Senior Editor Michael Bakich’s last blog post, “ Party in Pluto Park ,” details his experiences at an event in New Mexico to commemorate Clyde Tombaugh’s 16-inch telescope. To be clear, Tombaugh discovered Pluto while he worked in Arizona, but he spent...

Here is the transcript for my podcast about how to see Heavenly G, NGC 2112, and the Double Bubble Nebula . Check out the Astronomy.com's interactive star chart to see an accurate map of your sky. It'll help you locate some of this week's...

On Wednesday I participated in a ceremony at Pluto Park in Animas, New Mexico, to dedicate the telescope of Clyde Tombaugh , the man who discovered Pluto. Tombaugh, who passed away in 1997, had set up the 16-inch telescope (he could also use an 18-inch...

Today, at Rancho Hidalgo, I had a rare opportunity. I helped reassemble Clyde Tombaugh's 16-inch reflecting telescope. Yes, it's that Clyde Tombaugh — the person who discovered ex-planet Pluto. Developer Gene Turner purchased the telescope...

Tuesday night, I arrived at Rancho Hidalgo in Animas, New Mexico, to find developer Gene Turner setting up the 30-inch Starmaster reflecting telescope. As I pounded down the magnificent steak dinner Gene had prepared, my continual thought was, "Has...

“Wow. This is freakin’ cool,” said the e-mail to me from Online Editor Matt Quandt. And indeed it is. Check out this interactive super-humongous panoramic image of President Obama’s inaugural address, courtesy of NASA’s Pancam. Photographer David Bergman...

This year is packed with special events celebrating the International Year of Astronomy 2009 (IYA2009), which commemorates the 400th anniversary of Galileo turning the telescope to the heavens. To help us keep track of all the important dates and activities...

Back in the August 2008 issue, I wrote about 10 “rising stars” in astronomy — a group of investigators whose work we thought you should know about. I’m happy to say two of the picks have already hit the bright lights. Rising star Scott Gaudi of Ohio...

Tuesday the 27th is a big day for me. I’m headed once again to observe from the pristine skies of Rancho Hidalgo in Animas, New Mexico. During the three nights I’m there, I’ll be using developer Gene Turner’s magnificent 30-inch Starmaster reflector ...

Travelers with Astronomy ’s solar eclipse expedition to Russia last summer saw a spectacular range of Russian churches and museums. The grandest of them all was St. Petersburg’s Hermitage, one of the greatest museums in the world. One of the nearly endless...

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

With all the talk of financial bailouts in these, shall we say, fiscally distressed times, I can’t be the only one wondering how NASA will fare in the new administration. When I saw the photo of the lunar rover rolling past the Presidential bandstand...

When I was in the British Museum this summer I again stumbled across an object that fascinates me every time I see it — the Jericho Skull. In 1953 in the city of Jericho, in what’s now the West Bank, Palestinian territories, archaeologists discovered...

Did you know that there are 878 World Heritage Sites , each designating a place of outstanding universal value? And protecting each is the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Among the sites are Australia’s Great...

From checking in on our forums every day, I realize that many young people who frequent Astronomy.com (and even those who already have an established career) wonder what it’s like to be an astronomer. What do their day-to-day lives entail? What are they...

If you love imaging celestial objects, Astronomy magazine is giving you the chance to show off your work in the 2009 Astronomy Astroimaging Contest . The competition offers three categories: Deep-sky, Solar system, and General. In addition to these...

Senior Editor Michael Bakich will be a monthly guest on “Overnight America with Jon Grayson,” a new radio program that originates from KMOX (AM 1120) in St. Louis. Michael used to be a monthly guest on Jon’s previous show, “Reality Check.” “Overnight...

Last summer I did the daring: spent a month on a military history trip to Europe with my dad John and son Chris and tramped all over World War II battlefields and historic sites. But we also got in some quality time in pure culture, too, as with several...

Here is the transcript for my podcast about how to see the twin stars Castor and Pollux, the 9–12 Geminorum Cluster, and the Eskimo Nebula . Check out the Astronomy.com's interactive star chart to see an accurate map of your sky. It'll help...

It’s been a busy couple of months for Virgin Galactic, Sir Richard Branson’s space tourism venture. WhiteKnightTwo — the mothership that will launch Virgin Galactic’s tourist spaceship, SpaceShipTwo — made its maiden flight from California’s Mojave Air...

Eclipses draw amateur astronomers like magnets to exotic places to see the biggest observing events of the year. The occasional eclipse book is a relatively rare item and a treasured keepsake — memories for those who went along and a dream book for those...

There was a time, long ago, when the publishers of Astronomy brought you two smaller quarterly magazines as well: Deep Sky and Telescope Making . These sister publications were extremely popular with amateur astronomers in the boom days of the Dobsonian...

I know what you’re thinking: People do astronomy in Wisconsin? Yes, indeed, and despite the usually miserable weather, astronomy continues to thrive as much as when Yerkes Observatory opened its dome in Lake Geneva more than 100 years ago. If you...

Once a week I’ll pick an image from a recent trip of mine that will cast some light on an astronomical subject — or maybe sometimes it’ll just be a cool image that will stray a little from astronomy. To start things off, here’s an important place...

Well, Wednesday was my shortened day. I was at the meeting for only the morning. In that time I went to three press conferences and wandered around some of the posters … all before 1:15 p.m. Then I had to bug off to grab my shuttle to the airport. Today...