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unexplained systematic error. But regardless of the outcome, the
collaboration showcases the growing capabilities of amateurs to acquire
and analyze high-quality data, form networks, and engage in cutting-edge
research....

> http://SkyandTelescope.com/news/article_1419_1.asp

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EARTH SAFE FROM ASTEROID 2004 MN4

Throughout the Christmas holiday weekend, the astronomical community was
abuzz over the most significant impact threat to Earth yet found. As late
as December 27th, the near-Earth asteroid 2004 MN4 was given a 1-in-38
chance (2.7 percent) of hitting us 25 years from now -- on April 13, 2029,
to be exact. But thanks to prediscovery observations, astronomers can now
say with total confidence that the asteroid will miss our home planet....

> http://SkyandTelescope.com/news/article_1417_1.asp

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HUYGENS EN ROUTE TO TITAN

Cassini captured an image of the Huygens probe just 12 hours after it
separated from the mothership at 2:00 Universal Time on December 25, 2004.
Huygens, built by the European Space Agency, will remain dormant until it
approaches Saturn's cloud-enshrouded moon Titan on January 14th. After
being woken by an onboard timer, the probe will plunge through Titan's
atmosphere, a journey that should take 2 to 2.5 hours. If the probe
survives all the way to the surface, its batteries might last long enough
to acquire images and data for an additional hour....

> http://SkyandTelescope.com/news/article_1416_1.asp

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ASTRO NEWS BRIEFS

Solar Telescope Finds a Home

The Advanced Technology Solar Telescope, a proposed 4-meter instrument led
by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA), will
be built atop Haleakala on the Hawaiian island of Maui. The site selection
committee chose the location from 70 potential candidates after
determining it to be the best place to help astronomers fulfill the
telescope's primary science requirements. Scientists using the $161
million facility, set to begin construction next year, will endeavour to
understand solar variability, the Sun's magnetic field, and the role that
the magnetic field plays in solar flares. When built, ATST will be the
largest solar telescope in the world.

Swift Telescope Sees First Light

The Swift mission got off to a running start in December. Shortly after
astronomers turned on the telescope, its Burst Alert Telescope (BAT)
spotted an event on December 17th. The next day it saw three more
gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), and a fourth popped on December 20th. Around the
same time the spacecraft's X-ray Telescope (XRT) obtained first-light
images of the supernova remnant Cassiopeia A. The BAT saw first light
during observations of Cygnus X-1, a likely black hole orbiting a star in
the Milky Way. The XRT observed its first GRB afterglow on December 23rd.

> http://SkyandTelescope.com/news/article_1428_1.asp

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HIGHLIGHTS OF THIS WEEK'S SKY

* New Moon on Monday, January 10th.
* Saturn is at opposition on Thursday, January 13th. In fact, Earth is so
exactly between Saturn and the Sun at this opposition that an observer at
Saturn would see tiny Earth transiting across the face of the tiny Sun!
* Mercury and bright Venus (magnitudes -0.3 and -3.8, respectively) are
just above the southeast horizon when dawn is brightening.

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

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

========================================================================

CRUISE TO TOTALITY (Advertisement)
South Pacific Total Eclipse Cruise April 3-19

SKY & TELESCOPE and TravelQuest International invite you to join us as we
sail aboard the newly refurbished MV Discovery to witness April's total
solar eclipse near Polynesia. En route to and from our eclipse site we'll
visit exotic Tahiti, meet descendents of the HMS Bounty's crew on Pitcairn
Island, wander amid the mysterious stone statues of Easter Island, and
walk in the footsteps of the Inca in Peru. Add to all that the spectacular
southern sky, and you have the astronomical adventure of a lifetime.

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