May 2010

The May 2010 Astronomy magazine, on newsstands April 6, probes the likely relationship between massive galaxies and the enormous black holes at their cores, examines astronomers' latest efforts searching for life beyond Earth, reviews Vixen's AX103S refractor telescope, provides a beautiful poster displaying our Milky Way Galaxy in tremendous detail, and more.

Features

Bonus Poster: Axel Mellinger's Milky Way mosaic

By Michael E. Bakich

An amateur astronomer captures our galaxy in glorious detail.

Exploring the galaxy-black hole connection

By Steve Nadis

Every large galaxy seems to have a supermassive black hole at its heart. Yet no one knows exactly how they feed off each other.

pg. 28

Web extra: Peering into the cosmic web

By Richard Talcott

Scientists use computers to simulate the structure and evolution of our universe.

The new search for life in the universe

By Christopher Chyba

Astrobiologist Christopher Chyba tells the inside story of how astronomers are searching for other life.

pg. 34

Web extra: Life at the extremes

By Liz Kruesi

If the organisms that scientists have found at Earth's extremes are any indication, life on other worlds could be pretty weird.

Galaxies near the dawn of time

By Richard Talcott

The Hubble Space Telescope's latest and greatest deep-field image uncovers a population of compact and ultra-blue galaxies more than 13 billion light-years from Earth.

pg. 56

Web extra: Hubble probes the distant universe

By Richard Talcott

The Hubble Ultra Deep Field 2009 is just the latest in a series of penetrating observations of the cosmos made with the Hubble Space Telescope during the past 15 years.

Target 30 obscure celestial gems

By Michael E. Bakich

This list of faint, fainter, and faintest deep-sky targets will take your observing skills to the next level.

pg. 64

Web extra: 30 obscure celestial gems — the details

By Michael E. Bakich

Here are the "where," "how bright," and "how big" for 30 little known telescope targets.

10 top summer binocular treats

By Phil Harrington

You won't need a large telescope to spot these celestial wonders.

pg. 70

Web extra: Seek out these summer gems