February 2008

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 an easy-to-understand, user-friendly style that's perfect for astronomers at any level.

Features

How comets shaped history

by Richard Jakiel

In ancient skies, a comet's sudden appearance provided both spectacle and portent — and savvy leaders took advantage.

Web extra: History's greatest comets

by Francis Reddy

Scroll through the past to see just how good a comet can be.

Journey to the heart of the Milky Way

by John Dvorak

Astronomers know a supermassive black hole anchors our galaxy's core. But they struggle to understand the origins of fast-moving stars that swarm it.

Web extra: The black-hole hostages of Sagittarius A

by Daniel Pendick

Did a medium-sized black hole drag a cluster of hot young stars to the Milky Way's core?

On the trail of hydrogen's heavy sibling

by Bruce Dorminey

With twice the mass of ordinary hydrogen, deuterium plays a weighty role in trying to comprehend the early universe, galactic evolution, and life's extent.