Astrodon Filters supplies precision imaging filters to astrophotographers worldwide. Here, founder Don Goldman explains a new product to a NEAF attendee. Michael E. Bakich Today is Saturday, the first day of the 2008 Northeast Astronomy Forum (NEAF). I’ve been looking forward to seeing the many manufacturers registered for this year’s NEAF. Here, at the largest annual astronomy expo, you can expect some surprises, and this year was no exception. The...

Today is Friday, the second day of the 2008 Northeast Astro Imaging Conference (NEAIC) at Rockland Community College , in Suffern, New York. Because the college’s classes are still in session, NEAIC annually asks one of the participants to lecture to one or two classes about an astronomical subject. This year, conference organizers asked Astronomy Contributing Editor Mike D. Reynolds to give one of the lectures. And what a great choice it was! In...

Today, I’m blogging from Suffern, New York, site of the 2008 Northeast Astro Imaging Conference (NEAIC). More than 100 of the world’s best astrophotographers have gathered here to renew old friendships, share techniques, and see the latest hardware. NEAIC is an outgrowth of the Northeast Astronomy Forum (NEAF), which will begin on Saturday. I’m happy to be here because I’ve already run into several long-time image contributors to Astronomy I’d never...

One of the real celestial treats through any size telescope is the giant planet Jupiter. Even a 2-inch scope will let you view its main markings and four largest moons. By watching the moons change their positions night after night, you can experience “real-time” astronomy. That would be a good start. If, however, you want to go deeper into Jupiter observations, I recommend Jupiter and How to Observe It by John W. McAnally (Springer, 2008). Even before...

Today, I wrote a web-news story about a “new star” in the constellation Cygnus the Swan. In a bit of cross-promotion, I’d like to share the information as a blog. Late at night on Thursday, April 10, Japanese amateur astronomers Koichi Nishiyama and Fujio Kabashima discovered a possible nova in the Swan. Astronomers initially catalog such events as variable stars. This one received the label V2491 Cygni. Follow-up observations by other astronomers...

On Tuesday evening, April 8, you can experience one of the most beautiful events the sky can deliver. Head outside no later than an hour or so after sunset (around 8:30 P.M. local daylight time) and look to the west. Your eyes should land immediately on the slender crescent Moon, oriented with its cusps standing nearly straight up from the horizon. Point your binoculars at the Moon to reveal a stunning sight: the bright Pleiades star cluster (M45...

I have something to look forward to on the idiot box. OK, Battlestar Galactica returns this week with the launch of season four, so two things, actually. The other: PBS will rerun Timothy Ferris ’ 60-minute masterpiece on stargazing, Seeing in the Dark , June 11 (check your local listing for times). When the special first ran last November, I didn’t know PBS aired a high-definition broadcast. Imagine, scanning deep-sky images on a crystal-clear, big...

On Sunday night, Astronomy teamed up with St. Louis radio station KMOX for the first in an ongoing monthly series of informal chats about the night sky, the space program, and other happenings in the universe. The program is “Reality Check,” and its host, Jon Grayson obviously loves astronomy. We had a wide-ranging discussion on a variety of topics. The first item we talked about was the recent space-shuttle mission and its results. Later, we reviewed...

In September 2001, I attended the Great Plains Star Party in Scopeville, Kansas. One night, as I was walking across the observing field, a friend called down from the top of his observing ladder. “Hey, Michael, I’ve run out of things to look at. Got any suggestions?” As I looked up, I realized he was using a brand-new 24-inch Starmaster Dobsonian-mounted reflector. He had the telescope, but he didn’t have a plan. Someday, you may find yourself in...

If there is a hoax involving anything in the sky, Astronomy staff members will receive questions about it. Do you remember the “ Mars as big as the Full Moon ” prank? Lately, I’ve received a few inquiries asking if “moonvertising” is real. This comes from recent billboard and web advertising from the firm Goodby, Silverstein & Partners. This tongue-in-cheek campaign claims Latrobe Brewery Co. will use a ginormous laser to place the Rolling Rock...