SKYWATCH: ICELAND AURORA ADVENTURE, BREWING METEOR STORM, AND MORE

NEWS OBSERVING PHOTO GALLERY MAGAZINE ARCHIVE SHOP AT SKY

NEWS

Joint Astronomy Centre

World-Class Telescope For Sale

October 8, 2012 | The impending closure of the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope might be averted if the observatory’s director can find a buyer. > read more

Freshest Mars Rock Contains Evidence for Water

October 11, 2012 | An international team of scientists has teased apart the secrets hidden inside a meteorite from Mars, including signs that the rock weathered acidic water while on the Red Planet. > read more

Star Draws Spiral

October 10, 2012 | ALMA observations have revealed a spiral buried inside a shell surrounding the star R Sculptoris. While not the first of its kind discovered, the spiral does show that the star is hiding something. > read more

OBSERVING

NASA / JPL / Horizons

Meteor Storm Brewing for 2014?

October 9, 2012 | Dynamicists know for certain that on May 24, 2014, Earth will plow through a dense stream of dust particles shed by the periodic comet 209P/LINEAR. The only question is: how intense will the assault be? > read more

Tour October’s Sky by Eye and Ear!

August 27, 2012 | Mars is managing to hang on low in the west after sunset, while in the east you’ll see the Square of Pegasus and, later on, the giant planet Jupiter. > read more

COMMUNITY

Babak Tafreshi

Sky & Telescope‘s Iceland Aurora Adventure

October 8, 2012 | Join S&T on the aurora adventure of a lifetime in April, 2013! Walk through a rift valley, witness magnificent waterfalls and the Strokkur geyser, bathe in the Blue Lagoon, and best of all, maximize your chances of seeing the beautiful Northern Lights. > read more

THIS WEEK’S SKY AT A GLANCE

Sky & Telescope diagram

This Week’s Sky at a Glance

October 12, 2012 | Jupiter has been climbing into good view a half hour earlier every week, accompanied by a grand retinue of celestial objects seen and unseen. On the other side of the sky, Mars is finally passing rival Antares in twilight.> read more

SKYWEEK TELEVISION SHOW
View SkyWeek as seen on PBS click here to watch this week’s episodeSponsored by Meade Instruments	Powered by TheSkyX from Software Bisque

SKYWATCH: WET MARS PHOTOGRAPHED? WEDNESDAY OCCULTATION, AND MORE

News Observing Photo Gallery Magazine Archive Shop at Sky

News

NASA / JPL-Caltech / Univ. of Arizona

Bulletin at a Glance News Observing This Week’s Sky at a Glance Community

Strongest Evidence Yet for Martian Water

August 4, 2011 | NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has found perplexing dark streaks that form seasonally and strongly suggest that liquid water flows on the Martian surface. > read more

Big Splat Could Have Reshaped the Moon

August 4, 2011 | Recent research suggests that the thick, heavily cratered crust on the Moon’s far side could be the pasted-on remains of a second satellite that once orbited early Earth. > read more

Where No Spacecraft Has Gone Before

August 2, 2011 | Dawn sends stunning images from Vesta of an uncharted alien world. > read more

Amateur Search for White-Dwarf Planets

August 3, 2011 | Arizona amateur Bruce Gary is assembling a pro-am team to look for planets orbiting dead stars. > read more

Sky & Telescope September 2011

July 22, 2011 | Sky & Telescope‘s September 2011 issue is now available to digital subscribers. > read more

Observing

International Occultation Timing Association

Watch a Star Wink Out on August 10th

May 6, 2011 | On the evening of Wednesday, August 10th, the Moon will cover the 2.9-magnitude star Pi Sagittarii for the eastern half of North America. > read more

Great Sun This Week

August 3, 2011 | This week the Sun is putting on its best show in nearly a decade. > read more

Ceres and Vesta in 2011

May 20, 2011 | The two brightest asteroids are fairly close to each other in 2011. Click here for instructions and charts to find them. > read more

Tour August’s Sky by Eye and Ear!

July 29, 2011 | This is your last chance to spot Saturn before it sinks into the evening twilight. But there are many other celestial attractions to look for on August evenings. > read more

This Week’s Sky at a Glance

Akira Fujii

This Week’s Sky at a Glance

August 5, 2011 | The Moon lines up with Saturn and Spica at dusk, then waxes across the evening sky for the rest of the week. Jupiter blazes high in the wee hours. And the bright asteroid Vesta — accompanied by NASA’s DAWN spacecraft! — awaits viewing just past opposition. > read more

Community

Sky & Telescope Interactive Sky Chart

Interactive Sky Chart Restored

August 1, 2011 | The Interactive Sky Chart is now working again after a 2-month hiatus. > read more

Let the Star Parties Begin!

April 14, 2011 | Want to gaze at the Milky Way all night or peer into the eyepiece of a 12-foot-tall telescope? Then escape the city lights and head for the nearest “star party.” > read more