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  * * * SKY & TELESCOPE's WEEKLY NEWS BULLETIN - December 22, 2005 * * *

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

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A SHORT-LIVED SPIRAL?

How long could hyperspace voyagers remain away from their home galaxy
before they couldn't recognize it upon returning home? If that galaxy is
8th-magnitude M77 in Cetus, the answer may be just 100 million years, a
cosmological eyeblink....

http://skyandtelescope.com/news/article_1643_1.asp

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GREENWICH OBSERVATORY'S FUND DRIVE TOPS OUT

Britain's Royal Observatory Greenwich, a major tourist site and the home
of Greenwich Mean Time and the world's prime-meridian (0 degrees)
longitude, has completed its fundraising campaign for renovation and new
construction. "I'm thrilled to confirm that, since the wonderful article
in the August Sky & Telescope, we've been successful in raising more than
œ4 million" ($7 million), says Roy Clare, director of the National
Maritime Museum, which oversees the observatory. This completes the
campaign's œ15 million goal....

http://skyandtelescope.com/news/article_1644_1.asp

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THE CHRISTMAS OCCULTATION OF SPICA

On Christmas morning, the waning crescent Moon will pass across and cover
up the 1st-magnitude star Spica as seen from most of North America. This
event offers a special and memorable way to start Christmas Day. Both the
disappearance of the star behind the Moon's bright edge, and its
reappearance later from behind the Moon's dark edge, happen in broad
daylight for much of the continent, so you'll need a telescope. Our
article and maps tell all you need to watch this unusual event from your
location:

http://SkyandTelescope.com/observing/objects/occultations/article_1620_1.asp

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HIGHLIGHTS OF THIS WEEK'S SKY

* Last-quarter Moon on Friday, December 23rd. New Moon on the 30th.
* Venus is the bright "Evening Star" in the southwest during and after
dusk. In a telescope, Venus is becoming an ever thinner but larger
crescent.
* Jupiter and Mercury shine at dawn.

http://SkyandTelescope.com/observing/ataglance/article_110_1.asp

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Copyright 2005 Sky Publishing Corp. S&T's Weekly News Bulletin is provided
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