May starts out with a bang and continues with two much-anticipated space exploration launches. In addition, more and more local events are being added to the United States’ International Year of Astronomy calendar , so be sure to keep checking in for...

Here is the transcript for my podcast about how to see the Zubeneschamali, globular cluster M5, and elliptical galaxy NGC 4697 this week. Check out the Astronomy.com's interactive star chart — StarDome — to see an accurate map of your sky....

Here is what the future of computer-simulated galaxy mergers may look like. This image to the right — unusual for its vivid color and detail — shows five stages of a collision between two virtual galaxies, cooked up by computer programs that simulate...

NASA has recently launched an expanded version of NASA Home and City , an interactive online program that allows users to discover some of the many NASA technologies that affect their everyday lives. The site takes visitors on an illustrated tour of the...

Here’s another great example of material I receive as Photo Editor of Astronomy . Astroimager Robert Lockwood from San Diego created an animation he did of Comet C/2007 N3 (Lulin). For the final animation, Robert combined 75 exposures — 25 each through...

Here is the transcript for my podcast about how to see the Kite, globular cluster M53, and the Hockey Stick Galaxy this week. Check out the Astronomy.com's interactive star chart — StarDome — to see an accurate map of your sky. It'll help...

Tuesday at the European Week of Astronomy and Space Science meeting in Hatfield, England, astronomers announced a new milestone: an extrasolar planet with the lowest confirmed mass of any yet discovered around a normal star . “Confirmed” . . . “normal...

Special post from Imelda B. Joson and Edwin L. Aguirre In the years since its inception, the Northeast Astro-Imaging Conference (NEAIC) has evolved into the largest gathering of its kind on the East Coast. Astrophotography aficionados from North America...

Is a big telescope better than a small one? Well, it all depends on what you want to use it for and how much the cost difference is. As with airplanes, bigger isn’t always better. A little two-place airplane works just fine for training pilots in the...

In my newest video, I give you an overview of the Big Bang Theory (the cosmology theory, not the television show), and help clear up a few common misconceptions. Hopefully the crazy world of cosmology will make a bit more sense after you’ve watched the...

Here is the transcript for my podcast about how to see the Spring Triangle, the Mini Coathanger, and irregular galaxy NGC 4449 this week. Check out the Astronomy.com's interactive star chart — StarDome — to see an accurate map of your sky....

Astronomers eagerly anticipate the final Hubble Space Telescope (HST) servicing mission, set to blast off May 12 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. And they are already hard at work designing the observatory that will take over after Hubble...

Just before the New Year, I blogged about what I had learned about Astronomy.com visitors through the site’s weekly poll question posted on the home page . The magazine editors come up with each week’s poll question, and we choose the question because...

Amateur astronomer and imager Pete Lawrence of Selsey, England, just sent me a fabulous lunar mosaic he created. This image is so incredible that I wanted to share it with all of you. The amount of effort Pete expended to create this image astounds me...

Here is the transcript for my podcast about how to see the Y of constellation Virgo, globular cluster M3, and spiral galaxy NGC 4731 this week. Check out the Astronomy.com's interactive star chart — StarDome — to see an accurate map of your...

Telescopes have extended the human senses to unimaginably distant and inhospitable parts of the universe. A documentary beginning to air this week on public television stations in the United States tells the story of the telescope and its unveiling of...

I just received a link to a video of lunar images put together by British amateur astronomer Bruce A. Kingsley. He serves as the Lunar Photographic section coordinator for the British Astronomical Association. The video contains no narration, only a small...

On Friday, April 24, the first Dark Sky Party at Sierra la Rana will take place. Activities will begin at 7:30 P.M. and continue until 11 P.M. Organizers’ goals are to expose the public to the marvels of astronomy and the importance of protecting dark...

Last summer, my colleague Michael Bakich, a senior editor at Astronomy , kindly gave me a special filter that fits on the front of my 4-inch Celestron NexStar, thus allowing me to observe the Sun without turning my eyeball into a poached egg. I looked...

Here is the transcript for my podcast about how to see the Broken Engagement Ring, globular cluster M68, and the Helix Galaxy this week. Check out the Astronomy.com's interactive star chart — StarDome — to see an accurate map of your sky. It'll...

OK, April Fool’s Day is over. Some pretty clever pranks bounced around the Net yesterday, including a rumor that Admiral Adama of Battlestar Galactica fame is being considered for the post of NASA administrator. And then there was the one about the...

On Wednesday, April 1, our group of Astronomy magazine travelers on the Galileo tour experienced our last day of enjoying Italy’s sights. We concentrated on several more spectacular areas of Florence, setting off in the morning for the famous Uffizi Gallery...

Now that your May 2009 issue of Astronomy is in hand, we’ve updated Astronomy.com with our newest web extras to give subscribers exclusive complementary information on this special collector’s edition that celebrates the 400th anniversary of Galileo turning...