Sirius B, the white-dwarf companion to Sirius, compared to the size of Earth

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A January 23, 2012 solar flare
Endeavour Crater, winter home of the Opportunity Mars rover
Infrared view of the spiral galaxy IC 342
Earth's atmosphere distorts the Moon as seen from the International Space Statio

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A Fresh Shower
This week on StarDate: The brightest star in the night sky has a companion that's a bare cosmic ember — a stellar corpse known as a white dwarf. Join us for brilliant Sirius, its faint companion, and much more about white dwarfs.

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Feb. 3: White Dwarfs III

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Feb. 2: White Dwarfs II

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Feb. 1: White Dwarfs

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Jan. 31: Sirius B

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Jan. 30: Sirius

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In Print

cover of 2012 Sky Almanac
Fact & Fallacy: Busting Cosmic Myths

The January/February issue brings you our Sky Almanac 2012, with skywatching tips, events, and charts for the entire year. We'll also debunk a year's worth of astronomical pseudoscience, including the so-called "end of the world" predicted for next December.

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