Neil deGrasse Tyson is the director of the Hayden Planetarium in New York, which caused controversy with how it categorized the solar system into three groups, placing Pluto not with the other planets but with the Kuiper Belt objects at the outskirts of our solar system. Dan Deitch photo Last night, PBS debuted a new NOVA episode dedicated to NOVA scienceNOW host Neil deGrasse Tyson’s now somewhat infamous book, The Pluto Files . Having read the book...

In this illustration, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft approaches its far off destination, the Pluto system. Today marks the 80th anniversary of Pluto’s discovery, and New Horizons just a month ago marked its 4th year in space. NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute (NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI) photo True Plutophiles are likely already aware of this, but today marks the 80th anniversary of Clyde Tombaugh's discovery...

I’m old enough to remember when, on May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy announced that the United States would land an American on the Moon by the end of the decade. The 1960s were difficult years, with the assassinations of President Kennedy and his brother Robert as well as the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. The turmoil continued with race riots in many major cities and, of course, a seemingly endless war in Vietnam. Nonetheless, as President...

The Hubble test telescope Karri Ferron phot o Last week, I took a little vacation to Washington, D.C., figuring I’d leave life at Astronomy behind for a few days. I have some friends who live in or near the district who I hadn’t seen in awhile. They couldn’t believe upon my arrival that I had actually never stepped foot in D.C. before. (“You shouldn’t be allowed to live outside the country before you visit our nation’s capital.” Oops!) So some sightseeing...

Distant exoplanets can easily have habitable moons, as this illustration shows, and soon we’ll be able to find them in real life! David A. Aguilar, CfA photo At the risk of being pegged as Astronomy ’s entertainment reporter, I wonder what you all think about James Cameron’s latest sci-fi epic, Avatar . To those of a certain age, Cameron may be best-known as Mr. Titanic , but he’s also the guy who brought us Aliens , the Terminator movies, and The...

If you’re a community or junior college student with an interest in science, technology, engineering, or math, NASA is offering you a great opportunity with a new semester-long scholars program. Students who apply and are chosen for the National Community College Aerospace Scholars program will interact with NASA engineers and each other as they learn more about careers in science and engineering. Program participants will form teams and establish...

NASA and Microsoft have collaborated to create a web site where citizen scientists can assist Mars science teams studying data about the Red Planet. NASA/ESA/The Hubble Heritage Team Photo Looking for another way to become a citizen scientist? Fascinated with Mars and current missions to explore the Red Planet? If you answered “yes” to both of those questions, NASA and Microsoft Corp. have teamed up to create a new online adventure just for you. Drawing...

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...

This isn’t going to happen in 2012! Baseless theories, like a proposed planetary alignment on the scale of this photo illustration, have led many to fear the year 2012 needlessly. Lunar and Planetary Laboratory (NASA) photo Rejoice, for the end is nigh. Not of the actual world, of course, but of 2012 ’s marketing campaign. As you are no doubt aware, Roland Emmerich’s end-of-the-world epic, 2012 , opened this weekend. As in Emmerich’s previous movies...

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...