I just received an e-mail from Ohio amateur astronomer and longtime contributor to the magazine John Chumack. In it, he included a tutorial on how to photograph Comet Lulin. I wanted to share it with you all. And remember, if you have success, be sure to submit your photo to our Online Reader Gallery . “How to Capture Comet Lulin” by John Chumack You can capture the comet with either a film single-lens reflex (SLR) camera or a digital SLR camera and...

March continues the celebration of the International Year of Astronomy 2009 (IYA2009), which commemorates the 400th anniversary of Galileo turning the telescope to the heavens. Here’s what the month has in store for you: March 2009 NASA theme: Observing at night (and during the day) Featured object in the sky: Saturn and its nearly edge-on rings March 8: Saturn is at opposition (exactly opposite the Sun) and in the sky all night. It’s great for viewing...

Here is the transcript for my podcast about how to see constellation Columba, globular cluster NGC 1851, and spiral galaxy NGC 1808 this week. Check out the Astronomy.com's interactive star chart to see an accurate map of your sky. It'll help you locate some of this week's key targets. Astronomy magazine subscribers have access to a slew of cool functions with StarDome PLUS. Each week, I highlight three different night-sky targets for...

Now that your April issue is in hand or on its way, we’ve updated Astronomy.com with our newest Web extras to give subscribers exclusive complementary information on the magazine articles. Take a sneak peek inside the April 2009 Astronomy magazine. If you subscribe to Astronomy , make sure you’re registered with Astronomy.com so you can access these great extras. Here are the highlights: Senior Editor Richard Talcott explores an animation representing...

Astronomy magazine contributor and longtime imager John Chumack had some luck spotting Comet Lulin February 20/21, and he was nice enough to share his account with us: I took a chance last Friday night and went out to my observatories in Yellow Springs, Ohio, even though there were some high cirrus clouds floating around. It finally cleared enough around 11:30 p.m., just about the time for Comet Lulin to clear the trees east of the compound. I was...

NASA will launch the Kepler mission March 5. Kepler will be the first mission able to find Earth-mass and smaller planets. Its main goal is to determine how many exoplanets (terrestrial and larger) lie within (or near) the habitable zones of different types of stars. While exoplanet searches are its main goal, Kepler will perform other science studies. Because the satellite will be observing stars to look for orbiting planets, stellar astronomers...

Are you tired of cold or cloudy nights getting in the way of your astronomy hobby? Is light pollution forcing you drive for hours just to get to a dark-sky site? Ever wonder what it would be like to use a research-grade telescope to image your favorite nebula, galaxy, or cluster? If so, then take a look at the new online telescopes from LightBuckets. The team at LightBuckets owns three RC Optical Systems Ritchey-Chrétien telescopes and one wide-field...

Have you ever had a question about shuttle missions that you wish some TV program or news reporter would ask an astronaut, but they never did? Well, NASA and Channel One News are offering an opportunity for students to ask those burning questions to the next space shuttle crew. Because two of the crew members, Joseph Acaba and Richard Arnold, are former middle and high school science teachers, NASA is using this shuttle mission as an opportunity to...

Here is the transcript for my podcast about how to see Beehive Cluster, open cluster M50, and the Rosette Nebula this week. Check out the Astronomy.com's interactive star chart to see an accurate map of your sky. It'll help you locate some of this week's key targets. Astronomy magazine subscribers have access to a slew of cool functions with StarDome PLUS. Each week, I highlight three different night-sky targets for you to see: One object...

Richard Greenberg, a professor of planetary sciences at the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, is an expert in celestial mechanics and carries out NASA-sponsored investigations of solar system evolution and planet formation. He is also author of the current book Unmasking Europa . After NASA and the European Space Agency chose Jupiter’s moons — including Europa — as the next destination for a major planetary exploration mission...