SUNSET: 
The Observatories of Sky & Telescope
The backyard observatories of our editorial staff run the gamut from the elegantly simple to the luxuriously complete.
A Crescent Moon and Friends
The crescent Moon all by itself is a gorgeous sight when it hangs low above the horizon amid twilight. The scene improves when it's paired with a second bright object. During the next several evenings the Moon will move southward and upward as it waxes toward first-quarter phase on September 30th.
Your Lunar Eclipse Pictures
On the night of September 7 – 8, a partial lunar eclipse graced the skies above Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia. Although the Moon barely entered Earth's umbra (full shadow), plenty of astrophotographers captured the tiny nibble taken out of the edge of Luna.
Inside the September 2006 Issue
PURCHASE PRINT ISSUE | PURCHASE DIGITAL ISSUE | DOWNLOAD BACK ISSUES | SUBSCRIBE TABLE OF CONTENTS Spectrum The Times They Are A-Changin' By Richard Tresch Fienberg Letters NewsNotes Super Earths, Supernova Hieroglyphics?, Triton Kidnap Caper, and more... Mission Update By Jonathan McDowell 75, 50 & 25 Years Ago By Leif J. Robinson…
Inside the Night Sky September/October 2006
PURCHASE PRINT ISSUE | PURCHASE DIGITAL ISSUE | DOWNLOAD BACK ISSUES | SUBSCRIBE TABLE OF CONTENTS Reflections: Shadow Dancing By J. Kelly Beatty Your Letters The Sky Tonight September: Walk the Milky Way Trace out the constellations that mark the plane of our home galaxy. By Alan MacRobert The Sky Tonight October:…
The Fight for Pluto Rages On
A small but growing group of scientists has made the first formal attack against the International Astronomical Union resolution that downsized the solar system and made Pluto a "dwarf planet." On Thursday two heavy hitters in the planetary science community released a scathing petition signed by hundreds of astronomers.
J. Kelly Beatty
Kelly Beatty joined the staff in 1974 and served as the editor of Night Sky, our magazine for beginning stargazers, in 2004-07. After 43 years of pounding the keyboard, he retired from full-time work in early 2018 but remains actively involved as a Senior Contributing Editor in many Sky &…
Good-Neighbor Outdoor Lighting (Flyer)
This flyer (which can also be printed as a PDF) tells you everything you and your neighbors need to know about how to address light pollution in your neighborhood.
Entry Form for S&T Astronomy Day Award
The latest version of the S&T Astronomy Day Award entry form is available on the Astronomical League's website.
The S&T Astronomy Day Award
Each year, one club or organization is recognized for its successful efforts in promoting Astronomy Day.
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Linking to S&T's Interactive Sky Chart
Here are simple instructions to enhance your Web site by adding a link to S&T's Interactive Sky Chart customized for your location.
Astronomy for Beginners: Getting Started in Astronomy
An easy guide to exploring the universe is just a quick download away. This PDF document contains valuable tips for beginner stargazers, a detailed Moon map, and six bimonthly star charts for either the Northern or Southern Hemisphere.
The Benson Prize
If saving the Earth from destruction isn't enough incentive to find near-Earth asteroids, there's a prize for the amateur who discovers one.
An Eclipsing Binary in the Trapezium
Every now and then one of the four Trapezium stars in the Orion Nebula is in eclipse; observers in the Far East will have the best view of the next event on December 12th.
The Minima of Algol
Now you can calculate the dates and times (local and Universal Times) when the eclipsing variable star Algol should be at its dimmest (magnitude 3.4 instead of its usual 2.1).
Alan M. MacRobert
Alan M. MacRobert became an avid Sky & Telescope subscriber in 1966, joined the editorial staff in 1982, and is now a senior editor, semi-retired. He has played a role in practically every part of the magazine and its products for a generation and a half, both on the amateur-observing…
Sky & Telescope Editor Honored
Sky & Telescope executive editor and Night Sky editor J. Kelly Beatty (right) receives the Harold Masursky Award from outgoing DPS chairman William B. McKinnon.Courtesy AAS / DPS. This week the American Astronomical Society's Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS) presented the 2005 Harold Masursky Award for outstanding service to planetary…
Why doesn't S&T produce a star atlas with mirror-image charts?
Why don’t you produce a star atlas with mirror-image charts? It would be of immense value to the many observers who use a star diagonal on their telescopes. It’s a great idea in theory, but not in practice. Here’s why: · economics. Printing two versions of an atlas would double…
Why are Kuiper Belt discoveries made at aphelion?
Why is it that so many of the recent Kuiper Belt discoveries — including the “10th planet,” 2003 UB313 — have been made while the objects are at aphelion? Timing and luck. Objects that orbit the Sun spend most of their time near the farthest point of their orbits, where…
