April 2012

This issue is currently out of stock and will not be reprinted.

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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

How we know black holes exist

By Liz Kruesi

Despite their invisibility, black holes noticeably modify their environments by producing high-speed jets and abnormally quick stellar movements.

pg. 24

Web Extra: Watch stars orbit our galaxys central black hole

By Liz Kruesi

Using decades of observations of stars at the Milky Way’s center, scientists know the mass of the black hole … and they’ve also created an animation illustrating how those stars move.

Probing Titan’s seas of sand

By Rosaly Lopes

Whether on Saturn’s largest moon or Earth, the ripples of sand dunes tell scientists about the local weather and surface phenomena.

pg. 30

Web Extra: Sands of the solar system

By Bill Andrews

How well can you recognize your home planet’s landscape?

Turning clouds of darkness into stars of light

By Bruce Dorminey

Small, dark, and ubiquitous, Bok globules offer astronomers an inside look at how low-mass stars form.

pg. 44

The Modoc Plateau beckons amateur astronomers

By Tony Hallas

This California location has beautiful scenery, lots of amenities, and spectacular dark skies.

pg. 52

Use Facebook to get more out of your hobby

By Michael E. Bakich

These nine tips will help you get the most out of this social network, connecting you to astroimagers, astronomy clubs around the world, and even space missions

pg. 56

How the constellations came to be

By Michael E. Bakich

The starry figures that fill our sky result from more than 6,000 years of human imagination.

pg. 58

Web Extra: Explore the constellations

By Michael E. Bakich

Imagers who specialize in wide-field views provide superb images of the constellations.

Astronomy tests Orion’s color video camera

By Chris Schur

The StarShoot Deep Space Video Camera displays celestial objects in real time and captures video frames.

pg. 60