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Happy Thanksgiving! Many of us will take this holiday as an opportunity to reunite with family and friends. We'll cook, enjoy a variety of food, nap, and watch our favorite football teams. Ok, then what? I have a suggestion. If it's clear, pull out your telescope. Better yet, have it already...
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For the past 2 days, I've been rearranging the storage areas here at Astronomy magazine. It was lots of work and lots of fun at the same time. And, it got me thinking. Why do some telescopes last 5 years while others last 50? The answer, it turns out, boils down to one word: dust. If you can protect...
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Springer The definitive work on a famous list of deep-sky objects is now in print: The Herschel Objects, and how to observe them by James Mullaney (Springer, 2007). Why definitive? Because, in 1976, Mullaney was the first to propose an observing list based on Herschel's catalog. Mullaney packs an...
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If you've been watching the Moon after sunset this week, you may have noticed it lies lower in the sky than usual (at least if you live at mid-northern latitudes). It's not your imagination — the Moon is figuratively scraping the treetops this week. Although this is no great mystery, it never...
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Last week, I shared the first part of a short essay by one of my astronomy friends, Susan Carroll. Susan observes through an 18-inch Starmaster Dobsonian-mounted reflector. To read the first installment, click here . NIGHTFALL (part 2) by Susan S. Carroll, Bradenton, Florida Finally, the first stars...
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Here's something I'll strive to do with this blog every once in a while: provide you with suggestions for deep-sky observing. I'd like to suggest viewing some of my favorite objects, some of which are a little off-the-beaten-path. If you observe these objects, image them, or sketch them at...
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This week and next, I'm sharing a short essay by one of my astronomy friends, Susan Carroll. Susan has been a dedicated observer for more years than most. Her 18-inch Starmaster Dobsonian-mounted reflector is a familiar sight at star parties across Florida and the Southeast (and the Midwest, when...
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I recently returned from a 9-day trip to Chile — one of more than 30 participants in a tour sponsored by Astronomy magazine and organized by MWT Associates. We all had a great time, despite long plane rides from the States down to Santiago. Our two main reasons for going were to experience the clear...
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With this blog, I'll finish my discussion of the magnitude system, which I began last week. I'm aiming this installment at observers. When you observe, sky conditions are everything. But even when it's clear, the sky's transparency can vary. Amateur astronomers standardize their observations...
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In this screen shot, Google profiles the constellation Orion. Google Last week featured the rare occasion when an astronomy-related announcement resonated with skywatchers and the general public. Did SETI make contact with extrasolar life? Nope. Did astronomers find an asteroid on a collision course...
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