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 * * * SKY & TELESCOPE's WEEKLY NEWS BULLETIN - February 11, 2005 * * *

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Welcome to S&T's Weekly News Bulletin. Images, the full text of stories
abridged here, and other enhancements are available on our Web site,
SkyandTelescope.com, at the URLs provided below. (If the links don't work,
just manually type the URLs into your Web browser.) Clear skies!

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FLY ME TO THE MOONS

As NASA's Cassini spacecraft continues its looping orbit around Saturn's
moons, astronomers are receiving a flood of new, close-up shots of the
ringed planet's satellites. In mid-January Cassini captured images of two
of Saturn's closest and most intriguing neighbors: Mimas and Enceladus.

Mimas, made famous by its eerie similarity to the Death Star from Star
Wars, is seen against a beautiful blue Saturn in this image shot from 1.4
million kilometers (870,000 miles) away....

> http://SkyandTelescope.com/news/article_1461_1.asp

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A FLURRY OF EXOPLANET DISCOVERIES

Discoveries of extrasolar planets are coming so fast and furious that even
the planet hunters themselves can barely keep up. The current tally stands
at around 150 known planets, though the exact number depends on what
objects one chooses to call "planets." This week, astronomers announced
several important new findings at a conference in Aspen, Colorado.

The discoveries include an object with such a low mass -- just one-fifth
the mass of Pluto (roughly 0.0004 Earth mass) -- that it can hardly be
considered a "planet...."

> http://SkyandTelescope.com/news/article_1460_1.asp

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HUBBLE TAKES A HIT

The rumors that circulated in late January were true: The Bush
Administration's proposed budget for fiscal year 2006 includes no money to
service the Hubble Space Telescope. Outgoing NASA administrator Sean
O'Keefe said as much at a NASA press briefing on February 7th, the day
President George W. Bush delivered his latest spending plan to Congress.
Without another round of repairs and upgrades, Hubble is projected to die
in orbit in 2007 or 2008....

> http://SkyandTelescope.com/news/article_1459_1.asp

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HIGHLIGHTS OF THIS WEEK'S SKY

* First-quarter Moon on Tuesday, February 15th.
* Saturn (magnitude -0.2, in Gemini) shines brightly very high in the
southeast during evening.
* Jupiter (magnitude -2.2, in Virgo) rises in the east around 10 p.m. and
is well up in the southeast after midnight as the brightest "star" in the
sky.

For more details, see This Week's Sky at a Glance and Planet Roundup:

> http://SkyandTelescope.com/observing/ataglance

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TIME'S A TICKIN' (Advertisement)

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Celestial Wonders 2005 Calendar -- Sale $9.95 (orig. $12.95)
> http://SkyandTelescope.com/celestialwonders

Astronomical Calendar -- Sale $19.95 (orig. $24.95)
> http://SkyandTelescope.com/astronomicalcalendar

Year In Space Calendar -- Sale $9.95 (orig. $12.95)
> http://SkyandTelescope.com/campaigns.asp?id=407

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