Here is the transcript for my podcast about how to see the constellation Lacerta, Pinwheel Galaxy, and Mirach's Ghost . Check out the Astronomy.com's interactive star chart to see an accurate map of your sky. It'll help you locate some...

Astronomy magazine Editor David J. Eicher (pictured blogging from the road at right) and Senior Editor Michael Bakich returned from their trip to Arizona Sky Village earlier this week. Now that they're back, we're uploading videos they took while...

I recently received a telephone call from a jazz musician, Michael Roach. He explained to me that he and the other members of the trio TEN27 have created seven original compositions inspired by astronomy and cosmology. As it turns out, a news article...

Paul Atkinson filed his third report from the 2008 Chiefland Star Party. Take it away, Paul! Monday night was pretty cold for Florida, and an unexpected cold front pushed through. The sky was clear, and the humidity all but disappeared. The seeing...

Earlier today, planetary scientists discussed preliminary findings from the MESSENGER spacecraft’s second flyby of Mercury. The October 6 encounter revealed about 30 percent of the planet previously unseen by spacecraft — an area larger than South America...

Are you good with statistics and interested in cosmology? Well, astronomers have issued a challenge to aid in the understanding of dark matter and dark energy — the mysterious stuff that makes up roughly 95 percent of our universe. Thirty-eight astronomers...

The final day in New Mexico and Arizona, traveling to the Arizona Sky Village (ASV) with Senior Editor Michael Bakich, was terrific. We enjoyed the hospitality of ASV founder Gene Turner and his girlfriend Loy Guzman, and we visited with an array of observers...

Now that the December issue has been mailed out, we’ve updated Astronomy.com with our newest Web extras that give subscribers complementary information to the articles in the magazine. This month, we have a cool video of some extreme organisms; some great...

Paul Atkinson sent us another report from the 2008 Chiefland Star Party. Thanks, Paul! Live from Chiefland Star Party 2008, here is the on-field report for Sunday night’s observing and Monday’s activities. Sunday night was an awesome observing...

In addition to Astronomy magazine Editor David J. Eicher's reports from his trip to Arizona Sky Village with Senior Editor Michael Bakich, we're also privileged to have updates from the 2008 Chiefland Star Party , in Chiefland, Florida. Chiefland...

Astronomy magazine Editor David J. Eicher filed this report from his trip to Arizona Sky Village: Friday opened up great adventures on our journey to the Arizona Sky Village (ASV). Senior Editor Michael Bakich and I continued our stay at Rancho Hidalgo...

“The skies on our first night did not disappoint. Armed with the group’s 30-inch f/4.4 Starmaster Dobsonian reflector and a computer-controlled database, we went after dozens of deep-sky objects.” After flying from Milwaukee to Denver to Tucson, Senior...

Noted astrophotographer and Astronomy contributor John Chumack sent us a cool video of the 2008 Orionid meteor shower ... this on the heels of a stunning Orionid image from magazine columnist Stephen James O’Meara. Both express a lot of enthusiasm for...

Here is the transcript for my podcast about how to see the constellation Triangulum, double star in Perseus, and NGC 891 . Check out the Astronomy.com's interactive star chart to see an accurate map of your sky. It'll help you locate some...

Astronomy magazine columnist Stephen James O'Meara sent us an image he took while observing the Orionid meteor shower. Here's the message he sent along with the image: "Despite the last-quarter Moon on October 21st, the Orionid meteor...

Later today I’m heading west, along with Senior Editor Michael Bakich , to a desolate area southeast of Tucson, Arizona, to visit the Arizona Sky Village (ASV). Michael and I will spend the next few days observing, observing, and observing. We’ll be...

India’s lunar probe Chandrayaan-1 finally blasted off last night. Make that one more space-faring nation on its way back to the Moon. One of Astronomy magazine’s columnists, James Oberg, sent the information below out to the various media interests...

In the past few days, I’ve had the pleasure to learn about a woman in Chicago who is truly taking the ideals of astronomy outreach and education to heart. Her name is Audrey Fischer, and she’s a member of the Chicago Astronomical Society . Currently,...

For a couple of years, the giant Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico has been under threat of closure because of budget cuts proposed by the National Science Foundation. It appears the budget axe will not fall on Arecibo’s valley-spanning disk just yet...

Here is the transcript for my podcast about how to see the constellation Piscis Austrinus, globular cluster M2, and the Saturn Nebula . Check out the Astronomy.com's interactive star chart to see an accurate map of your sky. It'll help you...

Interested in gamma-ray bursts (GRBs)? Well, you’re definitely not alone. GRB astronomers from more than 25 countries will be in Huntsville, Alabama, this coming Monday through Thursday (October 20 to 23) for the Sixth Huntsville Gamma-Ray Burst Symposium...

In this exclusive to Astronomy.com, science writer Lauren Cahoon shares the sights and sounds of the 2008 Division for Planetary Science meeting. Take it away, Lauren: It’s been an eventful 5 days at the 40th Division for Planetary Sciences meeting...

Astronomy magazine selected the Cincinnati Observatory Center (COC) as the winner of the 2008 Out-of-this-World Award for outstanding programming. COC separated itself from the pack with its “40 Telescopes” program. They intend to present forty 8...

Rocky, earthlike planets are way too small and dim to detect directly with today’s telescopes. Astronomers at Goddard Space Flight Center may have found a really clever way around this problem. The NASA researchers think we might be able to spot tiny...

In the November 2008 issue of Astronomy , I wrote a story called “The northern sky’s top 10 galaxies.” At the end of the report, I invited readers to submit their favorite galaxies or to comment on my list. I’ve received a couple of responses so far....