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CURRENT ISSUE

    Dave's Universe
    Dave Eicher, editor of Astronomy magazine and science popularizer, brings you thoughts about astronomy, cosmology, nature, the hobby of astronomy, the sometimes disturbingly pseudoscientific culture we live in, and more.
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    Big plans with Celestron!

    Posted 20 hours ago by David Eicher
    Well, I can tell you that Astronomy’s new advertising manager, Jamie Rinehart, and I have had a marvelous brief trip to Los Angeles. On Tuesday we flew from Milwaukee to Denver, then Denver to Denver, and then Denver to LAX. Yes, you read that right: our Denver to LA flight was diverted after an hour in the air due to what the crew called “inappropriate baggage,” so we turned around and landed in Denver again. After 20 minutes on the ground, we took off from Denver for a second...
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    Hanging out at Meade Instruments

    Posted yesterday by David Eicher
    This week, Astronomy’s new advertising manager, Jamie Rinehart, and I are on a West Coast swing, visiting two of our advertising partners. On Tuesday, we had a wonderful time hanging out with the folks at Meade Instruments, the large telescope manufacturer based in Irvine, California, near Los Angeles. We spent a good part of the afternoon talking things over with Vice President of Sales Victor Aniceto and Meade’s new marketing manager, Thania Guardino, and have some exciting project...
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    Superstars of Astronomy interviews begin with Jeff Hester

    Posted 6 days ago by David Eicher
    Yes, I have been extremely quiet on the blog front lately, with many special projects frantically moving forward. The Astronomy team has several special issues of the magazine coming up; we have a revamped video series you will see soon; we are about to unveil a new series of fancy, illustrated online stories; lots of work is going on with the Asteroid Day movement; and much more. One announcement for today: Superstars of Astronomy, a new audio podcast interview series with the world’s lea...
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    Plans set for Tucson Star Party

    Posted 15 days ago by David Eicher
    In early February, Senior Editor Michael Bakich and I will be traveling to Arizona for a big trip that will be centered on our annual public star party in Tucson. We’ll also be trekking northward to Flagstaff to visit significant institutions: Lowell Observatory, the U.S. Naval Observatory, and the U.S. Geological Survey. Some fun things will come out of that trip. We will also be covering the meteorite-related activities at the annual Tucson Gem and Mineral Show, which is held each Februa...
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    Virtual Telescope Project targets Comet Lovejoy

    Posted 24 days ago by David Eicher
    Our good friend Gianluca Masi of Rome operates the wonderful Virtual Telescope Project 2.0, through which you can observe various astronomical objects remotely on your computer. Take note that tomorrow, Gianluca will present “A Comet for Christmas: Observation of Comet Lovejoy” online at 19h UT, which is 2 p.m. EST.He will also host a Comet Lovejoy observing session on January 11. I encourage you to check it out.Follow David J. Eicher on Twitter: www.twitter.com/deicherstar...
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    Superstars of Astronomy: new audio podcast series

    Posted 24 days ago by David Eicher
    “Superstars of Astronomy” is a new series of in-depth audio podcast interviews brought to you by Astronomy magazine and with the generous support of Celestron. With me serving as your host, the monthly series will feature hourlong interviews with some of the world’s foremost astronomers, astrophysicists, planetary scientists, and cosmologists, taking you into the worlds of their research in a new and unique way. By listening to “Superstars of Astronomy,” you’l...
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    Korey Haynes joins Astronomy magazine staff

    Posted one month ago by David Eicher
    Please help me welcome our newest associate editor, Korey Haynes. Korey comes to Astronomy magazine fresh from a Ph.D. program at George Mason University in Virginia, where she studied astronomy. She spent most of her time in grad school at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, studying exoplanet atmospheres and looking for water on alien worlds. In addition to research, she was a writer for Astrobites, a blog that posts daily summaries of astronomy journal articles, and she also enjoyed vol...
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    Science Book a Day interviews David Eicher

    Posted one month ago by David Eicher
    Last week, I had the opportunity to do an interview with the Australian website Science Book a Day (sciencebookaday.com). We discussed the Starmus Festival, the Starmus book — Starmus: 50 Years of Man in Space — and my other upcoming book projects. You can read the interview on their website. Follow David J. Eicher on Twitter: www.twitter.com/deicherstar...
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    Amazing Comet Lovejoy photo from Damian Peach

    Posted one month ago by David Eicher
    The incredible astroimager Damian Peach, frequent contributor to Astronomy magazine, has done it again. Here is Damian’s just-taken image of Comet Lovejoy (C/2014 Q2), which is poised to be a nice binocular object in the southern sky as it climbs northward during the last days of December. Damian imaged the comet, now at around 7th magnitude, on December 16, 2014, using a 20-inch CDK with a FLI CCD camera and an LRGB composite exposure. The comet will climb northward through Eridanus, Taur...
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    Book excerpt: Do stars knock comets from the Oort Cloud?

    Posted one month ago by David Eicher
    The following excerpt comes from my book Comets! Visitors from Deep Space, published last year by Cambridge University Press. Astronomers believe that in the solar system’s past, stars have sometimes passed through the Oort Cloud. They propose that when this happened, a star would in effect tunnel its way through the cloud. A star of the Sun’s mass, moving at 20 km per second, would excavate a tube about 150 billion km wide (a distance 20 times greater than that between the Sun and P...
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    Front Page Science launches important 2017 eclipse site

    Posted one month ago by David Eicher
    The biggest observational event in astronomy, in the Americas, is approaching. On August 21, 2017, a total solar eclipse will sweep from northwest to southeast across the entire United States and promises to be the most observed eclipse in history. Astronomy magazine Senior Editor Michael Bakich has established a major event for eclipse viewers along the center line, in St. Joseph, Missouri, a perfectly placed spot that offers 2 minutes, 39 seconds of totality and the convenience of civilization...
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    Asteroid Day announced in London and San Francisco

    Posted one month ago by David Eicher
    You may have heard yesterday, amid the bustle of news about the approaching test of the Orion launch vehicle, of the other major astronomical news event of the day. At separate, simultaneous events in London and San Francisco, a distinguished group of scientists announced Asteroid Day, which will take place June 30, 2015. This important event, and movement, is being run by AsteroidDay.org, an organization founded by London-based filmmaker Grig Richters and supported by a who’s-who of plane...
    1

    Rob Pickman's "Not-So-Dark-Sky Observing Guide"

    Posted one month ago by David Eicher
    We’re all familiar with those night-sky observing dreams of a huge telescope under a pitch black, moonless sky. But what about those of us who are limited to a city sky or under moderate suburban light pollution? A Florida observer, Rob Pickman, has published a guide for all of us who do not have a perfect sky. The Not-So-Dark-Sky Observing Guide features practical advice and numerous renderings of eyepiece views of interesting stars and bright deep-sky objects, largely clusters, visible f...
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    The absolute necessity of the 2015 Observer's Handbook

    Posted one month ago by David Eicher
    I’ve been an observer of the sky for about 38 years now, since I was 15 years old. Looking back on those days, compared with today, is astonishing. I used a 7x50 finder scope on my 17.5-inch Dobsonian reflector, and I knew the whole sky, in terms of star-hopping to deep-sky objects. Now computerized databases guide us with telescopes that know where to point. We used to think objects like the Veil Nebula were challenging; now we routinely gaze at distant galaxy clusters and quasars. So muc...
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    A great new astrophoto book

    Posted one month ago by David Eicher
    Many of you who read Astronomy magazine know the name Rogelio Bernal Andreo quite well. A frequent astrophotography contributor to the magazine, Rogelio is an accomplished deep-sky shooter, and I had the great joy of spending time with him at the Starmus Astrophoto School on La Palma this past September. Now, Rogelo has created a beautiful new book from his astroimaging, Hawai’i Nights. This magnificent visual treasure presents the results of 27 nights Rogelio spent skyshooting in Hawaii, ...
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    Astronauts, scientists, Nobel laureates, technologists, and artists to announce Asteroid Awareness Day

    Posted one month ago by David Eicher
    Leading experts in astronomy, cosmology, physics, and entertainment will hold a simultaneous press conference in London and San Francisco on December 3 to announce Asteroid Day — a global day of awareness to educate the world about asteroids: what they are, how frequently they impact Earth, and how we can protect our planet and humanity from potential disasters. Asteroid Day will be held June 30, 2015, with events around the world hosted by individuals and organizations, at schools, m...
    2

    Did comets bring water to Earth?

    Posted 2 months ago by David Eicher
    A book excerpt from COMETS! Visitors from Deep Space, by David J. Eicher (Cambridge University Press, New York, 2013) . . . A years-long affair with the idea of comets delivering a huge amount of water to Earth seemed built of pure, simple logic. Made largely of water ice, and existing perhaps in the trillions, they were the leading suspects. They also presumably retained their isotopic properties from the earliest days of the solar system. But recent measurements of the deuterium to hydrogen ra...
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    "The Theory of Everything" now in theaters

    Posted 2 months ago by David Eicher
    Several weeks ago, I had the chance to see The Theory of Everything, the new film about Stephen Hawking and Jane Hawking, at a screening. The film is now out in select theaters, and I heartily encourage you to go see it. It is a really enjoyable film. Of Eddie Redmayne’s performance as Stephen, Hawking himself last week said, “At times I thought he was me!”The film follows Stephen’s life from his days as a Ph.D. student to being honored by the Queen in 1989. It will be an...
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    Book excerpt: COMETS! By David J. Eicher

    Posted 2 months ago by David Eicher
    Here’s a little about comets from my recent Cambridge University Press book: Come to think of it, that’s one of the things that struck me as a teenager, lying out in that field, gazing up at Comet West. Suddenly, after I learned a little about what comets are, it hit me. They hammer home the immensity of the cosmos. Yes, they are relatively nearby. But seeing them move from night to night — changing their place against the backdrop of the stars glistening behind them — is...
    1

    Astronomy's Cosmic Origins app nominated for Folio Eddie Award

    Posted 2 months ago by David Eicher
    Released last spring, Cosmic Origins, a digital application from Astronomy magazine, has been nominated by Folio magazine for an editorial excellence award. The detailed, interactive digital app is nominated for one of Folio’s Eddie Awards, one of the highest awards for achievement in periodicals each year. Folio’s awards breakfast, at which the winners will be announced, will take place December 11, 2014, at the Yale Club in New York City. Produced by the editors of Astronomy magazi...
    1

    Beyond a comet, Pluto looms

    Posted 2 months ago by David Eicher
    We’ve all marveled for the last day at the historic first landing on the surface of a comet as Philae, dispatched from the Rosetta spacecraft, has begun science operations on a slowly warming comet. Now further excitement awaits for solar system research: The New Horizons spacecraft, en route to Pluto and its system of moons since 2006, will reach a critical milestone December 6. On that day, the spacecraft, set to be the first to explore the distant planet — or dwarf planet, de...
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    A great new book on brown dwarfs

    Posted 2 months ago by David Eicher
    Brown dwarfs often get lost in the gaze of astronomy enthusiasts toward larger objects — stars — or smaller ones — planets. Nonetheless, these substellar objects that are not massive enough to ignite fusion reactions reveal fascinating things about the cosmos. An important new book on brown dwarfs is just out from Springer: 50 Years of Brown Dwarfs: From Prediction to Discovery to Forefront of Research (Viki Joergens, Editor, 168 pp., hardcover, Springer, New York, 20...
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    New Starmus film features Dawkins, May, Hawking, Eicher, others

    Posted 2 months ago by David Eicher
    Check out the following short film produced by the Starmus Festival folks from the great event that took place six weeks ago. It includes some nice clips of Stephen Hawking, Brian May, Richard Dawkins, and others, including a spot of my talk on whether the universe really cares about itself . . . and much more! Follow David J. Eicher on Twitter: www.twitter.com/deicherstar cs_setInnerHtml('video_0c3c420f-a17e-42e4-a648-a608d7d11c80',''); ...
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    A great new book on space art

    Posted 2 months ago by David Eicher
    At long last, we now have copies of a wonderful new book on space art, titled The Art of Space, by frequent Astronomy magazine contributor Ron Miller. Published this month by Zenith Press (Minneapolis, 224 pp., hardcover, $35, ISBN 9780760346563), the book offers 350 color photos of some of the most amazing astronomical illustrations in the history of space art. There are also great forewords by Cassini planetary scientist Carolyn Porco and by scientist and space artist Dan Durda. At first blush...
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    Astronomy Foundation gets new website

    Posted 2 months ago by David Eicher
    The Astronomy Foundation (AF) is rocking again. With its newly acquired 501(c)(3) nonprofit status and a very energetic new executive director, Steve Cullen, the organization is poised to make a big splash in astronomy outreach and education. Steve has assembled a new and impressive website for the foundation, and I encourage you to check it out at www.astronomyfoundation.com.It is just the start — there will be much more content to come. And thanks to all of you who visited the AF bo...
    1

    Liz Kruesi named contributing editor of Astronomy magazine

    Posted 3 months ago by David Eicher
    I am very pleased today to announce that Liz Kruesi has been made a contributing editor of Astronomy magazine. Liz left the magazine staff a few weeks ago to move to Austin, Texas, where her husband took a job in the medical profession. Liz had been an associate editor of Astronomy, and before that an assistant editor, for several years, over stints of 2005–2006 and 2008 until just a few weeks ago. I know that you’ve enjoyed Liz’s great science writing and reporting in the maga...
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    Erika Rix named contributing editor of Astronomy magazine

    Posted 3 months ago by David Eicher
    I am so pleased today to report that columnist and writer Erika Rix is now a contributing editor of Astronomy. As you probably know, Erika, who lives with her husband, Paul, in Liberty Hill, Texas, has written a column in the magazine about astronomical sketching since the January 2013 issue. She also has contributed some feature stories to the magazine. Erika is an accomplished observer and is well-known for her meticulous eyepiece renderings of a wide variety of solar system and deep-sky objec...
    1

    UFOs: Book excerpt from "The New Cosmos"

    Posted 3 months ago by David Eicher
    From my forthcoming Cambridge University Press book, The New Cosmos . . .The multiple efforts now underway to search for extraterrestrial civilizations invariably raises the favorite question of many TV shows: Has alien life visited Earth in the form of UFOs? After all, half of the American public believes alien beings have visited our planet. The claims of UFO proponents, when actually subjected to the principles of scientific analysis, are not very good. Moreover, anyone who spends a few hours...
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    Dave Eicher to speak at New York/New Jersey Mineral Show 2015

    Posted 3 months ago by David Eicher
    I’m delighted to say that I’ve been invited to come and deliver my first talk at a mineral and gem show — the 2015 New York/New Jersey Mineral, Fossil, Gem, and Jewelry Show. It will be held April 10–12, 2015, at the New Jersey Convention and Expo Center in Edison, just outside New York City, and will offer up 400 dealer booths, 14,000 visitors, and spectacular exhibits of minerals and gems. The show is the second largest in the United States, after the annual Tucson...
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    Writing a book

    Posted 3 months ago by David Eicher
    Writing a book is a little like being imprisoned. There’s you, your laptop, your bedroom, a whole lotta time, and maybe an occasional football game. I’m pleased to report that I’m a few writing sessions away from finishing a very large book project I’ve been working on for a year. Titled The New Cosmos: Answering Astronomy’s Big Questions, the book will be published by Cambridge University Press in late 2015. The book covers a variety of big topics in astronomy, cos...
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