Kepler Mission Gets Four More Years

April 5, 2012 | NASA’s incredibly successful planet-hunter has had its mission extended to 2016 — giving it extra time to find Earthlike worlds in Earthlike orbits. > read more

Outer-Planet Moons Found — and Lost

April 4, 2012 | A decade ago, astronomers used big scopes and deep exposures to find dozens of new moonlets around Jupiter and Saturn. But due to orbital uncertainties, 17 of them appear to be lost. > read more

Giant Telescope Starts with a Bang

April 1, 2012 | Crews have begun to remove 3 million cubic feet of rock from a mountaintop in the Chilean Andes to make room for what will be the world’s largest telescope. > read more

Sky & Telescope May 2012

March 23, 2012 | Sky & Telescope‘s May 2012 issue is now available to digital subscribers. Some print subscribers may have already received it, and it’s officially on sale at newsstands starting April 3rd. > read more

Observing

S&T: Lauren Darby

Tour April’s Sky by Eye and Ear!

March 29, 2012 | April stands to be a great month for planet-watching. Venus and Jupiter are over in the west, Mars is high up in the southeast, and Saturn pairs with the bright star Spica low over the eastern horizon. > read more

Mars Takes Center Stage

March 5, 2012 | The Red Planet (actually yellow-orange) is the brilliant “star” climbing steadily in the east these evenings. Now’s your best chance to examine our next-out planetary neighbor. > read more

This Week’s Sky at a Glance

Sky & Telescope diagram

This Week’s Sky at a Glance

April 6, 2012 | Venus is attaining its greatest height and brilliance in twilight, while Jupiter slinks away. Elsewhere in the evening sky, Mars pairs with Regulus and Saturn pairs with Spica. > read more

Community

The World Celebrates Astronomy

March 28, 2012 | People are coming together this April for Global Astronomy Month 2012, a planetwide celebration of astronomy designed to bring people together through star parties, music and artistic performances, online observing events, and much more. > read more

Hubble’s Hidden Treasures Competition

March 28, 2012 | Try your hand at creating a beautiful Hubble image and you might win an Apple iPod Touch or iPad. > read more