SUNSET: 
S&T's Audio Sky Tour for September 2009
Jupiter without any visible moons? Rare, but true! Download this podcast to find out where and when to look for that disappearing act — and other treats in the evening sky. Host: S&T's Kelly Beatty. (6MB MP3 download: running time: 6m 15s)
Raging Fire Threatens Mount Wilson
One of the world's most famous and historic observatories is threatened by an out-of-control wildfire in California.
India's Chandrayaan 1 Goes Silent
Ground controllers abruptly lost contact with India's first lunar probe on August 29th, likely signaling the premature end of this promising mission.
Tour September's Sky — By Ear and Eye!
Easy-to-spot Jupiter dominates the evening sky and dazzling Venus the morning sky. You'll learn where to find them and much more by listening to Sky & Telescope's downloadable guided tour of the night sky.
Jupiter's Impact: Gone in 30 Days
On July 19th an errant comet or asteroid struck the southern hemisphere of Jupiter and created a black-as-soot feature nearly the size of Earth. More than a month later, the last vestiges of this overnight sensation are fading from view.
Why Does Exoplanet WASP-18b Exist?
Observers have found a massive planet so close to its star that it orbits in less than a day. Either they were very, very lucky — or theorists really don't understand the inner workings of stars as well as they thought.
Were Asteroids Born Big?
Imagine if our solar system formed with an asteroid belt full of objects the size of Ceres — and no small stuff.
The Edgar Wilson Award
Thanks to a generous bequest, each year amateur astronomers earn a beautiful plaque and a cash prize for discovering one or more comets.
"Lights, Camera, Cue the Moons!"
Check out the impressive interplay of Io, larger Ganymede, and Io's shadow during a remarkable pairing of these Jovian moons captured on August 16th.
Fermi Tracks Gamma-ray Pulsars
What spins hundreds of times per second, has 100 trillion times the Sun's density, and spews lethal radiation all over interstellar space? Astronomers are closer to knowing the answers, thanks to NASA's newest deep-space observatory.
A Tropical Tempest on Titan
In April 2008, after months of cloud-free skies, a massive storm erupted in the dense atmosphere of Saturn's largest moon.
Exoplanets' "Demolition Derby"
Within the past 1,000 years or so, two planet-size objects collided around the young star HD 172555 and created a titanic, white-hot fireball whose glassy ashes are still swarming around the star.
Kepler Shows Its Promise
After just 1½ weeks of test observations, scientists are confident that the Kepler spacecraft is well on its way to discovering Earthlike planets around distant stars.
Martian Meteorite in 3-D
Rolling along over the sandy Meridiani Plain on Mars, the tireless rover Opportunity has chanced upon a hefty iron-nickel meteorite. Grab your 3-D glasses for an eye-popping closer look!
"Barely There" Lunar Eclipse
If you forgot to check out last night's penumbral lunar eclipse, you didn't miss much!
Spitzer Scope Warms to New Mission
Since exhausting its supply of ultracold liquid helium in May, the Spitzer Space Telescope has warmed to the point that two of its detectors no longer function. But NASA astronomers still have big plans for their orbiting eye on the infrared sky.
Hubble Readies for Full Operation
It took five grueling spacewalks by Space Shuttle astronauts and a billion-dollar investment to restore the Hubble Space Telescope to good health. Now NASA astronomers are nearly ready to show us just how good the 19-year-old space observatory is.
S&T's Audio Sky Tour for August 2009
Through most of August you can spot fleet-footed Mercury together with Saturn in the western evening sky. Download this podcast to find out where and when to look. Host: S&T's Kelly Beatty. (6MB MP3 download: running time: 6m 57s)
Tour August's Sky — By Ear and Eye!
It's time again for the Perseid meteor shower! Meanwhile, Saturn and Mercury are huddling together low in the west, while Jupiter rises after sunset in the east. Spot these planets and more by listening to Sky & Telescope's downloadable guided tour of the night sky.
Betelgeuse: A Hotheaded Superstar
New, ultrahigh-resolution observations reveal that the red supergiant marking Orion's shoulder is throbbing, churning, and spewing shells of its outer layers into the space around it.
