The Red Planet returns! Mars puts on its best show in 2 years during late January, when it glows like a beacon all night long. Astronomy magazine has all the tools you need to get the most of this great observing opportunity.
Read more.

Help us plan the May 2010 issue of Astronomy magazine by voting on one of the two potential covers. Pick your favorite cover and tell us what you like about it. Your input is greatly appreciated.

Ganymede's and Callisto's evolutionary paths diverged about 3.8 billion years ago during the Late Heavy Bombardment. Read more.

The Advanced Technology Solar Telescope will be the world's flagship facility for the study of magnetic phenomena in the solar atmosphere. Read more.

Approximately 2,500 potential artifacts from NASA programs that include the space shuttle, Hubble Space Telescope, Apollo, Mercury, and Gemini will be available. Read more.

The dark rock dubbed Marquette Island is providing a better understanding of the mineral and chemical makeup of the martian interior. Read more.

Scientists are taking suggestions on where to image the Red Planet using a NASA satellite. Read more.

The latest missions to the sun and planets are providing spectacular and crisp images. Ivan Semeniuk, Journalist-in-Residence at the Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics, hosts these TV-programs on space exploration with comprehensive authority. The underlying message is that we are witnessing an unprecedented new age of exploration that will shape our understanding of the Universe. These DVDs are a wonderful gift for the astronomer in your family or anyone interested in humankind's most stunning scientific achievements. Click to learn more.

The March 2010 Astronomy magazine, on newsstands February 2, reveals the latest news from the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, examines 5 of the biggest mysteries in the universe, reviews Astro-Tech's 6-inch Ritchey-Chrétien telescope, and more.

Get a sneak peek inside the issue here.

We've also updated the latest Web extras that complement March's stories. Subscribers get unlimited access to these monthly extras, plus additional exclusive features:

Access a digital version of the Astro-Tech AT6RC Ritchey-Chrétien reflector telescope review in our online equipment review archive

Watch a pulsar's plasma erupt

Get answers to more of astronomy's big questions

Learn more about Titan's similarities with Earth

And more!

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Astronomy magazine, the world's leading publication for astronomy enthusiasts, seeks a managing editor. The successful candidate will partner with the editor to manage a professional, dedicated, seven-member editorial staff and report to the editor of the magazine. The staff comprises a talented group of educated, motivated, creative journalists and amateur astronomers. Relationships with others will be key: The staff works as a team with top-quality art, production, and photography departments to produce the world's most beautiful and authoritative astronomy periodical. Learn more about this opportunity.

In the third installment of our Cosmology 101 video series, Astronomy Associate Editor Liz Kruesi focuses on dark energy. Watch the video.

* Observe easy-to-find objects in the 2009-2010 winter sky, with Senior Editor Rich Talcott

* These videos are available to registered users of Astronomy.com. Registration is free. Sign up today.

Winter observing targets for large telescopes, with Astronomy Editor David J. Eicher

Videos with the A+ symbol are only available to Astronomy magazine subscribers. Not a subscriber? Subscribe today!


Watch more videos from Astronomy magazine.

Astronomy.com is now accepting submissions for the 2010 Youth Essay Contest! The title for submitted essays is "What I love best about astronomy."

Prize: Two (2) round-trip airline tickets and 3-night accommodations for travel from anywhere in North America to the Northeast Astronomy Forum in Suffern, New York. NEAF will run April 17 to 18, 2010. Retail value: $2,000

Hurry! Entries must be postmarked or e-mailed by February 15, 2010. Entries must be 300-500 words, submitted in type-written paper copies or electronic copies in Microsoft Word. E-mail entries must be sent as attachments with the subject "Youth Essay Contest."

All entries must include the writer's name, address, age, telephone number, and e-mail address. Entrants must be 17 years of age or younger on May 1, 2010. The Astronomy staff will judge the entries. The winner will be announced on the Astronomy.com Web site on or about March 1. The winner must be accompanied on the trip by a parent or guardian.

Mailing address:
Astronomy magazine
Attn: Youth Essay Contest 2010
P.O. Box 1612
21027 Crossroads Circle
Waukesha, WI 53187-1612

E-mail your entry to: mquandt@kalmbach.com

Learn more here.

Several major planets, and at least one minor one (the asteroid Vesta), give solar system observers plenty of targets for a night under the stars. The two brightest objects - Venus and Jupiter - pass close to each other low in evening twilight in mid-February.

Mars and Saturn rule the sky from nearly dusk until dawn. The Red Planet reached its peak in January and has now begun to dim, although it still ranks among the sky's brightest points of light.

The ringed planet will peak in March and looks spectacular through a telescope. If you last through the night or simply get up at dawn, you'll spot Mercury low in the southeast in early February.

Astronomy magazine subscribers have access to the full version of The Sky this Month at Astronomy.com. Magazine subscribers also have access to advanced features with StarDome PLUS.

To find out when more observable objects will appear in your sky, visit Astronomy.com's sky events calendar.

Each week, Astronomy magazine Senior Editor Michael Bakich, a master at explaining how to observe, posts a podcast about three objects or events you can see in the sky.

Targets for January 29-February 5, 2010
Naked eye: Mars
Small telescope: Open cluster M46
Large telescope: Intergalactic Wanderer

Listen to podcast.

This week's podcast is sponsored by Celestron.

The weekly podcast is available to registered members of Astronomy.com. Registration is FREE, so sign up at Astronomy.com/register to make sure you don't miss an episode!

January is one of my favorite times of the year. Why, you ask? Because the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show is right around the corner! This year's show runs from January 30 through February 14. The Tucson show is a must at least once in the life of a rockhound. And for museums, meteorite collectors, dealers, and researchers, it is an opportunity to buy, sell, or trade specimens, and to learn from each other. Read more.

Read all of the editors' blog posts here.

Domenic Marra captured this image November 4, 2006, from Cincinnati, Ohio.

Mark Hanson took this image remotely through the LightBuckets online telescope rentals facility in Rodeo, New Mexico.

Antonis Farmakopoulos captured this image from Mauna Keratea Observatory in Athens, Greece.

Comets

Galaxies

Nebulae

Planets

Stars and Star Clusters

Sun and Moon

Trips and Tours

Other

If you have images you'd like to share, submit them to Astronomy.com/ReaderGallery.

What astroimages do you enjoy looking at the most? Vote here.

Perplexed by planets? Confused by cosmology? Baffled by black holes? Then send in your questions to askastro@astronomy.com or on Astronomy.com.

If you have an astronomy question about observing, equipment, the planets, stars, cosmology, or astronomy history, send it in! Astronomy magazine editors select five questions each month for publication in the Ask Astro section of the magazine. If your question is selected, we will forward it to an expert for a response. Then, the question and answer will appear together in a future issue. We may edit or revise your question for clarity.

Astronomy magazine subscribers have access to the Ask Astro archive. It's a great resource to satisfy your astronomy curiosity, and features hundreds of questions and answers!

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