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...

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...

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...

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...

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 .

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.

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...

Following the dedication of Astronomy magazine’s observatory , and of Pluto discoverer Clyde Tombaugh’s telescope at Rancho Hidalgo, New Mexico, desert adventure awaited us. Astronomy ’s publisher Kevin Keefe had joined me to trek out to visit developer Gene Turner and Loy Guzman, our hosts at Rancho Hidalgo. With the many guests from the night before now departed, we set about exploring nearby attractions surrounding the Hidalgo site — Portal, Arizona...

On Thursday night, September 17, at Rancho Hidalgo near Animas, New Mexico, Astronomy magazine editors joined a group of some 50 people to dedicate the magazine’s new observatory facility and to dedicate Pluto discoverer Clyde Tombaugh’s personal telescope in its new location. Now called Pluto Park, the area of the ranch has been set aside for astronomy education goals by Rancho Hidalgo developer Gene Turner, in conjunction with his large and enthusiastic...

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I’m working on Astronomy ’s article ranking the top 10 space stories of the past year . One of those stories is that 2009 is the International Year of Astronomy. The year has had so many events marking this celebration that it’s hard to narrow down what I should write about. So what events did you find the most impressive? 100 Hours of Astronomy, which occurred back in April? The Earth to the Universe exhibit that could...