We first learned about Panama’s growing astronomy enthusiasm when Astronomy columnist and contributing editor Stephen James O’Meara spent a few days in January there to attend the 1st Congress of Panama Amateur Astronomy 2011. At that time...

Somehow, the third and final full day of the 218th meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) has come and gone. It seems like just yesterday that I got to beautiful, if not quite sunny, Boston, Massachusetts! The day began with an unusual...

After recovering from Monday’s exertions , I began my second day at the 218th American Astronomical Society (AAS) meeting feeling fresh. Science, especially relating to the worlds around other stars, seemed to be more in focus Tuesday, though amateurs...

Get ready to say goodbye to the space shuttle program. NASA just announced that the Atlantis launch is scheduled for Friday, July 8. This will mark the very last flight of the program. I haven’t followed the space flight program extensively....

There was something for everyone Monday at the first full day of the 218th meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) in Boston, Massachusetts, held jointly with the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO). Fittingly, both AAVSO...

The 218th meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) officially began Sunday, with the opening reception taking place in Boston’s Fairmont Copley Plaza (just a stone’s throw from the famous Boston Common, and right next door to the...

Once again the time has come for a meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS), and this time I’ll be the one heading out to cover it for Astronomy . Officially starting on Sunday, astronomers from all over the country will converge on Boston...

Brenda Culbertson, a friend of Astronomy magazine, has been at Kennedy Space Center in Florida for 3 weeks to cover the final launch of space shuttle Endeavour . She’s now returning return home to Kansas, but not before she captured photos of one...

Well, it’s official — the space shuttle Endeavour successfully launched Monday morning on the STS-134 mission to the International Space Station, and we’re all that much closer to a world without any more shuttle launches. As some...

On May 16, Brenda Culbertson, an observational astronomer, astrophotographer, and outreach educator from Kansas, as well as a friend of Astronomy magazine, finally witnessed a space shuttle launch 17 days after Endeavour was scheduled to lift off from...

While waiting in Titusville, Florida, for the launch of space shuttle Endeavour , Astronomy ’s volunteer launch representative, Brenda Culbertson, was able to explore all Kennedy Space Center had to offer. On May 14, NASA offered a tour of Kennedy...

Many astronomy groups took advantage of National Astronomy Day on May 7 to host public events. One of them, the Southern Colorado Astronomical Society of Pueblo , held a successful public star party as part of Astronomy ’s Discover the Universe...

In response to reader requests, Kalmbach Publishing Co. launched its first-ever digital version of Astronomy magazine today on the Barnes & Noble Nook e-reader . From the Nook Newsstand , users of this increasingly popular hand-held device can now...

I had a great time attending the 2011 Northeast Astronomy Forum (NEAF) held in Suffern, New York, April 16–17. During the event, I wandered from booth to booth with a small video camera in hand asking astronomy vendors, astroimagers, and one very...

Prep for the final launch of space shuttle Endeavour continues in Titusville, Florida. The takeoff has been postponed several times since the original launch date of April 29, which was scrubbed because of an electrical short. Since then, NASA has overcome...

Just over a month ago, we announced that the Santa Barbara Astronomical Unit had won our 2010 Out-of-this-world Award for public outreach . Ruben Gutierrez, the group’s president, recently let me know how they’re doing, and how they’ve...

Brenda Culbertson, a friend of Astronomy magazine and an observational astronomer, astrophotographer, and outreach educator from Kansas, continues to wait in Titusville, Florida, for the launch of space shuttle Endeavour , now scheduled for May 16 at...

My colleague Liz Kruesi did a great job covering some of last week’s highlights at the Antarctic Science Symposium and IceCube and particle physics symposium , but unfortunately she couldn’t stay for the final event. That’s too bad,...

Hundreds of astrophysicists were in Madison, Wisconsin, Wednesday through Saturday of last week to celebrate the completion of the IceCube neutrino detector — on time and on budget. (This is a pretty awesome achievement in astronomy experiments...

If we could, an Astronomy staff member would attend every shuttle launch down in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Unfortunately, that’s not in the budget, so we rely on friends of the magazine to represent us at such events. When we found out Brenda Culbertson...

Perhaps the most-famous meteoriticist of all time is Dr. Harvey Harlow Nininger (1887–1986). His fascination with meteorites started when he witnessed a fireball in 1923. Nininger, a biologist, yearned for the opportunity to collect and research...