SKYWATCH: NOVEMBER, 2009

NASA

LCROSS Impact Kicked Up Lunar Water

November 13, 2009 | It took more than a month of fevered analysis, but NASA scientists are at last convinced that October 9th’s crash by the LCROSS spacecraft on a shadowed lunar plain vaporized at least 100 kilograms of water. > read more

The Great 2012 Scare

November 11, 2009 | The world won’t end on December 21, 2012, no matter what ancient Mayan prophecies might imply. Noted archaeoastronomer E. C. Krupp explains the cause of this mania in November’s Sky & Telescope. But this issue is no longer available on newsstands, so we’re making Krupp’s article available as a free download. > read more

Supernova Mystery Solved

November 10, 2009 | Is there a neutron star lurking at the heart of the spectacular supernova remnant or something much weirder? A new analysis of observations suggests a surprising answer. > read more

Phoenix Amid the Winter Snow

November 9, 2009 | An orbiting camera has spotted NASA’s Phoenix lander amid deepening dry-ice snow in the Martian arctic. Hardly anyone expects the craft to have survived the long, dark, bitterly cold winter — but engineers will attempt to reestablish contact anyway in a few weeks. > read more

Observing

 

The 2009 Leonids Are Coming!

November 12, 2009 | The Leonid meteor shower peaks near new Moon in 2009, making this a fine year for any meteor lover. Observers in the Americas are ideally placed for the traditional peak, and a brief, unusually intense burst is forecast for Asia. > read more

Tour November’s Sky by Eye and Ear!

October 29, 2009 | With the return of standard time in the Northern Hemisphere, evenings arrive much sooner than they did just a few weeks ago. That makes it a snap to get in some quick stargazing before dinnertime. > read more

This Week’s Sky at a Glance

 

Dawn view

This Week’s Sky At A Glance

November 13, 2009 | The Leonid meteors peak early Tuesday morning. Jupiter, highest in the south at dusk, continues its busy activity all this week. Watch one of its satellites appear to go from single to double to single! And at dawn, Venus sinks low while Saturn rises higher. > read more

Community

 

Robert Gendler

Paradoxical Messier 33

November 9, 2009 | Messier 33, which rides high in the sky on late-autmun evenings, can be the most rewarding or frustrating of all galaxies, depending on your conditions and your mindset. > read more

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