Study shows blue stragglers steal mass from companion stars. Read more.

Our spiders have been installed in small home scopes to large professional-grade telescopes. Our designs are proven, and stable; our selection is diverse enough to fit almost any application.

www.1800destiny.com or call
1-800-337-8469.

The February 2010 Astronomy magazine, on newsstands January 5, counts down the 10 most exciting astronomy stories of 2009, explains how astronomers probe weather on exoplanets, provides 10 tips for Moon watchers, explores the world of meteorite collecting, and more. The magazine also sky tests Explore Scientific's 5-inch refractor.

Get a sneak peek inside the issue here.

We've also updated the latest Web extras that complement February's stories. Subscribers can:

Access a digital version of the Explore Scientific 5-inch APO test in our online equipment review archive

See which news stories just missed the top 10 of 2009

Explore maps of monthly lunar targets

See how astronomers map the surface of an extrasolar world

And more!

Not a subscriber? Subscribe today to take advantage of all Astronomy and Astronomy.com have to offer.

Astronomy magazine Senior Editor Richard Talcott explains how you can see a meteor shower, several bright planets, notable constellations, and bright deep-sky objects this winter. Watch the video.

*This video is available to registered members of Astronomy.com. Registration is FREE, so sign up today at Astronomy.com/register!

Winter observing targets for small telescopes, with Astronomy Senior Editor Michael E. Bakich

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

Not a subscriber? Subscribe today to watch all Astronomy.com's subscriber videos.


Watch more videos from Astronomy magazine.

One of the great pleasures in observing the night sky is viewing the planets through a telescope. At almost any time of the year, either Jupiter or Saturn (or both) will be on display. Add to those the occasional appearances of Mercury and Venus, and there's always something new to see.

Mars ranks as more of a rarity. Once every 26 months or so, the Red Planet makes a grand appearance. That time is now. Mars reaches opposition and peak visibility in January, when it rightfully claims the bulk of our planet-viewing attention.

Mars does have some competition, however. Brilliant Jupiter makes its final stand in the evening sky before twilight swallows it. Shortly before midnight, Saturn joins the scene. And with Saturn high in the south before dawn in late January, Mercury puts on a nice show.

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 1-8, 2010
Naked eye: Double star Alnitak
Small telescope: Open cluster NGC 1817
Large telescope: Oyster Nebula

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!

At the risk of being pegged as Astronomy's entertainment reporter, I wonder what you all think about James Cameron's latest sci-fi epic, Avatar. To those of a certain age, Cameron may be best-known as Mr. Titanic, but he's also the guy who brought us Aliens, the Terminator movies, and The Abyss. Clearly, the guy knows how to make a movie. And so far, Avatar has received pretty good reviews, in addition to semi-fawning descriptions of the apparently revolutionary technology that went into making it. Plus it's in 3-D. Read more.

Read all of the editors' blog posts here.

John Bishop captured this image of NGC 891, an edge-on spiral galaxy 27 million light-years distant in Andromeda, from Beeville, Texas.

Bob and Janice Fera from Foresthill, California, took this image.

Warren Spreng, Astronomy.com member "warbird123," posted this image December 27, 2009.

Comets

Galaxies

Nebulae

Planets

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 is your astronomy-related New Year's resolution? 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! Not a magazine subscriber? Subscribe today to take advantage of all Astronomy and Astronomy.com have to offer.

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