The world's best-selling astronomy magazine offers you the most exciting, visually stunning, and timely coverage of the heavens above. Each monthly issue includes expert science reporting, vivid color photography, complete sky coverage, spot-on observing tips, informative telescope reviews, and much more! All this in a user-friendly style that's perfect for astronomers at any level.
A new era in space
Astronomy
ASTRO LETTERS
A SHARP SCENE • Curiosity captures a martian landscape at two times of day.
HOT BYTES
JAMES WEBB SPACE TELESCOPE LAUNCHES • At long last, NASA’s next-generation telescope soars to space.
QUICK TAKES
SOLAR ORBITER’S POLAR APPROACHES
Cosmic butterfly sports one wing
Compliments to the chef
NEWFOUND PLANET’S HOST STARS ARE MOST MASSIVE YET
NASA grazes the Sun
MORE MISSING DARK MATTER
Men with glass • Explore the legacy of an ancient astronomer you’ve probably never heard of.
Hiding in Hydra • Turn your eyes to the sea serpent’s glittering scales this spring.
Your perfect first (and last) telescope • A bare-bones scope that fits most observer’s needs.
OUR INFANT UNIVERSE • During the Planck era, the universe was so small that our laws of physics break down. To dive deeper back in time, we’ll need new scientific language.
APOLLO roves the lunar 16 highlands • The fifth crew to land on the Moon took lunar geology to new heights.
APRIL 2022 Venus and Jupiter meet • THE SOLAR SYSTEM’S CHANGING LANDSCAPE AS IT APPEARS IN EARTH’S SKY.
RISING MOON | Amazing Aristarchus
METEOR WATCH | Decent prospects
STAR DOME
PATHS OF THE PLANETS
COMET SEARCH | Better than NEOWISE?
LOCATING ASTEROIDS | Still on the Bull
CHANG’E 5 rewrites lunar history • The mission’s samples are the youngest lunar rocks yet found, leaving scientists wondering how the Moon stayed hot for so long.
THE CRATER-COUNTING CURVE
Check out these classic sky guides • Modern tech has made stargazing more accessible, but nothing beats an old-school observing guide.
The strange history of Mercury’s spots • Giovanni Schiaparelli didn’t just see canals on Mars. He also recorded odd markings on Mercury.
A SCHIAPARELLI CHALLENGE
Berenice’s Hair • Packed with a veritable smörgåsbord of galaxies, Coma Berenices is on full display this month.
The impropriety of rainbows • Rainbows exist at an uneasy nexus of light, shadow, and water.
NEW PRODUCTS
ASK ASTRO • Astronomy’s experts from around the globe answer your cosmic questions.
Cosmic portraits
BREAKTHROUGH
SOUTHERN SKY June 2022 • The evening sky awakens
STAR DOME