Astronomy.com blog : astronomy magazine

Busting astronomy myths

Michael Bakich — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:22:00 GMT

As the editorial staff of the world’s best-selling astronomy publication, we get a lot of e-mails. Some suggest story ideas, some praise a column, feature, or image, and many ask questions.

Lately, lots of e-mail writers have enquired about astronomy-related stories they’ve heard on the radio or television or read on the Internet. For example, “Is it true that Mars will appear as large as the Full Moon to the naked eye in August?” or, “I’ve heard astronauts can see the Great Wall of China from the Moon.”

Both of these are myths. And, although we answer all e-mails sent to us, at times it may take a while for us to get back to you. So, to provide even speedier replies, we’ve set up a special area called "Astronomy Myths" in the "Welcome to Astronomy" section of our web site, Astronomy.com, to which we can direct questioners.

Once there, you’ll find detailed explanations of myths like “There’s no gravity in space” and “The Moon doesn’t spin.” And, oh yes, we do address the one about the world ending in 2012.

Enjoy a free tour of Astronomy.com this weekend!

Matt Quandt — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 21:00:00 GMT

From noon, Friday, November 13, through 8 a.m. CST, Monday, November 16, all the great features that are available only to registered users or Astronomy magazine subscribers will be available to everyone. For free!

Find out what you've been missing! Check out these exclusive benefits:

StarDome Plus — Locate specific objects like planets, comets, galaxies, nebulae, and more in your night sky with the expanded version of Astronomy.com’s interactive star chart.
Equipment review archive — Astronomy.com's equipment review database includes every review, roundup, and buyers guide that has appeared in Astronomy magazine in the last few years — more than 200 products overall and growing!
Columnist archive — Read the complete collections of Bob Berman’s Strange Universe, Glenn Chaple’s Observing Basics, David Levy’s Evening Stars, Stephen James O’Meara’s Secret Sky, and Phil Harrington’s Binocular Universe.
Weekly observing podcast — Senior Editor Michael E. Bakich’s weekly series helps you find three notable objects or sky events you can see. 
Desktop Wallpaper — Bring the beauty of astronomy to your computer desktop. 
And more!

Then, if you like what you see, come back on Monday, November 16* and register on Astronomy.com for free or subscribe to Astronomy magazine right now.

*During the times mentioned above, you will not be able to register for a new account or log in to Astronomy.com with an existing account. Reader forum users will be able to post as long as they've logged in and have a cookie set prior to the times mentioned above. The site will be back to normal and open for new registrations at 8 a.m. CST Monday, November 16.

Correction to November “Observing Basics” column

Matt Quandt — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:55:00 GMT

Guest post from Contributing Editor Glenn Chaple

In the November edition of my “Observing Basics” column, I wrote that Galileo would be “relieved to know that the Roman Catholic Church, which excommunicated him for his heretical teachings, has since exonerated him.”

Three readers — Chris Cuoco (Grand Junction, Colorado), Ed Hahnenberg (Lake Leelanau, Michigan), and Fr. Ronald Gripshover (Fredericksburg, Virginia) — sent e-mails pointing out that Galileo had, in fact, not been excommunicated.

I apologize for the error. Some “facts” of astronomical history appear so often, we begin to take them as truth, much as we accept without question the concept of Earth being the “third rock from the Sun.”

Interestingly, I called a local parish priest for his perception of Galileo’s status after the Inquisition. He was under the impression that Galileo had been excommunicated. Apparently this astronomical urban legend is assumed to be true even by members of the Catholic clergy!

I have since consulted several reliable sources — all of which state that, while Galileo got into a lot of trouble with the Catholic Church, excommunication wasn’t part of his punishment. Now to check to be sure Earth really is the “third rock from the Sun!”

Astronomy editors head off site to brainstorm magazine improvements

David Eicher — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:46:00 GMT

The Astronomy staff gets things rolling the morning of October 16, 2009. David J. Eicher photo

Be prepared for plenty of surprises to come in the next few months. Last Friday Astronomy’s editorial staff joined forces with the art staff and our publisher and went off site, as we do each year, for a daylong discussion. The topics cover the entire spectrum of magazine and web site creation, and the goal is to give you the best possible product we can over the coming year. We spoke about potential stories, special issues, magazine design, covers, outreach activities with astronomy groups, trips and tours, our web site, and a whole load of other stuff.

We convened at 9 a.m. at my house about 10 miles from Kalmbach’s corporate headquarters. The morning began over lots of coffee, orange juice, breakfast goodies. Eventually we had boxed lunches and the chatter rolled into the afternoon. It was a serious analytical discussion and one punctuated by lots of laughs and a bit of silliness, as always.

So stay tuned — much came out of the discussion, and I promise some of things we spoke about will make a nice difference in the pages of your issues of Astronomy during the coming year.

Astronomy editors sit down with the band They Might Be Giants

Bill Andrews — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 19:51:00 GMT

As a journalist, I’ve had the chance occasionally to meet some famous people and even interact with them. Just a few weeks ago I joined many of my colleagues to hang out with noted author Dava Sobel, and I’ve taken classes from pretty famous physicists. I once even interviewed Neil deGrasse Tyson, trying to ask professional, interesting questions and not reveal how awestruck I was to be in the man’s presence. Until yesterday, that had been the undisputed peak of my career. Now, a new contender has emerged.

Accompanying Senior Editor Michael E. Bakich and Online Editor Matt Quandt, I got to interview and hang out with Grammy Award-winning group They Might Be Giants (TMBG) — my absolute favorite band. (Well, technically it was only half of the two-man band, but that just gives me something to shoot for next time.) It was pretty surreal to just chat it up with John Linnell (second from the left in image), a guy whose voice I’ve listened to for countless hours, spanning more than a dozen albums, over about half my life.

We caught up with Linnell just before the band’s October 11 concert in Madison, Wisconsin. They’re on tour to promote their latest album, Here Comes Science, which features four astronomy-themed songs. It’s the band’s fourth album for kids, and the third explicitly educational one (after 2005’s Here Come the ABCs and 2008’s Here Come the 123s). It’s a testament to their talent that these songs are just as much fun to listen and jam out to as their earlier, more grown-up releases — and I’m not just saying that because I own their entire collection.

TMBG has a particular genius for fitting interesting, catchy music around mind-bending concepts and words, whether an ode to how loud a nightclub can get (“Man, It’s So Loud In Here”), a ditty about a wannabe drummer with a ridiculous stage name (“Doctor Worm”), or one of their most famous numbers about a night light’s feelings of existential angst (“Birdhouse in Your Soul”). Who better, then, to take complex subjects like the color spectrum and the true nature of the Sun and set them to rock songs with good beats?

I was surprised how easy it was to talk to Linnell during the interview (perhaps because Bakich asked most of the questions). He acted like a regular guy, answering questions about his inspiration for “fact-based songs” and what it’s like to write educational songs that aren’t quite “thuddingly didactic.” He posed for pictures with us, casually shot the breeze before and after the interview, and overall was pretty friendly for a guy whose music plays on the radio, on TV, and in movie theaters.

After the interview, my wife and I stayed for the show, which was (naturally) a lot of fun. It was the first family-friendly TMBG concert I’d been to, and my fifth overall. At first we felt a little out of place as the only adults without children. We quickly spotted other couples, though, and soon got lost in the music. At various points we sang along with scores of 5-year-olds about the Sun, the number 7, and Istanbul not being Constantinople.

Once again, my chosen profession yielded unexpected benefits and a great time. So let that be a lesson to you aspiring writers, TMBG-fans, and everyone else: Dreams really can come true, and you don’t even need to wish upon a star — just know its chemical makeup.

Editor’s note: Stay tuned to Astronomy.com for videos of our visit with John Linnell.

Photo credit: Holley Bakich

Astronomy contributing editor attends White House star party

Matt Quandt — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 14:53:00 GMT

Special guest blog from Contributing Editor Martin Ratcliffe

President Barack Obama and his family joined 150 school children, dozens of amateur astronomers, professional scientists, and education and public outreach professionals Wednesday night during the Star Party at the White House. And how cool was this? “Cool” doesn’t even come close. I was lucky to be a part of the exciting events running one of the planetarium domes set up on the South Lawn of the White House.

Thirty of us spent most of the day setting up for the 2-hour evening event. And weather cooperated except for some strong winds during the daytime. A more perfect night could not have been achieved, with crystal clear skies of the nation’s capital.

Crater impact experiments and samples of Moon rock provided great activities to highlight today’s LCROSS impact on the Moon. Many telescopes ranging from 2 to 18 inches were available. Dr. Stephen Pompea demonstrated the 2-inch Galileoscope, and he showed me a great view of Jupiter’s moons. Dean Koenig of the Starizona company brought his amazing f/2 Fastar imaging system, which showed one group of children a quick image of the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) right after they had seen M31 in my planetarium dome. The teacher had asked if they could see M31 directly, and I suggested they visit the Fastar scope and ask for a CCD image, and they saw it in all its glorious detail.

This unique night included special guests such as astronaut John Grunsfeld (Hubble servicing mission), Sally Ride (first American woman in space), Buzz Aldrin (second man on the Moon), and Charlie Bolden (NASA administrator, who helped launch Hubble from the cargo bay of the space shuttle).

White House staffers said presidents are not known to spend much time at events on the South Lawn. The Obamas spent more than an hour at the event, and the family showed a great deal of interest. They looked through telescopes at Jupiter and the Moon, and after his formal remarks, the president and first lady viewed the famous Double-Double in Lyra. As readers of Astronomy magazine know well, these objects are star party favorites.

Two planetarium domes were there, one supplied by Sky-Skan, Inc., a major digital planetarium supplier, and a second from Goddard Space Flight Center. The Obama family, daughters included, climbed into the Sky-Skan dome along with 25 school children, and they spent 10 minutes flying around the solar system and asked interesting questions. With two girls of my own, I know how important it is to expose your kids to science, and astronomy is a great way to do it. It was a great privilege to present the planetarium show for the president’s family, huddled as we were inside the 25-foot diameter dome.

Providing a cosmic perspective to young children is fun, engaging, and important, and bringing astronomy to the nation’s attention for a brief moment Wednesday night was the highlight of nearly 6 months of behind-the-scenes work by NASA educators, who, following encouragement from IYA organizers and many individuals to host a star party at the White House, were called in by the White House to plan the event.

Martin Ratcliffe, in addition to being a contributing editor to Astronomy magazine, is also Director of Professional Development for Sky-Skan.

November 2009 web extras for subscribers

Karri Ferron — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 14:43:00 GMT

The November 2009 issue of Astronomy should be in your mailbox any day now (if it’s not already in your hands), and we’ve updated Astronomy.com with our newest web extras to give subscribers exclusive information complementary to the issue.

Take a sneak peek inside the November 2009 Astronomy magazine. Or watch Editor David J. Eicher's video preview of the issue.

If you subscribe to Astronomy, make sure you’re registered with Astronomy.com so you can access these great extras.

Here are this issue's web extras for magazine subscribers:

Senior Editor Michael E. Bakich explores a key technology that will help the Altair Lunar Lander set down successfully on the Moon in “Leading Altair to the Moon.”

Associate Editor Daniel Pendick provides an animation depicting the small gas cloud Jay McNeil discovered while imaging M78 in “Zoom in on McNeil's Nebula.”

Author Alan Goldstein suggests more galactic train wrecks to observe in “The ‘second 10’ interacting galaxies.”

Senior Editor Michael E. Bakich shares five videos from his trip to view the July 22, 2009, total solar eclipse in “Michael Bakich goes to China.”

Associate Editor Daniel Pendick answers the “Ask Astro” question: “What would the Sun's rays do to Earth if the ozone layer were no longer present?”

Mario Livio, Kim Weaver, and Chuck Steidel provide more insight into their lives as astronomers in “Astro Confidential: Extending the conversations.”

Of course, we’ve also posted “Bob Berman’s Strange Universe,” “Glenn Chaple’s Observing Basics,” “Stephen James O’Meara’s Secret Sky,” and “David Levy’s Evening Stars.” There are also November’s “The Sky this Month” and five “Ask Astro” questions.

New video: Observe the Moon with a small telescope

Michael Bakich — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 15:55:00 GMT

What's the best time to look at the Moon? What equipment do you need? What features should you target? Astronomy magazine's latest video about observing the Moon with a small telescope answers those questions and more. Along the way, you also will learn a few techniques that will help you become a better lunar observer.

This video is available to magazine subscribers.

On the road: The 2009 Division of Planetary Sciences meeting

Liz Kruesi — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 19:13:00 GMT

This week I’m in Fajardo, Puerto Rico, at the Division of Planetary Sciences meeting. I’ll be blogging daily and posting updates regularly to our Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace pages.

Then on Saturday I’ll have the opportunity to tour Arecibo Observatory, which is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It should be a good week, filled with lots of news, science updates, and humid temperatures.

The best astroimagers will gather in California

Michael Bakich — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 19:00:00 GMT

During Halloween weekend, when most people are worrying about ghosts, goblins, and what candy to give away, some 300 avid astroimagers from around the world will meet in San Jose, California, for the 2009 Advanced Imaging Conference (AIC). And, guess what? I’ll be there, too.

AIC’s board of directors once again invited me to the conference because Astronomy is important to astroimagers. Our magazine represents the largest audience available to photographers who target celestial objects.

So who will be there? Many astroimagers who regularly contribute to the magazine: Adam Block, Thomas Davis, Bob Fera, Jay GaBany, Tony Hallas, Warren Keller, Dean Salman, and more. But I’m even more jazzed about meeting imagers who haven’t appeared in the magazine.

At the 2008 meeting, I presented a talk entitled “What Astronomy’s Photo Editor Wants.” The 300 imagers who heard me learned what they should include when sending images, what happens to images after they arrive, and, most importantly, the objects I’m looking for. And, you know what? The talk was a tremendous success! The past year was the best one ever at Astronomy for the number and quality of astroimages we received.

So what do I hope comes out of this year’s meeting? First, more of the same. I want to continue to entice the imaging community to keep sending their great work to Astronomy magazine.

Second, as the editor here who deals with the hobby and equipment end of our science, I’ll chat with manufacturers about their latest and greatest cameras, filters, software, and accessories. Who knows how many reviews may come from this one meeting?

Indeed, I think AIC 2009 will provide many more treats than tricks. Interested?

Related:

2008 Advanced Imaging Conference, by Michael E. Bakich, senior editor
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