February/March 2010
Volume 6.  Number 2.  Issue 43

COVER STORY

Finding the First Galaxies
Hubble has imaged the most distant galaxies yet, but to see the first galaxies, astronomers need to go even deeper.
By Jonathan P. Gardner

NEWS & FEATURES 

News Notes

• A New Way to find Planets
• Herschel's First Show
• Starbirth in M83

and more...

Mission Update
By Jonathan McDowell

Cosmic Relief
Revising Earth's Biography
By David Grinspoon

Discoveries
Messages from Little Green Men?
By David Ellyard

Changing of the Guard

Amateur Exoplanets
Without amateur data, two recent discoveries of planets around other stars would not have been made.
By Robert Naeye

Rings, Lakes, and Geysers
The Saturnian system continues to be a place of wonders.
By Greg Bryant

A New Infrared Sky
NASA is launching its WISE mission to survey the entire sky at wavelengths poorly covered to now.
By Peter Eisenhardt and Ned Wright

PRODUCTS & REVIEWS

New Product Spotlight

• Meade 6-inch Lightswitch telescope
• Orion Nautilus Motorised Filter Wheel
• Celestron Edge HD telescope

AS&T Test Report
Sky-Watcher's Newest Apo Refractor
This 120-mm apo delivers images that are on par with premium-priced instruments.
By Dennis di Cicco

OBSERVING & EXPLORING

Binocular Highlight
Ups and Downs
By Les Dalrymple

Tonight's Sky
Sirius Nights
By Greg Bryant

Sun, Moon, and Planets
Mars and Saturn Shine Brightly
By Greg Bryant

Celestial Calendar
Comet Wild 2 at Perihelion
By David Seargent

Exploring The Moon
Craters upon Craters
By Charles A. Wood

July's South Pacific Eclipse
On July 11th a lot of ocean and a few tiny bits of land will lie under a Moon-blackened Sun.
By Fred Espenak and Jay Anderson

Double Star Notes
Steer North from Canopus
By Ross Gould

Deep Sky Delights
In the Vacuum of Space
By Les Dalrymple

Targets
The Flight of the Unicorn
By Sue French

Le Verrier and the Discovery of Sirius B
There was more to the discovery of Sirius' white-dwarf companion, now becoming visible again, than is usually told.
By Jay B. Holberg

ACTIVITIES & PEOPLE

Community News

Spacecraft Imaging for Amateurs
An international community of space enthusiasts has become adept at processing and reinterpreting images from planetary spacecraft.
By Emily Lakdawalla

Touring Astronomy's Past and Present
By Fred Watson

Telescope Workshop
To Curve, or Not to Curve
By Gary Seronik

Gallery

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE

Spectrum
Space-Based Astronomy
By Greg Bryant

Subscription Offer
Subscribe and receive a free Solar System DVD!

Manufacturer & Dealer Directory

Focal Point
Where Have All the Aliens Gone?
By Jacob Haqq-Misra and Seth D. Baum

Index to Advertisers