NASA / Ames / JPL
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Bulletin at a GlanceNews Observing This Week’s Sky at a Glance Community |
Kepler Finds a Possibly Habitable World
December 8, 2011 | The hits just keep on coming for NASA’s Kepler spacecraft. Today mission scientists announced that they’ve identified a thousand more candidate planets around other stars.
One that’s a confirmed keeper is dubbed Kepler-22 b, a world somewhat larger than Earth where you likely could walk around in shirtsleeve temperatures. > read more
Asteroids, Planets, and Moons, Oh My
December 8, 2011 | This week’s meeting of the American Geophysical Union brought together a variety of interesting science results, from water on Mars to the Sun’s effect on the Moon’s surface. Here’s a selection of curiosities for your perusing pleasure. > read more
Super Black Holes: New Records, If Real
December 7, 2011 | This week astronomers announced the existence of two gargantuan black holes. The black holes may be the most massive ever directly measured — if further studies can validate them. > read more
Sky & Telescope January 2012
December 2, 2011 | Sky & Telescope‘s January 2012 issue is now available to digital subscribers. > read more
Sky & Telescope illustration
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A Dawn Eclipse of the Moon
November 23, 2011 | The Moon will become totally eclipsed for much of North America before sunrise on December 10th. > read more
Comet Garradd in Transition
December 2, 2011 | A decently bright visitor from the solar system’s fringe has lingered in the evening sky for months. As it nears perihelion, Comet Garradd (C/2009 P1) will soon be seen better in northern morning skies before dawn. > read more
Tour December’s Sky by Eye and Ear!
November 26, 2011 | Venus lurks low in the western twilight after sunset. But after it gets good and dark, swing around to the east to see dazzling Jupiter, the King of Planets, amid a tower of brilliant early-winter stars that extends from the horizon to overhead. > read more
Jupiter: Big, Bright, and Beautiful
September 23, 2011 | The “King of Planets,” which will dominate the evening sky from late 2011 through early 2012, is a captivating sight no matter how you look at it. > read more
Uranus and Neptune in 2011
May 31, 2011 | Uranus and Neptune are easy to find with the aid of the charts in this article. > read more
S&T: Richard Tresch Fienberg
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This Week’s Sky at a Glance
December 9, 2011 | The Moon is totally eclipsed before dawn on the 10th for western North America. The Geminid meteors peak on the nights of the 13th and 14th, though the Moon will still be bright. And Orion is up now by early evening. > read more
Terry Lovejoy
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Comet Lovejoy’s Date With Destiny
December 6, 2011 | Discovered in late November by a veteran Australian comet-hunter, C/2011 W3 is a kamikaze comet that will pass just 116,000 miles from the Sun on December 16th. Will it dazzle us as it falls inward? Will it survive its close brush with the Sun? Amateur astronomers worldwide are holding their collective breath! > read more
Ann
