SUNSET: 
Totality on a Tropical Sea
More than 1,000 eclipse-seekers watched totality from a specially chartered ship that had steamed into the western Pacific for the "Eclipse of the Century."
U.S. Meteorite Hunters Go Bicoastal
Two intense fireballs, one over Arizona and another three days later over the Maryland-Pennsylvania border, have triggered searches for fresh-fallen stones from interplanetary space.
Image Stacking Nets Ancient Supernovae
Astronomers have turned up a pair of supernovae in extremely distant galaxies (like these) that exploded more than 11 billion years ago, during the universe's infancy. And they did it using a basic technique familiar to thousands of amateur astronomers.
New Candidates for Midsize Black Holes
Astronomers are hot on the trail of a new class of cosmic curiosity that's not too small, not too big, but somewhere in between — an intermediate-mass black hole.
"First Light" for New Lunar Orbiter
It's just a calibration image, but this early view from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter shows off the stunning potential of its mapping cameras.
Ulysses Gets a Final Farewell
Ground controllers have finally ended the 18½-year mission of a plucky probe that taught scientists virtually everything they now know about the Sun's polar regions.
S&T's Audio Sky Tour for July 2009
Northern nights are short in July, so take full advantage of the abbreviated starwatching hours by downloading this guided tour of the evening sky. Host: S&T's Kelly Beatty. (6MB MP3 download: running time: 6m 12s)
Tour July's Sky — By Ear and Eye!
Saturn is sinking in the west, while Jupiter rises (late) in the east. Spot these planets and more by listening to Sky & Telescope downloadable guided tour of the night sky.
U.S. Lunar Probes Go Loopy
Two NASA spacecraft, launched last week, have successfully swung past the Moon. One is getting ready to study it; the other is a few months away from crashing into it.
A "Briny Deep" Inside Enceladus?
Planetary scientists are crazy about Saturn's most active moon but can't agree on what powers the towering plumes gas and particles erupting from near its south pole. New findings, published this week, hint that the water vapor might be slowly evaporating from a salt-laced ocean in deeply buried caverns.
Solar Sleuths Tackle the "Quiet Sun"
New insights, announced this week, help explain why solar activity has been in the doldrums for an unexpectedly long time.
NASA Returns to the Moon
Two U.S. spacecraft are on their way to survey the Moon as never before — and to settle the debate over whether water lies frozen at the lunar poles.
Kaguya Mission Ends with a Flash
After circling the Moon for two years, the Japanese spacecraft Kaguya slammed into the lunar surface on June 10th — an event captured by an observatory in Australia.
MIT's Apollo Reunion
At the "Giant Leaps" symposium, an astronaut-studded cast recalled the glory days of human space exploration — and where we might be headed next.
Partial Lunar Eclipse Yields Key Finding
Who knew? A lunar eclipse is not just a pretty sky show. Just-published observations show that there's real science in the umbra's dim, ruddy light.
S&T's Audio Sky Tour for June 2009
By listening to our monthly guide to the night sky, you'll find out how to spot one bright planet in the evening sky and four more before dawn. Host: S&T's Kelly Beatty. (4MB MP3 download: running time: 4m 21s)
Tour June's Sky — By Ear and Eye!
You can hunt planets in the evening and early-morning sky by listening to Sky & Telescope downloadable guided tour.
Why Are We Moving Away from the Sun?
A few years ago astronomers became aware that the Sun-Earth distance, the astronomical unit, is gradually growing larger. Now a team of Japanese theorists have looked to the tides for an explanation.
Dark Skies 15,300, Light Pollution 0
The fourth annual GLOBE at Night star-counting campaign netted a record number of estimates of the night sky's darkness worldwide.
S&T's Audio Sky Tour for May 2009
Our monthly guide to the night sky tells you how to spot all five bright planets this month. Host: S&T's Kelly Beatty. (5MB MP3 download: running time: 5m 45s)
