NASA / ESA / J.-Y. Li (PSI) / Hubble Comet ISON Imaging Science Team

ISON’s Chances for Survival 50/50

October 11, 2013                                                                | Observations and calculations suggest that the comet’s nucleus has a 50% chance of surviving its close passage to the Sun, but there are a lot of unknowns that could swing the result either way. > read more

Crash Course in the Higgs

October 8, 2013                                                                | The 2013 Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to two physicists who postulated the existence of the Higgs field, the source of many elementary particles’ masses. For those still scratching their heads on what the Higgs is, here’s what you need to know. > read more

Fomalhaut Star System Actually a Triple

October 9, 2013                                                                | Turns out “the lonely star of autumn” has not just one, but two distant companions, making it one of the most widely separated systems known. > read more

Is Oxygen a False Positive for Alien Life?

October 7, 2013                                                                | Photosynthetic life has infused Earth’s atmosphere with abundant oxygen that otherwise wouldn’t be here. So can oxygen be used as a dependable signature for life on other worlds? Maybe not, according to a new analysis. > read more

A Cloudy Exoplanet

October 7, 2013                                                                | Visible and infrared observations suggest that the hot Jupiter Kepler-7b has a large patch of clouds on one side. > read more

WinJUPOS

Triple Shadow Transit across Jupiter Tonight

October 11, 2013                                                                | Triple shadow transits, where three moons cross the face of Jupiter, happen only once or twice a decade. Catch the show tonight. > read more

A Night to Howl at the Moon

October 11, 2013                                                                | You can gawk, study, sketch, image, or just howl. No matter how you do it, head outside on October 12th to celebrate International Observe the Moon Night. > read more

Tour October’s Sky by Eye and Ear!

September 27, 2013                                                                  | Venus blazes low in the west at sunset, while Jupiter rules the late-night sky. This month also features a penumbral lunar eclipse, a minor meteor shower, and the Great Worldwide Star Count. > read more

NASA

Juno’s Hi-and-Bye Flyby

October 9, 2013                                                                | A NASA spacecraft bound for Jupiter made a close flyby of Earth to gain speed for the long trek outward, and amateur astronomers prepared to watch its passage. > read more

Sky & Telescope

This Week’s Sky at a Glance

October 11, 2013                                                                  | Venus passes Antares, Mars passes Regulus, and the full Moon has a weak penumbral eclipse. > read more