On the cover: Sojourner on Mars. NASA's remote-controlled rover sets off to explore the surface of the Red Planet in July 1997. (NASA/JPL)

From rocks on the surface of Mars to the billions of galaxies that populate our universe, there are enough objects worthy of our attention to keep scientists busy for a good long while. In this issue, we take a look at both ends of the scale.

The Galactic Neighborhood
Author Ken Croswell starts us off with a look at our galactic neighborhood, the Local Group. Though its membership of 29 spiral, irregular and dwarf galaxies may seem slight, the Local Group has proved to be an invaluable research tool for astronomers studying galaxies elsewhere. The giant spiral Andromeda provides a surrogate for studying our own Milky Way and interactions between the Group's large and small members hints at what the future may hold for the Local Group.

Roving Reporter
The rocks on the surface of Mars seem similarly innumerable if the first Pathfinder images are any indication. And like the study of nearby galaxies, the Sojourner rover's analysis of just a few Martian rocks near the landing site yields a wealth of information about the geologic history of Mars as a whole.

AstroNews: Missions to Saturn and the Moon, HET dedication, asteroid fly-by

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