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 * * * SKY & TELESCOPE's SKYWATCHER'S BULLETIN - January 31, 2005 * * *

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Welcome to S&T's Skywatcher's Bulletin. More information on the items
below is available on our Web site, SkyandTelescope.com, at the URLs
provided. (If the links don't work, just manually type the URLs into your
Web browser.) Clear skies!
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A RARE GLIMPSE OF MARE ORIENTALE

If you haven't already found Mare Orientale, the Moon's most spectacular
"hidden" landform, don't delay your search. Scan the western lunar limb
during the morning hours of February 1st and 2nd. If you miss it, you'll
have one last chance at month's end.

http://SkyandTelescope.com/observing/objects/moon/article_723_1.asp

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COMET MACHHOLZ

This week the early evening sky is once again dark and moonless for
observing Comet Machholz. The comet is fading a little as it moves north
of Perseus and east of Cassiopeia. But it's still very visible in
binoculars, glowing at 4th magnitude -- a fuzzcloud with a brighter core.
It will remain a binocular object at least through February and visible in
a telescope at least through May.

http://SkyandTelescope.com/observing/objects/comets/article_1396_1.asp

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YOUNG-MOON HUNTING

Set your own record for sighting the thinnest crescent Moon at dusk.
Here's when and where you'll find these lunar slivers in 2005; your next
chance comes after the new Moon of February 8th.

http://SkyandTelescope.com/observing/objects/moon/article_1421_1.asp

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SKY AT A GLANCE

Watch the crescent Moon pass Antares and Mars in the dawn Thursday
(February 3rd) through Saturday mornings. To read more about what's
happening in the night sky this week, visit "This Week's Sky at a Glance":

http://SkyandTelescope.com/observing/ataglance

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LAST CHANCE TO GET ECLIPSED IN APRIL! (Advertisement)

Are you kicking yourself for not making plans to see the April 8th total
eclipse of the Sun in the South Pacific? Well, it's not too late to put
yourself in the path of the Moon's shadow. A handful of cabins remain
aboard the newly refurbished MV Discovery, which departs Tahiti on April
3rd en route to totality. Ports of call include Pitcairn Island, Easter
Island, and Lima, Peru, where the cruise ends on April 19th. SKY &
TELESCOPE magazine and TravelQuest International invite you to join S&T
editor in chief Rick Fienberg, contributing editor E. C. Krupp of Griffith
Observatory, and pioneering astrophotographer George Keene on this unique
adventure. Very few people will witness this total solar eclipse. You can
be among them!

For more information or to reserve your space, call TravelQuest today at
800-830-1998 or visit:

> http://www.tq-international.com/SouthPacificTotal/SoPachome.htm

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Copyright 2005 Sky Publishing Corp. S&T's Skywatcher's Bulletin is
provided as a free service to the astronomical community by the editors of
SKY & TELESCOPE magazine. This bulletin may not be redistributed or
republished in any form without written permission from Sky Publishing;
send e-mail to permissions{at}SkyandTelescope.com or call +1 617-864-7360.
More information about astronomical observing is available on our Web site
at http://SkyandTelescope.com/observing/.

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To change your address, unsubscribe from S&T's Skywatcher's Bulletin, or
subscribe to S&T's Weekly News Bulletin, which highlights the latest
discoveries from the world's astronomical observatories, go to this
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> http://SkyandTelescope.com/shopatsky/emailsubscribe.asp

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