In a recent blog, I told you about the contest for a free ride into suborbital space sponsored by Microsoft Corp. and chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Inc. Ticket prices for such adventures run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars and even...

The next time you're out observing and you find yourself checking out the same objects one too many times, consider branching out into some new territory. Find a level of object that pushes your equipment and your observational skill, and draw up...

With its exciting operations at asteroid Itokawa in late 2005, Japan's Hayabusa showed the time has come for on-site exploration of near-Earth asteroids and comets. Dennis Ebbets and his colleagues at Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp. in Boulder...

A historic telescope is now very modern: the 200-inch (5.1 meters) Hale Telescope on Palomar Mountain in California has a web cam . The Hale was the world's largest telescope for 45 years (1948–1993), and it still performs science. This morning...

The star-forming region IC 348 is rendered as 3-D contours, together with slicing planes, in 3D Slicer. IIC/CfA "Astronomical medicine" isn't a word combination I ever expected to come across. Yet, today, while scoping out papers presented...

So you want to contribute to the science of astronomy, but you haven't yet gotten around to earning your Ph.D.? No problem. Amateur astronomers have more opportunities than ever to participate in professional research. If you have a computer and an...

You're a Silicon Valley god. You developed the most killer "killer app" in history. You just sold it to Google for a few billion dollars and change. You can have anything you want. What will it be? Diamond-encrusted cell phone? Nightly caviar...

After it begins operation in 2013, the 27.5-foot (8.4 meter) Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) will image an area of the sky roughly 50 times that of the Full Moon every 15 seconds. Its 3,000-megapixel digital camera will pour out 7,000 DVD's...

The big news in the observing world this past week has been the remarkable brightness of Comet C/2006 P1 (McNaught). It has now reached magnitude -2 — as bright as the planet Jupiter — and makes an impressive sight shortly after sunset. Comet...

I love words. Or as I sometimes say after firing off a particularly groan-inducing pun or double entendre, "I'm a word guy." So imagine my excitement, as both a lifelong word guy and a member of the Astronomy staff, when I heard the news...

Will fragments of a Chinese satellite threaten Hubble and other orbiting instruments? NASA/ESA On January 11, China launched a missile that destroyed one of its weather satellites. Although Beijing may tell the U.S. State Department and the world that...

Everyone carries around a kit bag of pet jokes or wisecracks. One of my favorites gets pulled out at every "just in case" moment in life, as in, "just in case something happens to me." Only in my case, it's "just in case a...

If you've never been to a star party, what are you waiting for? Star parties are ideal settings for amateur astronomers, especially beginners. Such gatherings offer several advantages. First, attending a star party places you in a group of like-minded...

Humans now live in a world of complete oversaturation. You see it everywhere you go. Everyone wants to drive faster, get places, do things, see people, make deals, move on down the road. We can't go anywhere without the latest cell phone, need 24...

Mars Express captured this view of the northern branch of Kasei Valles, one of the biggest outflow channels on Mars. ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum) Three years ago this week, the Mars rover Opportunity landed in a tiny crater in a largely featureless plain...

The entertainment media are abuzz today with reports that Disney is in final negotiations to create a new movie franchise — a la "Pirates of the Caribbean" — from the famous Edgar Rice Burroughs "John Carter of Mars" series...

Astronomers and native Hawaiians both worship Mauna Kea, but for very different reasons. The 13,796 foot (4,205 meter) peak of the volcano is the Mecca of ground-based astronomy. It hosts 12 observatories, including the Keck, Gemini North, and Subaru...

The other day, I was interviewing Harvey Richer, a professor of astronomy at the University of British Columbia . He and one of his former Ph.D. students, Jason Kalirai, recently discovered the most distant star clusters ever observed. The press material...

In my last blog, I talked about the many reasons to head out to a star party. I'm following up in this blog (and the next two) by outlining some tips that will keep you from incurring the wrath of fellow star-partiers. First, follow all posted instructions...

About half of our readers observe regularly. I hope you're one of them, because those of us who scan the sky find observing both fun and rewarding. Plus, this blog will mean more to you. Here's a question for observers: Are you in a rut? Now,...

Following up on last week's start, here are a few more suggestions I hope you'll consider before you attend a star party. With regard to viewing through someone else's telescope — focus! I have suggested this to thousands of people,...

"Water on Mars!" Headlines like this almost write themselves. The media jump at the opportunity to trumpet such reports — and what the implications may be for life on other worlds. It happens with Mars (frequently), Jupiter's moon...

Here's the last installment of my tips for beginning star-party goers. Never move someone's telescope without permission. If the object you're observing seems to be drifting out of the field of view, briefly mention this to the telescope's...

How many times have you looked up at the night sky — or at a stunning image in Astronomy magazine of a single galaxy containing billions of stars — and thought: "There has just got to be life out there"? The trick is finding it....

January 28 to February 3 has been a tough week for NASA and the United States public. On January 27, 1967, the Apollo I capsule caught fire during a pre-flight test, killing astronauts Edward White, Virgil (Gus) Grissom, and Roger Chaffee. On January...