It's hard to believe it's been 10 years since Carl Sagan died. As you know if you've been interested in astronomy for a long time, Sagan brought an enthusiasm for spreading his passion for astronomy to the public like no other astronomer in recent times. Had he lived to defeat the cancer that took his life December 20, 1996, Carl Edward Sagan would now be 72. For me, it's still difficult to accept he's gone. I vividly remember...

Spring officially arrived last week at the vernal equinox, when the Sun crossed the celestial equator heading north at 7:07 P.M. CDT March 20. (Unofficially, spring in Wisconsin began last weekend, when the temperature soared to 80° F (27° C) under sunny skies.) As the name implies, the vernal equinox should feature days and nights of equal length. It doesn't. The actual date when day equaled night came a few days before the 20th (with...

They say that Galileo dropped cannon balls and feathers off the Tower of Pisa to study gravity. It's not true, but the story remains in the collective memory as an example of how to do modern science: You go out and conduct an experiment yourself. These days, lab experimentation isn't the only game in town. High-performance computers all us to run tests without having to drop things off towers. It's possible to simulate all kinds of physical...

Why do people attend star parties? Reasons include taking advantage of a dark sky, hearing high-quality astronomy programs, trying new equipment, and interacting with like-minded individuals. The top reason, however, is to see stuff . In March, the Messier objects rank highly for observers. Later in the spring, galaxies dominate pre-midnight search lists. In summer, the Milky Way offers countless targets. Northern Hemisphere observers — especially...

I'm a late boomer, born in 1963 at the tail end of the baby boom generation, which is generally cited as those born 1944-1964. My childhood coincided with the heyday of the U.S. space program, and along with it, a public-relations push we school kids experienced as the occasional and treasured "movie day." You could doodle, or snooze, or, in my case, make origami cranes and frogs. (OK, I was a geek.) Today I was reminded of those halcyon...

MRO snapped this image of boulder-strewn terrain in the martian arctic. Originally, this area was the top candidate for the Phoenix spacecraft’s landing site. Mission planners have now shifted focus to less-rocky terrain. NASA/JPL/University of Arizona If you were in charge of landing the next spacecraft on Mars, where would you choose to go? The scientist in you likely would argue for a geologically or biologically attractive site. But the...

Backyard astronomers long for the next really bright comet. There's hardly anything to equal a brilliant comet's magnificence in the sky. For those who caught a glimpse of Comet McNaught in the January twilight sky, the view was great. But you have to go back to comets Hale-Bopp and Hyakutake in 1996 and 1997 to recall a jaw-dropping, stunningly bright comet hanging in a dark sky. While no really bright comets are now visible, several moderately...

Despite our best efforts to track down the northern lights, the weather didn't cooperate for us last night either: Wind gusts blew in clouds from over the ocean, blocking our view of the sky. While we're all a little disappointed, no one in our group is terribly saddened. This morning, before heading to the airport, some group members are taking a final art tour of the city. Reykjavik is filled with sculptures, both in designated gardens and...

As a breed, Icelandic horses are virtually unchanged since Viking times. Laura Baird The northern lights have still eluded us, but the group has kept busy with other activities. Yesterday, part of our group set out to Thorsmork Valley, a nature preserve, but had to turn back due to heavy snow and white-out conditions. Others in the group, myself included, used the day to explore downtown Reykjavik, which is within walking distance of our hotel. We...

For 3 weeks, an angel and a devil have perched on my shoulders. The devil whispers in my left ear, "Blog about the global-warming-on-Mars thing! C'mon, it'll be fun!" The angel on my right shoulder says, "Don't do it! You can't win this one, bub." OK, the devil wins. But, mind you, I will not use the following words: global-warming deniers; liberal climate-change agenda; Rush Limbaugh; Al Gore. That would be politics...