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  • Blog Post: "Cosmic Adventures" video series returns

    [caption image="http://cs.astronomy.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-00-00-51-People/1856.CA_2D00_behind_2D00_the_2D00_scenes.jpg" position="right" targeturl="http://www.astronomy.com/cosmicadventures"]The new duo behind Cosmic Adventures is Associate Editors...
  • Blog Post: Asteroid Vesta in 3-D

    It seems like everyone is getting on the 3-D bandwagon these days, including scientists. Last week, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) released a new 3-D video of the giant asteroid Vesta created by Ralf Jaumann of the German Aerospace Center using data from the Dawn spacecraft’s first...
  • Blog Post: Watch a comet move

    Astroimager John Bunyan from Grants Pass, Oregon, just sent me a video of Comet C/2009 P1 (Garradd). Although the video’s run-time is short (only 5 seconds), it encompasses 2.5 hours of exposures. John shot thirty 5-minute images back to back and compiled them into this video. The movie shows...
  • Blog Post: A ridiculously basic problem on the set of "Cosmic Adventures"

    Ever wonder what goes on behind the scenes of “Liz and Bill’s Cosmic Adventures”? We just debuted Episode 4 , and reviewing the final draft of the video reminded me how much of a pain it was to film one of the scenes. (Spoiler alert if you haven't yet watched it!) Bill and I...
  • Blog Post: On the Road: Tunisia, in search of ancient meteorites, Day 9

    Astronomy magazine’s tour group of 22, accompanied by Chris McKay of NASA Ames, Melita Thorpe of MWT Associates, and your editor, enjoyed its last day of touring Tunisia on Monday, March 28. Intermittent Wi-Fi availability at our final hotel delayed my posting of this last day’s blog until...
  • Blog Post: The night sky lights and motion

    In my role as photo editor here at Astronomy magazine, I receive a great deal of images but surprisingly few videos. So, when a nice one does come in, I’m eager to share it. Astroimager Miguel Claro, who lives in Corroios, Portugal, sent in this time-lapse video along with the following explanation...
  • Blog Post: Behind the scenes — Cosmic Adventures, episode 2

    Last week, Astronomy magazine posted the second episode of Liz and Bill’s Cosmic Adventures . For this one, we focused on extrasolar planets — worlds orbiting stars other than the Sun. This is a hot topic in astronomy, so we wanted to make this one of our first episodes. Creating this...
  • Blog Post: Behind the scenes of "Cosmic Adventures"

    We just launched the first episode of our new video series, “Liz and Bill’s Cosmic Adventures”! We’re so excited, we used an exclamation point. This project has been about 4 months in the making (although it feels like 14), so it’s fantastic and a great relief to see the...
  • Blog Post: New products abound at PATS 2010

    Senior Editor Michael E. Bakich talked to three well-known companies at the PATS 2010 about their new products. Click on the image above to go to the videos. Michael E. Bakich The third annual Pacific Astronomy and Telescope Show (PATS) occurred September 18–19, 2010. While I was at PATS, I talked to...
  • Blog Post: Tour Mercury in our new video

    Observers have known about Mercury's existence since antiquity, but it's difficult to study because of its position in the solar system. In the first installment of the "Tour the solar system" series, Associate Editor Liz Kruesi explores what scientists know about the innermost planet...
  • Blog Post: Grab the popcorn for our NEAF 2010 videos

    During his time at the 2010 Northeast Astronomy Forum, Astronomy magazine Assistant Editor Bill Andrews spoke with dozens of manufacturers about their products. Fortunately for us, he brought along a handheld high-definition video camera and recorded his conversations. Not even two weeks back from the...
  • Blog Post: A Venus and Mercury movie

    Steve Cullen, president of LightBuckets Online Telescope Rental, just sent me a cool video he took Thursday night. It shows Venus and Mercury setting behind the Chiricahua Mountains April 8, 2010, from the LightBuckets facility in Rodeo, New Mexico. Both planets now lie in the constellation Aries the...
  • Blog Post: Video: An interview with Michael Farmer of Michael Farmer Meteorites

    The fourth video I shot during my trip to the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show features Mike Farmer of Michael Farmer Meteorites ( meteoriteguy.com or meteoritehunter.com ). Note: When you click the link to the video , you'll find it below the three-part interview with the Meteorite Men. At the show,...
  • Blog Post: Video: An interview with the Science Channel's "Meteorite Men"

    The third video I shot during my trip to the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show features Geoff Notkin and Steve Arnold of Aerolite Meteorites in Tucson . If you’re into meteorites, you know Geoff and Steve (pictured at right) well as the Meteorite Men from the popular TV series currently running on the Science...
  • Blog Post: 2009 AIC recap: “Advanced” doesn’t begin to cover it, part one

    Renowned astroimager Adam Block of the Mount Lemmon SkyCenter presented a pair of workshops at the 2009 Advanced Imaging Conference. Michael E. Bakich photo As part of my duties as photo editor for the world’s most popular astronomy publication, I attended the sixth annual Advanced Imaging Conference...
  • Blog Post: A terrific Saturn animation

    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 planet’s ring system has changed during that time...
  • Blog Post: New video: Dark matter explained

    In my newest video, I give you an overview of dark matter , that mysterious stuff that makes up some 90 percent of the universe’s mass. During the last few decades, astronomers have gained convincing evidence that stars, gas, and dust aren’t all there is to the universe. Most of it is “dark” — both dark...
  • Blog Post: Watch the Perseids fly

    Longtime Astronomy contributor John Chumack of Dayton, Ohio, sent us a video we had to share with you. It shows 3 nights of Perseid meteor activity beginning with the evening of August 11 and continuing through the morning hours of August 14. During that time, Chumack recorded more than 240 meteors....
  • Blog Post: See a rotation movie of the new Jupiter impact site

    Astronomy contributor John Chumack was finally able to capture the Jupiter impact site with his 10-inch telescope from his backyard in Dayton, Ohio. And he was nice enough to share an image and a Jupiter rotation movie with us. Below is how he put the video together: There was an incredible amount of...
  • Blog Post: Live coverage of solar eclipse 2009

    Astronomy magazine Editor Dave Eicher and Senior Editors Rich Talcott and Michael Bakich are in China to witness the eclipse. They will send back live reports via the magazine's Twitter page at http://Twitter.com/AstronomyMag . Not a fan of Twitter? No problem, just go to Astronomy.com's solar...
  • Blog Post: New Video: The Big Bang explained

    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 production. This clip is the first in a series...
  • Blog Post: Lunar soft-sell

    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 bit of text, and lots of images. I enjoyed it...
  • Blog Post: Caught: a satellite on amateur astronomer’s first video?

    Check out this video from Astronomy reader Robert Massey of Fort Worth, Texas. Look to the top left of the grouping of four bright stars, at about the 11 o’clock position. A blob appears to move to the left. The video shows an object — a satellite or perhaps an asteroid? — tumbling through the field...
  • Blog Post: Video: The Day Galileo Changed the Universe, Part Two

    Several weeks ago, Astronomy ’s editors posted a video about Galileo and his remarkable first observations, “ The Day Galileo Changed the Universe, Part One ,” in which I discussed Galileo’s telescope and how it came to be. Now we’ve produced and posted part two of the series, and there will be a third...