As I mentioned in my last blog, 27 graduate students from 22 countries are attending the Vatican Observatory Summer School (VOSS) this year. It continues until July 6. During my visit last week, I talked with many of the students, who represented such...

This summer, starting June 9, the Vatican Observatory hosted a summer school for graduate students who are studying a particular theme in astronomy or astrophysics. The seventh Vatican Observatory Summer School (VOSS), held at the Vatican Observatory...

The sweetest discoveries in science are often the ones nobody ever expected to make. Such is the story of the discovery of pulsars 40 years ago by Irish physicist Jocelyn Bell-Burnell and her Ph.D. thesis advisor, Antony Hewish. To earn her doctorate...

The Astronomical League has announced their winners of the Webmasters for the 2007 Webmaster Award. 1st place: Travis Swaim of the Oklahoma City Astronomy Club . 2nd place: Ken Slater of the Springfield Telescope Makers . 3rd place: Chris Reich of the...

So far, the nascent space-tourism industry has enjoyed a global media cuddle. In my own blogs, I've been pretty positive about the idea, seeing a potential boost to interest in space, in general, and the start of a new industry and new wealth. But...

The Visio 8x25 binoculars retail for $199. William Optics Many of us will never be able to afford a high-performance sports car. Instead, we pretend while driving our low-end autos by gripping the steering wheel with Porsche gloves, sitting on Lamborghini...

Springer If you've read any of my observing stories in Astronomy , you know I'm a big fan of sketching what you see through a telescope. I think it's the foremost activity that can make you a better observer. Sketching causes you to look for...

Looking for a different sort of vacation? Consider a trip to Mars. The European Space Agency (ESA) wants you. The mission, slated to begin next summer, is to work and live in a simulated spaceship for a 520-day round-trip to the Red Planet. Aside from...

We know Isaac Newton as a mathematician, physicist, astronomer, and philosopher, but a doomsayer debunker? The Hebrew University of Jerusalem recently released papers from Newton in which he detailed the earliest date of the Apocalypse. According to his...

Springer Most observers I know love atmospheric phenomena almost as much as deep-sky objects. And if these airborne effects occur after sunset, so much the better. The classic example of a nighttime atmospheric occurrence is the aurora borealis, or, for...

This week, scientists from around the world are gathering in Charlottesville, Virginia, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO). The NRAO , headquartered on the campus of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville...

Typically, parents use video baby monitors when they want to keep a remote eye on their precious flesh blobs. Chicagoland mother Natalie Meilinger received a different picture when looking at her receiver: Her baby had aged more than 50 years and obtained...

That bright point of light you see hanging in the western sky after sunset is none other than Venus. Aim your telescope at it, and you'll find it's more than a point. The "evening star" currently displays a disk some 25" across...

How much would you pay for the telescope Galileo used to observe Jupiter's moons? Or how about the eyepiece through which Halley peered at his comet for the first time? Such astronomical objects — if you could get your hands on them —...

Springer-Verlag London Limited A new book from a longtime observer has come to my attention. If you're new to amateur astronomy, thinking about buying a telescope, or wondering what you can point your new telescope at, pick up James Mullaney's...

Because I work for Astronomy magazine, one might assume my favorite show would be Carl Sagan's Cosmos or any of the Shatner, Stewart, or even Bakula varieties of Star Trek . Actually, my top pick is HBO's The Sopranos , which ends this Sunday...

After a weeklong stretch of off-and-on clouds, Tuesday evening dawned clear in Wisconsin. There, gleaming in the west as it has for the past several months, brilliant Venus dominated the sky. But Venus had added allure this evening: A new spacecraft was...

Pulsars, quasars, radio galaxies — these are all astronomical objects we know about thanks to radio astronomy. Giant dishes, like the 305-meter (1,000 feet) Arecibo Telescope in Puerto Rico, are necessary to gather faint and invisible radio-frequency...

What do astronomers do the day after a 13-hour trip up and down Mauna Kea, Hawaii? A few of them, led by expert volcanologist Stephen James O'Meara, spent the day exploring erupting lava from the Kilauea volcano. Each month, Steve writes the highly...

In this last installment of my mini-series on building your own observatory, I'll talk about permanent piers. Most amateurs install a pier upon which to place their main telescope. If this is the route you're taking, you'll need a footing...

Every activity has its sacred ground. For sports fans, it may be Yankee Stadium or Lambeau Field. For history buffs, perhaps the Giza Plateau or Rome would make the list. For astronomy enthusiasts, one site that consistently tops the list is the summit...

Honolulu is a planet-hunter's paradise this week. If you've read Dave Eicher's blog posts from Hawaii, you already know an army of astronomers is basking in the balmy heat of Honolulu at the annual meeting of the American Astronomical Society...