SUNSET: 
The Sun Gets a "Moon Bite" on June 10th
Skywatchers west of the Mississippi will see the Moon slide across the face of the Sun — covering more than half of it from many locations.
Venus and Jupiter Form a Dazzling Duo
Even the most casual skywatcher will be thrilled with this week's close pairing of two bright planets after sunset.
Astro News Briefs: May 20–26
A brown dwarf near a star, Europa's deep ocean, and an asteroid impact that may have helped the dinosaurs.
Astro News Briefs: May 13–19
Earth's Space Heat Shield May 17, 2002 | Earth's magnetic field protects us from much of the life-threatening radiation that comes our way. However, while it deflects most of the Earthbound high-energy particles streaming from the Sun, it doesn't do all the work. As recent data from NASA's Imager for…
Astro News Briefs: May 6–12
Interstellar Antifreeze May 9, 2002 | Astronomers using the National Science Foundation's 12-Meter Radio Telescope at Kitt Peak, Arizona, have discovered ethylene glycol in molecular clouds in Sagittarius. The molecule, according to team members Jan M. Hollis (NASA/Goddard), Frank J. Lovas (University of Illinois), Phillip R. Jewell (National Radio Astronomy…
Astro News Briefs: April 22–28
McDonald Observatory Opens New Visitor Center April 25, 2002 | About 130,000 visitors annually come to McDonald Observatory in Fort Davis, Texas, to attend the popular star parties and constellation tours and to enjoy some of the darkest night skies in the continental U.S. Unfortunately, the observatory, a research unit…
Dance of the Planets Reaches Crescendo
During the first half of May, all five bright, naked-eye planets — Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn — are well placed for viewing in the western twilight sky about an hour after sunset.
Planets Dance for Annual Astronomy Celebration
The five naked-eye planets have gathered in the western sky after sunset — just in time for "Astronomy Day" on April 20th.
Dance of the Planets Concludes
The grand and beautiful planetary lineup is drawing to a close as Venus approaches Jupiter in the western sky at dusk.
Astro News Briefs: April 8–14
Editor's Note: This week astronomers from around the world have gathered at Bristol University in Bristol, England, for the annual United Kingdom National Astronomy Meeting. The following Astro Briefs highlight news items reported at the conference. All Black Holes Sing the Same Song April 9, 2002 | Using the Rossi…
Astro News Briefs: April 1–7
Asteroid Population Doubles April 5, 2002 | Observations made in 1996–97 by the European Space Agency's Infrared Space Observatory show that the asteroid belt contains about twice as many objects as previously thought. The new census involved tallying up the main-belt asteroids spotted in selected locations, then extrapolating those counts…
Bright Comet Meets Bright Galaxy
April 1, 2002 Contacts: Roger W. Sinnott, Senior Editor 855-638-5388 x146, [email protected] Alan M. MacRobert, Senior Editor 855-638-5388 x151, [email protected] Note to Editors/Producers: This release is accompanied by four publication-quality illustrations; see details below. Amateur astronomers throughout the Northern Hemisphere have marked Thursday, April 4th, on their calendars. That…
Astro News Briefs: March 25–31
Forming Amino Acids in Interstellar Space March 29, 2002 | In two papers published in this week's Nature, scientists have come closer to understanding if amino acids are created in space. While these molecules clearly form on Earth today, some cosmochemists believe that the first fundamental building blocks for life…
Astro News Briefs: March 11–17
Does the Moon Have a Titanium Heart? March 12, 2002 | It’s taken cosmochemists decades to convince themselves that the Moon has a small metallic core (Sky & Telescope, August 1999, page 17). But that conclusion is not without its problems. For example, a recent reanalysis of "moonquakes" recorded on…
A Bright Comet Returns — 341 Years Later
Independently discovered by two amateur skygazers, Comet Ikeya-Zhang is now passing near Earth on its first return visit since the time of Sir Isaac Newton.
Astro News Briefs: March 4 - 10
A Universe of a Different Color March 8, 2002 | The "color of the universe," widely reported in January to be turquoise-green, is actually a pale cream-yellow very close to pure white. "We found a bug in our code!" say Karl Glazebrook and Ivan Baldry, who averaged the light of…
Chi Cygni to Brighten in Early March
The long-period variable Chi Cygni peaks in March. Here's where to find it and what to expect.
Astro News Briefs: February 18–24
Sun Spews Massive Bubble into Space February 22, 2002 | Our star unleashed a titanic coronal mass ejection, or CME, on February 18th. Containing billions of tons of matter, the superheated blast was captured by an extreme-ultraviolet camera aboard the orbiting Solar and Heliospheric Observatory. Fortunately, the outburst was directed…
Astro News Briefs: February 11–17
A Solar-System Signpost? February 15, 2002 | Some young stars are surrounded by disks of dust left over from their formation. Eventually this material may coalesce into planets. But some older stars have dust disks too. Astronomers think these may be produced by collisions among comets, asteroids, and meteoroids in…
