Astronomy magazine columnist Stephen James O’Meara ’s sent us two blogs from the 2009 Pacific Astronomy and Telescope Show. Many thanks to Steve for sending these reports! Day One Arrived in Pasadena Saturday morning and immediately immersed myself in...

While it’s important to be professional and keep an adult attitude toward science and its popularization, we can all agree that it’s awesome to hear Carl Sagan sing about the cosmos in this tribute video on YouTube . Sounding like a cross between Auto...

What do you get when you combine more than 50 innovative telescope, camera, and accessory dealers with 1,000 eager amateur astronomers? The answer is the Pacific Astronomy and Telescope Show (PATS), which is happening this weekend in Pasadena, California...

I’m at the 2009 Pacific Astronomy and Telescope Show (PATS) that runs Saturday and Sunday. Early Friday, I ducked into several sessions of the Riverside Astroimaging Workshop (RAW). Organizers of RAW this year found speakers to present sessions on...

Last night our homeland at Astronomy magazine had the good fortune to receive a visit from a friend of the magazine, Dava Sobel. Dava is an award-winning science writer whose books, Longitude , Galileo’s Daughter , and The Planets , have graced the New...

This weekend, thousands of avid amateur astronomers and interested hobbyists are converging on Pasadena, California, for the 2009 Pacific Astronomy and Telescope Show (PATS). And, guess what? I’m here, too. Astronomy magazine represents the largest audience...

Here’s something of a shout-out to some of our Wisconsin neighbors: Ray Setzer has created virtual tours of the grounds of the Modine-Benstead Observatory in Union Grove. Part of the surprisingly sophisticated Racine Astronomical Society , the observatory...

I just finished reading John Hicks’ new book, Building a Roll-Off Roof Observatory — A Complete Guide for Design and Construction (Springer, 2009). This is the latest entry in British astronomy popularizer Patrick Moore’s Practical Astronomy Series. Hicks...

NASA’s Desert RATS — or Research and Technology Studies — has concluded two weeks of technology development tests on two of the agency's prototype lunar rovers from the Black Point Lava Flow in Arizona. The studies allow NASA to analyze and refine...

Following the dedication of Astronomy magazine’s observatory , and of Pluto discoverer Clyde Tombaugh’s telescope at Rancho Hidalgo, New Mexico, desert adventure awaited us. Astronomy ’s publisher Kevin Keefe had joined me to trek out to visit developer...

Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to present the best-ever ultraviolet picture (at right) of our galactic neighbor, M31, aka the Andromeda Galaxy. Taken by NASA’s Swift satellite, which normally scans the skies for far-off gamma-ray bursts, this picture...

On Thursday night, September 17, at Rancho Hidalgo near Animas, New Mexico, Astronomy magazine editors joined a group of some 50 people to dedicate the magazine’s new observatory facility and to dedicate Pluto discoverer Clyde Tombaugh’s personal telescope...

On September 15, the City of Alpine, Texas, approved a proclamation that designated October as “Dark Sky Month.” This announcement came as citizens worked towards having Alpine recognized by the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) under its Dark...

Dwarf planet Haumea, out in the Kuiper Belt past Pluto and Eris, just got its big break. The formerly little-known object hit the big time Wednesday at the European Planetary Science Congress when Pedro Lacerda announced a dark red spot on its surface...

I just got word that Washburn Observatory, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, will soon reopen after 2 years of renovations. Finally! Not that 2 years is a long time, but it is the entirety of my time in Madison. Now that my alma mater has reopened...

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I’m working on Astronomy ’s article ranking the top 10 space stories of the past year . One of those stories is that 2009 is the International Year of Astronomy. The year has had so many events marking this celebration...

Now, I know the main science objectives of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) — currently in orbit around the Moon — are to help NASA identify safe landing sites for future explorers, locate potential resources, describe the Moon's radiation environment...

Just in time for a lazy 3-day weekend, we learn the folks at NASA have their lighter side, too. In the Day 6 execute packages for current shuttle mission STS-128 , NASA sneaked in a “(Fake News) Press Release” relating to the treadmill named for Comedy...

If you need some good news in your day, consider the recent findings that our Milky Way galaxy most likely won’t suffer a grisly fate . At least, not a specific kind of grisly fate. Probably. For years, scientists have wondered whether collisions between...

The Astronomical League, a group of more than 20,000 members that represents most of the astronomy clubs in the United States, has honored Alan Traino with its most prestigious honor, the Astronomical League Award. League President Terry Mann presented...

What CDs do you like to spin when you’re out under a dark sky enjoying a long evening of observing? As for me, I’ll pull one out from the old days — Pink Floyd’s epic Dark Side of the Moon . The classic album that sold 45 million copies was a stalwart...

Lunar and planetary imager Alan Friedman of Buffalo, New York, just sent me a terrific animation he made of Saturn. And it took him a while to do it. Friedman combined 6 years of Saturn observations to create the animation. It shows how the plane of the...

Just after midnight September 3 Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) or just before midnight September 2 for the rest of the United States, a Jupiter event begins that any amateur astronomer with a telescope and a clear sky overhead can see. The king of planets...

Are you one of those amateur astronomers who sees references to space or astronomy in the movies and either wants to capture the moment because you loved it or or can’t stand it because of inaccuracies? The editors of Astronomy want to know your favorite...