Sky & Telescope's Weekly Bulletin - Mar 17

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SKY & TELESCOPE'S WEEKLY BULLETIN - March 17, 2006
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Welcome to Sky & Telescope's Weekly Bulletin. Images, the full stories,
abridged here, and other enhancements are on our Web site, at:
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THIS WEEK'S NEWS
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New Evidence for Cosmic Inflation

March 16, 2006 | For three years the scientific community waited with
bated breath for new results from NASA's Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy
Probe (WMAP). It appears the wait was worth it. The WMAP science team
yesterday announced powerful new evidence to support the prevailing
cosmological model, in which the universe experienced an explosive
growth spurt within its first trillionth of a trillionth of a second --
a fleeting moment of hyperexpansion known as inflation. . . .

http://SkyandTelescope.com/news/article_1697_1.asp

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Massive Deep Ice on Mars

March 15, 2006 | The Mars Express spacecraft, built by the European
Space Agency, carries a radar experiment designed to probe deeply
beneath the Martian surface and reveal the true extent of the planet's
ice reserves. Scientists already knew that both of the planet's
permanent polar caps contain abundant water ice -- but they want to
know how much more lies hidden underground. Mars Express has now turned
up large, relatively pure "glaciers" of material, presumably ice, 1 to
3 kilometer thick. . .

http://SkyandTelescope.com/news/article_1695_1.asp

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Stardust's Tiny Treasures from a Comet

March 14, 2006 | If comets coalesce in the coldest parts of our solar
system, why do they contain crystals that formed under extremely hot
conditions? That's the mystery confronting scientists working on the
Stardust sample-return mission. On January 15th the Stardust spacecraft
safely returned dust from Comet Wild 2 to Earth. Shortly thereafter,
team members began their analysis of the captured grains. Much to their
surprise, the scientists found numerous minerals that formed very
close to the Sun. . . .

http://SkyandTelescope.com/news/article_1689_1.asp

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Mars Reconnaisance Orbiter Arrives

March 10, 2006 | NASA's latest Mars mission, the $710-million Mars
Reconnaissance Orbiter, has successfully fired its braking rocket to
enter Martian orbit. Over the next few months, the craft will
periodically dip through Mars's tenuous upper atmosphere to "aerobrake"
from its current highly elongated orbit into its planned
305-kilometer-high (190-mile-high) circular orbit. MRO's
high-resolution camera will image rocks and other features as small as
a kitchen table. Other instruments will provide unparalleled spectral
resolution, allowing geologists to map Mars's mineral and chemical
composition. MRO will return data to Earth at a rate 10 times greater
than any previous Mars orbiter. . . .

http://skyandtelescope.com/news/article_1693_1.asp

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OBSERVING - SKY AT A GLANCE
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March 17 - 25

Saturn gets a faint interloper among its moons this week:

http://SkyandTelescope.com/observing...icle_110_1.asp

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OBSERVING - THIS WEEK'S HIGHLIGHTS
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Saturn is putting on a fine show high overhead these evenings. Here's
everything to look for with your telescope:

http://SkyandTelescope.com/observing/

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SHOP AT SKY (Advertisement)
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Celestial Sampler: 60 Small-Scope Tours for Starlit Nights
By Sue French

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Celestial Sampler $24.95 plus shipping:

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Clyde Tombaugh: Discoverer of the Planet Pluto
By David H. Levy

This fascinating biography chronicles the life of one of the giants of
20th century astronomy. His work remains relevant today as astronomers
continue their search for planets in the outskirts of our solar system.

Clyde Tombaugh: Discoverer of the Planet Pluto $13.95, plus shipping:

http://www.shopatsky.com/index.asp?P...yde%2Btombaugh

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Stuart Goldman
Associate Editor http://SkyandTelescope.com
Night Sky Magazine http://NightSkyMag.com
49 Bay State Rd.
Cambridge, MA 02138