| |  NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI | | | | Pluto: The new water world New data from New Horizons show water ice is Pluto’s crustal “bedrock,” the canvas on which its more volatile ices paint their seasonally changing patterns. | | |  ESA | | | | Antarctic fungi survive martian conditions on ISS Lifeforms taken from the most Mars-like place on Earth managed to survive the harsh conditions of space. | | |  William K. Hartmann | | | | Moon made in head-on collision Researchers looked at rocks from the Apollo 12, 15, and 17 missions, as well as six volcanic rocks from Earth’s mantle. Their results show our Moon’s violent origin. | | |  X-ray: NASA/CXC/Univ of Hertfordshire/M.Hardcastle et al.
Radio: CSIRO/ATNF/ATCA | | | | Blast from black hole in a galaxy far, far away The feeble skills of George Lucas’ Death Star pale in comparison to the force coming from Pictor A. | | | | |
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| | | | | | The Race to Cosmic Dawn, and more! This month’s issue of Astronomy covers the race to find evidence of cosmic inflation, tells the story of how Pluto got its name, looks at 25 tips to plan for the 2017 USA solar eclipse, explains how oxygen colors the universe’s life, and much more. | | | | | |
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| | | | LOCAL GROUP How much wood would a woodchuck chuck? Groundhog Day is one of the four so-called cross-quarter days, which mark the midpoints between the solstices and equinoxes. | | | | BONUS A sickness over the land Editor David J. Eicher discusses why scientists believe what they do, and why the public too often doesn’t go along. | | | |
| | | |  Luis Argerich | | | February sky highlights Five bright planets adorn morning during the first half of February. Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, Venus, and Mercury stretch from west to east across the sky an hour before sunrise.
Astronomy magazine subscribers have access to the complete version of February’s The Sky this Month at Astronomy.com. To learn about other daily sky events, visit The Sky this Week. | |  | Observing Podcast February 4 – 11 -
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Sharpless 2-301 | | | |
| | | | THE REAL REALITY SHOW Why is there an antiscience movement? Editor David J. Eicher talks about the disturbing antiscience trend gaining momentum around the world. | | | | SEASONAL OBSERVING Winter observing targets for small telescopes | | | |
| | | | PICTURE OF THE DAY The Milky Way above Balanced Rock in the Valley of Fire Famed astrophotographer Tony Hallas caught this Milky Way shot from Foresthill, California. | | | | | PLANETS Venus through the causeway Miguel Claro of Portugal lined up this view of Venus through the Giant’s Causeway, near Bushmills, on the northeast coast of Northern Ireland. | | | | | SUN AND MOON GALLERY The Sun on January 28 David Tyler from Flackwell Heath, England, took this image of the Sun. | | | | | | |
| | | | Send us your astronomy questions Perplexed by planets? Confused by cosmology? Baffled by black holes? Then send in your questions. If you have an astronomy question about observing, equipment, the planets, stars, cosmology, or astronomy history, send it in! Astronomy magazine editors select five questions each month for publication in the Ask Astro section of the magazine. If your question is selected, we will forward it to an expert for a response. Then, the question and answer will appear together in a future issue. We may edit or revise your question for clarity. | | | |
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