In this artist’s illustration, an orbiter works together with blimps and rovers to explore an unfamiliar landscape. NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory photo Wolfgang Fink has a dream straight out of science fiction: Instead of sending a paltry robot or two to distant planets, scientists should send multiple expendable robots. Robots that can talk to one another and adapt to unexpected events. Robots that can think. Creepy as that might sound to some,...

A waxing gibbous Moon. Astronomy.com member "LATiger" photo I have a love-hate relationship with the Internet. It makes getting information easier than ever, but it also can make getting the CORRECT information more difficult than ever. Sometimes, it takes a lot of sifting through less-than-reputable sites to find goods ones you can trust. So it’s a bonus when someone else does it for you. The Astronomy Society of the Pacific has been working...

On October 3, the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) dedicated the world’s largest solar telescope at Big Bear Solar Observatory (BBSO) in California. BBSO, located on the north shore of Big Bear Lake in the San Bernardino Mountains of southern California, is one of the world’s leading solar observatories. It sits at an altitude of 6,780 feet (2,067 meters). The telescope, which has an aperture of 63 inches (1.6 meters), took 5 years to construct...

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...

Thursday was a short day at the conference. I had to check out of the hotel in the late morning, so I had time only to jump between two sessions (another exoplanet one, and one about near-Earth asteroids [NEAs]). E ditor's note: Liz is posting updates regularly from DPS09 to Twitter.com/AstronomyMag . The exoplanet session focused on what I’ve noticed to be an extremely popular topic here at the conference — modeling exoplanet atmospheres. That...

I started off Wednesday at a lunar science session where presenters focused on results from the Japanese Kaguya mission and the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) . Robert Reedy of the Planetary Science Institute discussed Kaguya maps of the Moon. The probe measured gamma rays to study the distribution of elements, and it produced the first global uranium map of the Moon. E ditor's note: Liz is posting updates regularly from DPS09 to Twitter.com...

One thing I’ve noticed at thisi year’s Division of Planetary Sciences meeting is how well members of the planetary science community support each other. Often when asking a question regarding a talk, the questioner starts out with “great talk.” It’s refreshing to see. There’s a lot of competition in the sciences (so much of a career rides on how many papers one publishes), but clearly there’s a lot of collaboration as well. E ditor's note: Liz...

Monday was my first day at the 2009 Division of Planetary Sciences meeting in Puerto Rico. Unfortunately, I was off to a late start because of one of the worst migraines of my life. But I did get to the afternoon science sessions. E ditor's note: Liz is posting updates regularly from DPS09 to Twitter.com/AstronomyMag . I spent the early afternoon at the Titan science session. Nine scientists talked about the saturnian satellite’s atmosphere and...

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 .

Astronomy magazine columnist Stephen James O’Meara ’s sent us two blogs from the 2009 Pacific Astronomy and Telescope Show. Many thanks to Steve for sending these reports! Day One Arrived in Pasadena Saturday morning and immediately immersed myself in the telescope fever at the Pacific Astronomy Telescope Show (PATS), organized by the Riverside Telescope Makers Conference. This is not a telescope-making convention. It's a telescope expo with more...