February 2001

Subscribe today and save!
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

Here, There, and Everywhere?

By Steve Nadis

Which came first - galaxies or the supermassive black holes that lurk in their centers? New evidence hints that the galaxies we see grew from the inside out.

pg. 34

Predicting the Past

By Marcia Bartusiak

With giant new telescopes at their disposal, astronomers can now see back to the time when stars and galaxies first flooded the universe with light.

pg. 40

Primetime

By Robert Irion

Astronomers must compete fiercely for the most precious commodity on the market - research time on the biggest and best telescopes.

pg. 46

Taking the High Road

By Kenneth Hewitt-White

A trip to the mountaintop brings one amateur astronomer closer to nature and, more importantly, to the deep-sky objects he loves.

pg. 52

Telescopes for the Masses

By David J. Eicher

Combine easy setup with sharp optics and computerized operation in an affordable package and you have Meade's new line of ETX refractors.

pg. 72

Celestial Portraits: Pictor, Dorado, & Mensa

By Tom Polakis

These southern consellations might not merit a second look if not for the brilliant star clusters and splashy nebulae of the biggest and brightest galaxy visible from Earth.

pg. 78

Sharpen Your Images

By Bob Berman

While a bigger telescope will always deliver brighter images, it won't necessarily produce sharper images.

pg. 84

Departments

Behind the Scenes

Let's Go to Pluto

Talking Back

AstroNews

- Lonely, Dim Objects Spark Big Debate
- No Planets in Globular Cluster
- New Views of Volcanic Io
- Six More Moons for Saturn
- Mars in 3-D
- Gemini Reveals Galaxy's Center

Sky Show

With Venus at its brightest in the west and Jupiter and Saturn dominating the south, February evenings provide plenty of good views.

Ask Astro

Strange Universe

Star Stuff

Products
- Sky and Earth 80mm
- Bino-Viewer
- Focusing Knobs
Books
- Supersymmetry: Unveiling the Ultimate Laws of
Nature
- Shoemaker by Levy: The Man Who Made an Impact
- Einstein's Unfinished Symphony: Listening to the
Sounds of Space-Time

Looking Ahead

Hot Shots

The "Beskydy" Bolide

Ultimate Exposure

	Sun	Sun	Moon
RISE	—		—	PHASE	—
SET	—		—	DISK	—

	Mercury	Mercury	Venus	Venus
RISE	—		—
SET	—		—
		—		—

	Mars	Mars	Jupiter	Jupiter	Saturn	Saturn
RISE	—		—		—
SET	—		—		—
		—		—		—