Dave's Universe - Astronomy Magazine - Interactive Star Charts, Planets, Meteors, Comets, Telescopes

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Speaking on comets at the 2014 Northeast Astronomy Forum

Posted yesterday by David Eicher

Sunday, April 13, was another mesmerizingly busy day at the Northeast Astronomy Forum (NEAF), held at Rockland Community College in Suffern, New York. Attendance was definitely up from last year, and the general feeling was that a flux of new people who have been watching the Cosmos series on FOX may have been filtering into the event. More than 100 vendors exhibited their telescopes, cameras, binoculars, and accessories, and there were plenty of exciting things going on with products, headlined...

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A jam-packed first day at the 2014 Northeast Astronomy Forum

Posted 2 days ago by David Eicher

Wow. I have been to the Northeast Astronomy Forum (NEAF) many times since the late 1980s, and I’ve never had a day there quite as jam-packed and intensely busy as was Saturday, April 12, the first day of NEAF 2014. Many thanks to my colleague Jeff Felbab, Astronomy magazine’s advertising sales manager, for setting up our impressive, new and improved booth. We were busy nearly continuously talking to hundreds of amateur astronomers throughout the whole day, handing out magazines, show...

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Heavy-duty imaging at the 2014 Northeast Astro-Imaging Conference

Posted 2 days ago by David Eicher

Day two of the famous Northeast Astro-Imaging Conference (NEAIC) got off to a fast start Friday, April 11, 2014, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Suffern, New York, with about 200 serious imagers attending talks and sharing their love of the universe. Talks began with a breathtaking session by English astroimager Gordon Haynes, who is using a new Tele Vue system from mid-north England to produce incredible views of deep-sky objects, many of them processed in Photoshop with the so-called Hubble Palet...

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Deep thoughts at the 2014 Northeast Astro-Imaging Conference

Posted 4 days ago by David Eicher

The Northeast Astro-Imaging Conference (NEAIC), one of the nation’s two great conferences for sky photographers, kicked off yesterday at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Suffern, New York. Some 200 dedicated skyshooters were on hand for a day of talks, vendor displays, workshops, and informal chatting about the rapidly evolving field of astroimaging in a two-day event that precedes the huge Northeast Astronomy Forum, which takes place this weekend.Many old friends were in attendance. The talks ar...

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Northeast Astronomy Forum looms

Posted 7 days ago by David Eicher

Tomorrow, I’ll be heading to Suffern, New York, to attend the Northeast Astro-Imaging Conference (NEAIC), on Thursday and Friday, and the largest annual gathering of amateur astronomy in the United States, the Northeast Astronomy Forum (NEAF), on Saturday and Sunday. As always, it will be a pleasure to see many of you there, and Jeff Felbab, Astronomy’s ad manager, will be along for NEAF, with our new and large booth set up. Please drop by and say hello. I’ll be delighted to b...

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Get ready for the StarLight Festival!

Posted 7 days ago by David Eicher

This Memorial Day weekend, I hope you will be in the area of Los Angeles — more specifically, near Big Bear, California. If so, you will be in for an incredible treat. Scott Roberts of Explore Scientific, a longtime friend of the magazine, has assembled an incredible array of fun in the first ever StarLight Festival, May 24–25, 2014, in Big Bear Lake, California. The event is proudly sponsored by Pepsi and is hosted by Scott’s own AstronomyOutreach Network. Quite an array...

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Starmus announces astrophotography school!

Posted 8 days ago by David Eicher

The most exciting astronomy meeting of our year will no doubt be the second Starmus Festival, to be held September 22–27, 2014, at Tenerife and La Palma in the Canary Islands, Spain. A who’s who of astronaut-explorers, astronomers, biologists, chemists, and musicians will gather for an amazing week of talks, socializing, stargazing, and music. Among those who will be attending and speaking are astronauts Charlie Duke, Edgar Mitchell, Jack Schmitt, Alexei Leonov, Vladimir Dzhanibekov...

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A phenomenal Mars shot ... from Earth

Posted 8 days ago by David Eicher

My friend Robert Burnham sent me a link to this incredible shot of Mars, made by Australian amateur astronomer Anthony Wesley. Anthony used a 16-inch scope and shot the image on March 6, 2014, from Murrumbateman, Australia. At the time, Mars was some 12.3 arcseconds across, and this photo shows great detail in the polar caps, albedo markings, and clouds — just great stuff. Mars is of course at its best in approximately six years just about now, reaching opposition tomorrow. Enjoy the...

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Real Reality Show starts on Astronomy.com

Posted 11 days ago by David Eicher

A couple weeks ago, I started a series of videos about astronomy and space that are meant to cut to the chase with some current topics that are going on in the field. The first week, I focused on some big news events of the last week of March — the cosmology discovery about inflation, gravitational waves, and so forth. Last week I discussed the distance scale of the solar system, with a chart and a walk down the hall displaying relative distances. You can find the first episode here.A...

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New FOX show wants astronomer in cast

Posted 11 days ago by David Eicher

A new FOX TV series called Utopia is looking for an astronomer. And you could be the one. Suzanne Gilreath of The Conlin Company in Los Angeles writes that the show, modeled after a successful Dutch TV series, will follow 15 people from around the country for a year as they create a new micro-society. An astronomer is likely to be useful for the group for navigation in the sky, for knowledge of the constellations, and for generally being a pretty smart person. Interested in spending a year of yo...

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Brian May and Rick Wakeman coming to Starmus Festival!

Posted 12 days ago by David Eicher

I have exciting news from my friend Garik Israelian on the amazing Starmus Festival, a gathering on astronomy, space exploration, cosmology, and music, set to be held in the Canary Islands this September. I’m delighted to say that Astronomy magazine is the festival’s exclusive media partner. This is going to be one of the biggest events in recent times for astronomy and space enthusiasts. I’ve already blogged about the event, and the speakers who have been announced, including ...

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Starmus Festival welcomes five legendary cosmonauts!

Posted 13 days ago by David Eicher

I have exciting news from my friend Garik Israelian on the amazing Starmus Festival, a gathering on astronomy, space exploration, cosmology, and music, set to be held in the Canary Islands this September. I’m delighted to say that Astronomy magazine is the festival’s exclusive media partner. This is going to be one of the biggest events in recent times for astronomy and space enthusiasts. I’ve already blogged about the event and the speakers who have been announced, including t...

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Reflections on Carl Sagan and the new Cosmos

Posted 13 days ago by David Eicher

I've watched the new incarnation of Cosmos with a sharp eye, for several reasons. When I was young, I was one of those who knew Carl Sagan, and I was materially influenced in my career path by him. Currently, I'm involved in a weekly series of Google Hangouts with Astronomy and Discover magazine editors critiquing and commenting on the episodes as they swing by. But I have to say that for all of this, I am very impressed with the job that the new Cosmos team has done. Listening to some of the r...

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Huffington Post Carl Sagan and Cosmos Blog

Posted 14 days ago by David Eicher

Many of you have asked me what I think of the new Cosmos TV series on FOX, hosted by Neil deGrasse Tyson. I love it. There are a few things to discuss at minor levels, but it is a superb production thus far, ably communicating the spirit and essence of Carl Sagan. Check out my full blog comments on the show, posted yesterday on The Huffington Post.And by the way, every week editors from Astronomy and Discover magazines are participating in a Google Hangout discussing the episodes in detail. The ...

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Join the Online Messier Marathon!

Posted 14 days ago by David Eicher

Many of you know our friend Gianluca Masi of Rome, Italy, who is owner and scientific director of the Virtual Telescope Project and an astrophysicist and curator of science at the planetarium in Rome. Gianluca has let me know that today, Tuesday, April 1, 2014, he is conducting an online virtual Messier Marathon, for the 6th time, in which you can observe all the Messier objects — star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies. The event starts at 18:00 UT, and you can participate via the...

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Tony Hallas's spectacular Orion Nebula

Posted 15 days ago by David Eicher

The Orion Nebula (M42) is the most observed emission nebula in the sky, a spectacular stellar birthplace located some 1,500 light-years away in the belt of the most famous constellation of the winter evening sky. It is often photographed by amateur astronomers — so much so that we are almost numbed by seeing too many images of it. This image, however, is different. Check out the superb detail in this shot by northern California astrophotographer Tony Hallas, a longtime friend and con...

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Northeast Astronomy Forum rapidly approaching

Posted 18 days ago by David Eicher

Once again, I’m delighted to say that Astronomy magazine will be a principal sponsor of the Northeast Astronomy Forum (NEAF) telescope show in New York, the largest astronomy gathering in the United States. This year, NEAF takes place April 12 and 13 at Rockland Community College in Suffern, New York, and is again hosted by the Rockland Astronomy Club.Chairman Ed Siemenn does a great job of running this big show, which draws several thousand people each year to view more than 100...

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Check out the Northeast Astro-Imaging Conference

Posted 19 days ago by David Eicher

Over the past 10 years, the Northeast Astro-Imaging Conference (NEAIC), held each year in Suffern, New York, has become one of the principal places where astrophotographers can learn a great deal from their fellow hobbyists. If you have any interest in imaging the sky, whether it be with simple camera and tripod or with sophisticated telescopic shooting, I really encourage you to go. This year, NEAIC takes place just before its sister conference, the Northeast Astronomy Forum, on April 10 and 11...

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Great contest for UK astroimagers

Posted 28 days ago by David Eicher

For those of you UK astrophotographers looking for a great opportunity, I want to pass along an announcement I just received from the UK National Photography Awards. This year's awards include an astronomy category, judged by one of England's most famous astronomers, Lord Martin Rees. I've included the full announcement below, and I encourage those eligible to participate. Good luck! --- UK National Photography Awards announce Lord Martin Rees as guest judge for Astronomy category The UK Nati...