SUNSET: 
Dawn's Fleeting Fling with Mars
An asteroid-bound spacecraft sped past the Red Planet today, picking up speed and giving its instruments a little target practice.
Did the Moon Do a Face Flip?
We're taught that tidal locking of the Moon's spin and orbit has always kept its near side facing toward Earth. But a new study challenges that long-held notion.
Hayabusa Heads Home
Crippled by multiple system failures, a Japanese spacecraft continues its against-all-odds struggle to return to Earth after landing on an asteroid 3½ years ago.
S&T's Audio Sky Tour for December 2008
After listening to this podcast, you'll have no trouble spotting Venus, Jupiter, the Pleiades star cluster, and much more in the evening! Host: S&T's Kelly Beatty. (5MB MP3 download: running time: 5m 47s)
Hubble: You're in Control!
have you ever wanted to have a say in what the world's most powerful telescope looks at? From now until March 31st, you can!
Our Roving Martian Ambassadors
NASA's long-lived rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, have survived five (Earth) years on Mars, far exceeding their planned 90-day missions. How much longer can they last?
The Curious Case of Martian Methane
Mars, it seems, is not quite dead. A team of observers has found methane in the Red Planet's atmosphere. This finding proves either that Mars has (or once had) life — or that the planet's interior occasionally burps.
Tour January's Sky! | January 2nd, 2009
What's that brilliant beacon in the southwestern evening sky — a supernova? a UFO? Nope, it's Venus, this winter's dazzling "evening star." Learn more about Venus and other celestial showpieces by downloading our monthly guide to the night sky!
S&T's Audio Sky Tour for January 2009
What's that brilliant beacon in the southwestern evening sky — a supernova? a UFO? Nope, it's Venus, this winter's dazzling "evening star." Learn more about Venus and other celestial showpieces by downloading our monthly guide to the night sky! Host: S&T's Kelly Beatty. (7MB MP3 download: running time: 7m 55s)
China Breaks Ground for Giant Radio Dish
In 2014, if construction goes as planned, Chinese astronomers will begin to probe distant cosmic targets with the world's largest single-aperture radio telescope.
Eclipses in 2009
Get ready for the total solar eclipse of the century — along with a hard-to-reach annular eclipse and a handful of modest lunar eclipses that take place during the International Year of Astronomy.
Meteor Showers in 2009
Sky & Telescope predicts that 2009's best meteor showers should be the Quadrantids, Orionids, and Geminids — with the added possibility of a spectacular outburst from the Leonids in mid-November.
Hunt Antarctic Meteorites, Stay Warm
Once again an intrepid team of scientists and other adventurers is combing the ice fields of Antarctica for meteorites. Follow the searchers on their quest — and learn about the leaders who return for a cold soak year after year — by reading the team's daily weblog.
Have a Hot Time on WASP-12b
An international team of observers has found an alien world where the temperature is always a toasty 4,600°F and it takes just a second or two to get a great suntan.
Dark Energy: Real and Overwhelming
The universe just isn't making galaxy clusters the way it used to. Compelling new evidence argues that "dark energy" has overwhelmed gravity's influence on forming these largest cosmic structures.
Time for Another "Leap Second"
For the first time since 2005, the world's official timekeepers will add an extra second to the clock on New Year's Eve.
A Distant World in Hot Water
Astronomers report that a planet circling a star 63 light-years away in Vulpecula is wreathed in an atmosphere containing water vapor.
Hubble's Replacement Now Taking Shape
Testing has begun on the first of 18 mirror segments for NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, the gargantuan craft that will join the aging Hubble in space as early as 2013 — and eventually replace it as NASA's premier space observatory.
Will the Leonids Roar Again?
Anyone who remembers the spectacular displays of Leonid meteors in 1999–2002 would surely love to see them again. Good news! Theorists predict that the Leonids might be back for a modest encore in mid-November 2009.
Hubble Mission Gets OK for May
NASA managers have decided on a date to dispatch Space Shuttle flight STS 125, the final servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope.
