SUNSET: 
Sky & Telescope September 2008
FEATURED ARTICLES Planetary Peculiarities Intriguing discoveries keep on coming from the rapidly expanding universe of extrasolar planets. By Ken Croswell The Coming Giant Sky Patrols What will it mean when machines watch everything to 24th magnitude? For one thing: new opportunities for amateur science under the stars. By Peter Jedicke…
Phoenix: Behind the Scenes
With the future of Martian exploration riding on NASA's Phoenix lander, mission scientists still find time to enjoy the experience.
Astronomical Sky Surveys
An artist's concept of the 8.4-meter Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), which should being scanning the sky in 2016.LSST Corp.Astronomers are scanning the sky with a variety of programs that collect gigabytes of data each night — and more are coming. The following links will take you were you can…
Sky & Telescope August 2008
FEATURED ARTICLES The Quest for Dark Matter Astrophysicists know where it is but not what it is. To find out, they're trying to catch the elusive stuff in the laboratory.By Richard Panek Solar Eclipse over Eurasia and a Partial Lunar Eclipse More than a billion people will be in the…
Sky & Telescope July 2008
FEATURED ARTICLES Tuning In to the Universe Combing radio telescopes will tackle big questions like the origin of life and the nature of space and time. By Joseph Lazio, Michael Kramer, and Bryan Gaensler Tiny Planets on Jupiter's Stage Jupiter's moons and their shadows perform dramatic telescope acts almost every…
Watch the Sky From Chile
High above the clouds (and most of the Earth's atmosphere), from 19,000 feet (5,900 meters), the southern sky reveals its true majestic glory. Watch as the heavens rotate above the Chajnantor plateau high in the Chilean Atacama Desert.
Sky & Telescope June 2008
FEATURED ARTICLES A Marvelous Midsummer Night This year, northerns' shortest nights are packed with planetary action.By Fred Schaaf NASA's New Gamma-Ray Trailblazer A soon-to-be-launched satellite promises to provide our best look at the most powerful beacons in the universe.By Robert Naeye How to Hunt for Supernova Fossils in the Milky…
Sky & Telescope May 2008
FEATURED ARTICLES Reunion with Mercury January's flyby of this fire-and-ice world was the first in more than three decades.By J. Kelly Beatty To the Point with mySKY Enjoy your own personalized planetarium show under a starry sky with this clever bit of electronic wizardry from Meade. By Dennis di Cicco…
A New Day in Precision Cosmology
The date of the Big Bang? The amount of dark matter? The nature of cosmic inflation? These things and more are refined by new results from the WMAP cosmology probe. Here's a full roundup.
Largest Optical Telescopes
Largest Optical Telescopes of Today & Tomorrow Name and location Primary-mirror aperture (meters) European Extremely Large Telescope (proposed) 42 Thirty Meter Telescope (proposed) 30 Giant Magellan Telescope (proposed) Cerro Las Campanas, Chile 24.5 Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC) La Palma, Canary Islands 10.4 Keck Telescopes Mauna Kea, Hawaii 10.0 (×2) Southern…
The Challenge of Adaptive Optics
Adaptive-optics systems aim to improve the resolution of astronomical observations by compensating for the effects of air turbulence.
Stars and Paradise
The twin 10-meter telescopes of Keck Observatory are among the highlights atop Mauna Kea, Hawaii. To the left is the Japanese Subaru Observatory.W. M. Keck ObservatoryWhen most people think of Hawaii, they ponder volcanoes, luaus, hula dancers, and pineapples. But Hawaii also sports one of Earth's best vacation spots for…
The 2008 Eclipse and the Saros Cycle
The August 1, 2008, total eclipse is similar to a couple of significant past eclipses. Here's why.
Inside the November 2007 Issue
PURCHASE PRINT ISSUE | PURCHASE DIGITAL ISSUE | DOWNLOAD BACK ISSUES | SUBSCRIBE TABLE OF CONTENTS Spectrum No Laughing Matter By Richard Tresch Fienberg Skyscape Short-Lived Sunspot By Jerry Lodriguss Mission Update By Jonathan McDowell 50 & 25 Years Ago By Leif J. Robinson The Great Mars Chase of 1907 A century…
Sky & Telescope December 2007
FEATURED ARTICLES Celebrating Cassini After 10 years in space and 3½ years since reaching Saturn, the Cassini orbiter continues to beam back wild and wonderful images.By J. Kelly Beatty The Star of Bethlehem Explained Astronomically speaking, the only explaination for the Star of Bethlehem is the most obvious one.By Aaron…
Sky & Telescope January 2008
FEATURED ARTICLES Get Ready for Eclipse 2008 Want to see the only total solar eclipse in 2008? Your best bet for a view on solid ground involves a journey to meet the Moon's shadow as it crosses Siberia and northern China.By Fred Espenak and Jay Anderson Hot New Products for…
Sky & Telescope February 2008
FEATURED ARTICLES February's Ideal Eclipse of the Moon A planet-studded total eclipse, and the last one until 2010, occurs high in a dark sky on February 20th.By Alan MacRobert The Astounding Comet Holmes An obscure comet beyond Mars exploded into view last October, giving skygazers an unexpected treat.By John E.…
Sky & Telescope March 2008
FEATURED ARTICLES Where Did You Come From? You can thank your lucky stars for the calcium in your bones and the iron in your blood. But what about the iodine in your thyroid?By C. Renée James Gaia's Mission to the Milky Way In the next decade, a unique spacecraft will…
Sky & Telescope April 2008
FEATURED ARTICLES Tomorrow's Monster Telescopes The next generation of enormous observatories is about to leave the drawing board and become reality.By Jonathan Lowe Savor Saturn in 2008 Your scope may show more on the ringed planet, now the "star" of the evening sky, than you realize.By Alan MacRobert Parched Planet…
Inside the October 2007 Issue
PURCHASE PRINT ISSUE | PURCHASE DIGITAL ISSUE | DOWNLOAD BACK ISSUES | SUBSCRIBE TABLE OF CONTENTS Spectrum Back to the Future By Richard Tresch Fienberg Beyond the Printed Page: Your Thoughts About S&T's New Look Letters On the Web Skyscape The Hercules Cluster of Galaxies By Tony Hallas News Notes Mission Update…
