March 2000

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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

Hunting Planets Beyond

By Geoff Marcy, Paul Butler

With 33 extrasolar planets now known - and none similar to those in our solar system - astronomers are changing their ideas on how planets form.

pg. 42

Switched at Birth

By Mark Sincell

Planetary scientists used to think that gas-giant planets took a billion years to form, but recent studies suggest the process lasted a mere few million years.

pg. 48

Hubble Warrior

By Sally Stephens

How old and big is the cosmos, and how fast is it expanding? Cosmologist Wendy Freedman finds herself at the center of these raging debates.

pg. 52

Night Visions

By Neil Folberg

The author combines an artist's eye with the right technique and a perfect location in Israel's Negev Desert to create stunning starscapes.

pg. 61

Reaching for the Sun

By James S. Trefil

In 1835 French philosopher Auguste Comte declared that we would never be able to learn what celestial objects are made of. He didn't count on the ingenuity of scientists.

pg. 70

How to Record the Digital Sky

By Gregory Terrance

Many people think that CCD imaging requires lots of technical know-how, but a few simple techniques will have you capturing great shots in no time.

pg. 88

ETXtasy

By Steve Edberg

Meade's new 3.6-inch ETX telescope has added built-in motors and an optional Autostar computer system to make a good scope even better.

pg. 94

Departments

Behind the Scenes

Faster, Cheaper, Not Good Enough

Talking Back

AstroNews

- Mars Exploration: The Sounds of Silence
- The Milky Way's Hunger for Galaxies
- A Hot Time on Io
- Leonid Meteors Strike the Moon
- When Galaxies Collide
- Neptune's Triton a Mere Babe
- Lunar Activity Doesn't Pan Out

Sky Show

In perhaps the nicest grouping of planets all year, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn line up in the March evening sky.

Ask Astro

Star Stuff

Products
- A Musical Space Tour
- A New View
- The Apo-Eater
Books
- Galileo's Daughter
- The Sun in the Church
- The Hand of God
- God's Equation: Einstein, Relativity, and the
Expanding Universe
Bytes
- Deep Space CCD Atlas

Looking Ahead

Advertiser Index

Hot Shots

Leonids Were a Hit-or-Miss Show

Ultimate Exposure

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

	Mercury	Mercury	Venus	Venus
RISE	—		—
SET	—		—
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	Mars	Mars	Jupiter	Jupiter	Saturn	Saturn
RISE	—		—		—
SET	—		—		—
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