named Georges Lemaître. So what's the real story?
Phobos-Grunt's Sad Fate
Russia's first mission in 15 years from a once-proud interplanetary program has ended in failure, as a spacecraft intended to land on a Martian moon was unresponsive and stuck in orbit around Earth after launch, which doomed it to atmospheric annihilation two months later.
Watch Mini-Asteroid 2005 YU55 Buzz Earth
Contacts: Alan MacRobert, Senior Editor 855-638-5388 x2151, [email protected] J. Kelly Beatty, Senior Contributing Editor 617-416-9991, [email protected] Note to Editors/Producers: This release is accompanied by high-quality illustrations; see end of release. This animation shows the trajectory of asteroid 2005 YU55 as it cruises past Earth on the night of November…
A Dusty Young Star's "Spiral Arms"
Astronomers have known for decades that the young star SAO 206462 is encircled by a thick dusty disk. However, just-released images from Japan's Subaru Telescope show that the disk sports two wings that make it look like a miniature spiral galaxy.
Mini-Asteroid Makes a House Call
You've probably heard by now about 2005 YU55. This quarter-mile-wide asteroid will coast past Earth on the night of November 8–9, shining at 11th magnitude and providing a rare opportunity for professional and amateur observers alike.
S&T's Audio Sky Tour for November 2011
With the return to Standard Time for North America and Europe, stargazers there can catch some of the evening's offerings before dinnertime. Venus and Jupiter are planetary bookends at sunset, with Venus lurking low in the western twilight just as the King of Planets rises in the east.
Tour November's Sky! | October 28th, 2011
With the return to Standard Time for North America and Europe, northern stargazers can catch some of the evening's offerings before dinnertime. Venus and Jupiter are planetary bookends at sunset, with Venus lurking low in the western twilight just as the King of Planets rises in the east.
Comet Elenin's Last Gasp
It was never going to be an "extinction-level" threat to Earth, but skygazers had hoped that Comet Elenin (C/2010 X1) would put on a decent show in October's predawn skies. In the end, however, it just went "poof".
Taking the Temperature of Ancient Mars
The famous (and infamous) Martian meteorite called ALH 84001 has revealed that the Red Planet had a warmer and wetter past — at least here and there on its surface.
Two Interesting Alien "Worlds"
More and more astronomers are searching for planets around other stars — in the hope of finding the biggest, smallest, hottest, coolest, and most Earthlike candidates. Here's a peek at two recently-discovered oddballs.
Ready for Rosat's Reentry?
Sometime within the next week, perhaps on Sunday, a defunct German astronomy satellite will fall from orbit and drop a 1½-ton cosmic cannonball — its telescope assembly — somewhere on Earth.
The Great World Wide Star Count
Join thousands of other "citizen scientists" in raising dark-sky awareness around the globe.
ALMA Radio Array Gets to Work
High in the Chilean Andes, at the nosebleed altitude of 16,400 feet (5,000 m), the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array has begun to probe the depths of the radio universe as never before.
A Mad Dash for the Draconids
If celestial prognosticators are right, the little-known Draconid meteor shower could deliver hundreds of "shootings stars" per hour during a brief window on Saturday, October 8th. But the outburst's timing favors Europe, not North America.
Mercury Shows Its True Colors
After six months of studying the innermost planet with NASA's Messenger spacecraft, planetary scientists are discovering unexpected surface compositions and are finally zeroing in on how the innermost planet came to be.
S&T's Audio Sky Tour for October 2011
This is a month of transition: you can spot the Summer Triangle overhead as darkness falls and the winter mix of Orion, his dogs, and Taurus in the hours before sunrise. Jupiter peaks in brightness this month, and it dominates the sky from dusk until dawn.
