For nearly a decade, University of California at Berkeley astronomer Geoff Marcy and his colleagues have been using the W. M. Keck Telescopes to discover giant planets orbiting distant stars. Now, with the successful launch of NASA’s Kepler mission, they will be using Keck I’s 10-meter astronomical eye to discover distant Earths. Kepler will pick out earthlike candidates. Keck will then zero in on them and determine if they are at all similar to our planet. Read more.

NASA’s Kepler mission successfully launched into space from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II at 10:49 p.m. EST, March 6. Kepler is designed to find the first Earth-sized planets orbiting stars at distances where water could pool on the planet’s surface. Liquid water is believed to be essential for the formation of life. Read more.

>> Related blog: Kepler satellite launches successfully
>> Complete mission coverage

An embedded moonlet appears as a faint, moving pinprick of light within Saturn’s G ring in images from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft. Scientists believe it is a main source of the G ring and its single ring arc. Read more.

Astronomers have gained valuable new insights about the atmosphere of the dwarf planet Pluto. Using European Southern Observatory’s (ESO) Very Large Telescope (VLT), the scientists found unexpectedly large amounts of methane in the atmosphere, and they also discovered that the atmosphere is hotter than the surface by about 40°, although it still only reaches a frigid -356° Fahrenheit.
Read more.

Out of a total of 139,944 votes cast online by the public since the “Hubble, You Decide” contest opened January 28, nearly 50 percent favored the interacting pair of spiral galaxies called Arp 274 (from the Arp Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies) over five other celestial candidates. Read more.

This NASA Hubble Space Telescope image shows three galaxies playing a game of gravitational tug-of-war that may result in the eventual demise of one of them. Located about 100 million light-years away in the constellation Piscis Austrinus the Southern Fish, the galaxy interaction may ultimately lead to the three reforming into two larger star cities. Read more.

United Kingdom astronomers, using a telescope aboard the NASA Swift satellite, have captured information from the early stages of a gamma-ray burst — the most violent and luminous explosions occurring in the universe since the Big Bang. Read more.

Cassini maps global pattern of Titan’s dunes
Geriatric pulsar still kicking
Space shuttle program completes new plan for next launch
Scientists uncover a curious case of missing asteroids
Into the Eye of the Helix

Experience the development exclusively designed for astronomy enthusiasts: Sierra la Rana Astronomy Village. This neighborhood preserves the dark skies for our residents, the McDonald Observatory, and the Big Bend region. We are adopting stringent lighting restrictions to protect and enhance nighttime stargazing. Sierra La Rana is a gated community just outside of the city of Alpine in West Texas and has some of the darkest skies in North America.

Learn more about Sierra La Rana.

Help us plan the June 2009 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.

Astronomy.com’s new Online Reader Gallery lets you browse, submit, and comment on spectacular images of galaxies, nebulae, star clusters, planets, comets, and more! You can search by subject, image, or even by specific object. A “slide show” option lets you scan a whole subject area with just one click.

New images are posted daily from amateur and professional astrophotographers all over the world. Check it out and submit your images today — Astronomy.com/ReaderGallery.

John Chumack captured this image of Comet Lulin February 21, 2009, from his observatories in Yellow Springs, Ohio. He submitted the image to the Online Reader Gallery that same night. Click here to view.

Phil Jones captured this image of the Green Comet February 22, 2009, from Clifton, Texas. It was featured as Astronomy.com’s Picture of the Day February 25. Click here to view.

Steve Crouch took this image of NGC 3201 from his backyard observatory in Canberra, Australia, February 24, 2009. You can see it and other images of star clusters in the Online Reader Gallery. Click here to view.

If you have images you’d like to share, submit them to Astronomy.com’s Online Reader Gallery at Astronomy.com/ReaderGallery or attach them to an e-mail sent to ReaderGallery@Astronomy.com. Make sure you include in your submission the date, location, equipment, and methods used in taking and processing each image. Submitted images may be used elsewhere on Astronomy.com or in Astronomy magazine.

A telescope can reveal many wondrous sights throughout the cosmos. Yet most observers would agree that none of these vistas matches the beauty of Saturn. You can judge for yourself as the ringed planet reaches its 2009 peak this month.

Saturn lies opposite the Sun in our sky March 8, which keeps it visible all night. Opposition also brings Saturn closest to Earth, so it shines brightest and appears biggest through a telescope. Saturn peaks at magnitude 0.5, making it the brightest object in its host constellation, Leo the Lion. The planet lies in southern Leo, beneath the Lion’s hindquarters.

March offers plenty of great observing opportunities, and Astronomy magazine subscribers have access to the full version of
The Sky this Month at Astronomy.com. Use it to spot asteroids, comets, planets, and more!

To find more observable objects in your sky, visit Astronomy.com’s sky events calendar.

Check out Astronomy.com’s interactive star chart, StarDome, to see an accurate map of your sky. It’ll help you locate some of this week’s key targets. Astronomy magazine subscribers have access to a slew of cool functions with StarDome PLUS.

In “The day Galileo changed the universe, part two,” Astronomy magazine Editor David J. Eicher talks about Galileo and his early use of the telescope. Watch the video.

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 March 6-13, 2009
Naked eye: Head of Hydra
Small telescope: Open cluster NGC 1981
Large telescope: Reflection nebula NGC 1999

Listen to podcast.

A dark night and a small- to medium-sized telescope are all you need to enjoy the deep-sky splendors that dot Earth’s skies. Oh, and one other thing — a good guide that describes what to look for and what you’ll see through the eyepiece.

We’re excited to offer one of the best deep-sky observing guides of the past decade. Author and Astronomy magazine Contributing Editor Tom Polakis created an exclusive series of articles for the magazine called “Celestial Portraits.” The series ran in Astronomy from April 1998 through March 2004, and now you can purchase and download the whole series in digital format.
Read more.

One of the International Year of Astronomy 2009 (IYA2009) Cornerstone projects that I’m really looking forward to is From Earth to the Universe (FETTU). During the next year, images of a variety of astronomical objects — planets, comets, stars, nebulae, galaxies, clusters, and more — will be on display in some non-traditional venues across the world. Read more.

If you looked at Venus with a small telescope or binoculars, you would have noticed that the planet was, like the Moon, a delicate crescent. In the east, Saturn rose after dark, and Comet Lulin was still visible in Leo the Lion. Last weekend I saw these astronomical beauties from the north country of Wisconsin. I was up near Crivetz, which is north of Green Bay a few hours’ drive from my home in Milwaukee. My friend David Niec, a Milwaukee-based artist, was up at his family’s cottage on Lake Pickerel to paint. Read more.

If you could spend a day with one of these great astronomers, whom would you choose?

Tycho Brahe
Galileo Galilei
Edmund Halley
Sir William Herschel
Edwin Hubble

Vote here.

Join astronomy discussions on everything from observing to astro imaging to education, and more here.

Here’s what people are talking about on the Reader Forums:

General discussion: Find answers to all your basic astronomy-related questions

Observing reports:Share details from your latest observing session

Cosmology: Discuss Big Bang theory, dark energy, cosmic inflation, and more

>> Search the Deep Sky archive.

>> Search the Telescope Making archive.