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Finalists announced in NASA’s Mars rover naming contest

Posted 15 years ago by Karri Ferron

In November, I blogged about a NASA contest to name the Mars Science Laboratory rover, now scheduled to launch in 2011. Well, more than 9,000 students in grades K-12 submitted essays, and NASA has just announced the nine finalists. Now it’s time for the public to vote. Voting is open today through Sunday, March 29. After voting closes, NASA will use the poll results and the students’ essays to make a final decision, which they will announce in late April/early May. The student with the winnin...

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Caught: a satellite on amateur astronomer’s first video?

Posted 15 years ago by Daniel Pendick

Check out this video from Astronomy reader Robert Massey of Fort Worth, Texas. Look to the top left of the grouping of four bright stars, at about the 11 o’clock position. A blob appears to move to the left. The video shows an object — a satellite or perhaps an asteroid? — tumbling through the field of view of Massey’s Meade 12-inch LX200 telescope. At the time he was observing M42, the Orion Nebula. In his own words: “I have been behind a telescope for a little over a year. I recently bo...

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Celebrate Sun-Earth Day 2009

Posted 15 years ago by Karri Ferron

Tomorrow, March 20, NASA scientists will celebrate Sun-Earth Day 2009 with a special webcast revealing new information and images about our Sun and its influence on Earth and the solar system. Sun-Earth Day is recognized each year in conjunction with the spring equinox. The webcast, which will be broadcast live on NASA’s Education Channel at 1 p.m. EDT, will showcase scientists Eric Christian, Nicky Fox, Terry Kucera, and Sten Odenwald, who will share new discoveries and visualizations about th...

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March 20-27, 2009: Constellation Canes Venatici, the Whirlpool Galaxy, the Whale Galaxy

Posted 15 years ago by Michael Bakich

Here is the transcript for my podcast about how to see the constellation Canes Venatici, the Whirlpool Galaxy, and the Whale Galaxy this week. Check out the Astronomy.com's interactive star chart — StarDome — to see an accurate map of your sky. It'll help you locate some of this week's key targets. Astronomy magazine subscribers have access to a slew of cool functions with StarDome PLUS. Each week, I highlight three different night-sky targets for you to see: One object y...

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Deadline for astroimaging contest approaches

Posted 15 years ago by Michael Bakich

I just wanted to blog again about our 2009 Astronomy Astroimaging Contest. The April 15 deadline is now less than 1 month away. We’ve divided the competition into three categories: Deep-Sky, Solar System, and General. If you don’t know which category to enter — for example, is a shot of star trails over the pyramids deep-sky or general? — send your image in anyway. We’ll sort it out. In addition to the three category winners, we’ll choose one additional image as the grand prize winner. The gra...

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An IYA2009 surprise

Posted 15 years ago by Liz Kruesi

Last weekend I traveled to sunny Florida to see family. On flights — especially early morning ones — I can read a book for only so long, so I looked through the airline’s in-flight magazine. And I was pleasantly surprised to find that in the puzzles section they had an astronomy-related word find! The airline was promoting the International Year of Astronomy (IYA)! The word find included a description about the IYA and some 30 words ranging from black hole to luminosity to solar wind. It’s a...

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Follow Astronomy on Twitter

Posted 15 years ago by Matt Quandt

Throughout the week, Astronomy.com posts news stories, observing alerts, blogs, images, podcasts, videos, the latest issue information, and more. It’s not easy to keep up with it all. Our e-mail newsletter collects the week’s stories, blogs, images, podcasts, and videos, and it goes out every Friday. But what if you want to know what’s new on Astronomy.com right now? Starting today, you can “follow” Astronomy magazine and Astronomy.com on Twitter. By now, many of you have heard of Twitter — ...

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March 13-20, 2009: Constellation Corvus the Crow, open cluster M67, and spiral galaxy NGC 2683

Posted 15 years ago by Michael Bakich

Here is the transcript for my podcast about how to see the constellation Corvus, open cluster M67, and spiral galaxy NGC 2683 this week. Check out the Astronomy.com's interactive star chart — StarDome — to see an accurate map of your sky. It'll help you locate some of this week's key targets. Astronomy magazine subscribers have access to a slew of cool functions with StarDome PLUS. Each week, I highlight three different night-sky targets for you to see: One object you can...

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Grab a view from space

Posted 15 years ago by Karri Ferron

On Tuesday, March 10, NASA announced the launch of a streaming video feed from the International Space Station, which will give Internet users the chance to see what Earth looks like from space. This new channel on NASA TV is being webcast as part of NASA’s celebration of the 10th anniversary of the space station in orbit. The channel will include views of Earth from external cameras on the International Space Station primarily while the astronauts on board are asleep, which is usually from a...

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Video: The Day Galileo Changed the Universe, Part Two

Posted 15 years ago by David Eicher

Several weeks ago, Astronomy’s editors posted a video about Galileo and his remarkable first observations, “The Day Galileo Changed the Universe, Part One,” in which I discussed Galileo’s telescope and how it came to be. Now we’ve produced and posted part two of the series, and there will be a third part coming down the road. We’re happy to be a part of the worldwide celebration of the International Year of Astronomy, and I’ll be honored in a couple weeks to be tramping (along with many of o...

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Watch Comet Lulin fly

Posted 15 years ago by Michael Bakich

As Photo Editor of Astronomy, I see some great stuff. I just received an e-mail from astroimager Tom Carrico. He shared with us an animation he did of Comet C/2007 N3 (Lulin). You’ll find Carrico’s creation in our videos section, “Watch Comet Lulin fly.” Tom operates ARGO Observatory, which is located in central Oregon about 25 miles east of Bend. He imaged Comet Lulin from his observatory at New Mexico Skies February 21 through a 4-inch Takahashi FSQ-106 apochromatic refractor with an SBIG...

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New videos: Springtime observing targets

Posted 15 years ago by Rich Talcott

In this video, I discuss the objects you can see with your naked eyes and binoculars in this spring’s sky. The season offers several bright planets, notable constellations, and bright deep-sky objects. You can locate all the night-sky sights I talk about with Astronomy.com's interactive star chart StarDome.Watch the video, "Observe easy-to-find objects in the spring sky."VenusAs darkness falls during the first half of March, your eyes will be drawn to the western sky. In the deepen...

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Our man in Cape Town III: Big radio telescope science

Posted 15 years ago by Daniel Pendick

In recent blogs, I introduced you to Benne Holwerde, a researcher at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. He’s on a team of scientists building a new radio telescope called MeerKAT (Karoo Array Telescope). Holwerde and his group hope MeerKAT will solidify South Africa as the host site for the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), an even-larger radio telescope. The SKA will be the world's biggest radio telescope, and it will be built in either South Africa's Northern Cape province (with ...

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Voyage of discovery through images

Posted 15 years ago by Michael Bakich

A new book just crossed my desk. It’s Shrouds of the Night — Masks of the Milky Way and Our Awesome New View of Galaxies by David L. Block and Kenneth C. Freeman (Springer, 2008). The authors research dark subjects (cosmic dust, dark matter, etc.), and in this book, they present images and data to help readers understand what’s going on within galaxies. Block is the Director of the Anglo American Cosmic Dust Laboratory in Johannesburg, South Africa. Freeman is a professor of astronomy at the ...

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Kepler satellite launches successfully

Posted 15 years ago by Michael Bakich

At 340 exoplanets and counting, astronomers tonight are much closer to discovering some more that might resemble our own. At 10:49:57 p.m. EST, a Delta II rocket lifted off from Launch Complex 17-B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. It sent the Kepler Telescope into an Earth-trailing heliocentric (Sun-centered) orbit with a period of 372.5 days.The Kepler telescope uses a 3-foot (0.95-meter) telescope with a 95-megapixel camera consisting of 42 charge-coupled devices (CCDs). It will monitor 10...

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A gala premier for IBEX at Adler Planetarium

Posted 15 years ago by David Eicher

On Wednesday afternoon, March 4, in downtown Chicago on the lakefront, Adler Planetarium hosted a small party and showing of their newest planetarium program, “IBEX: Search for the Edge of the Solar System.” IBEX is short for Interstellar Boundary Explorer, a NASA spacecraft that was launched four months ago and is partway through its mission of mapping the region of the outer solar system in unprecedented detail. The show premieres today at the Adler, and is very entertaining if I may say so my...

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The newest addition to Astronomy magazine

Posted 15 years ago by Karri Ferron

For more than 4 months now, Astronomy editors and art staff have been working on a new department for the magazine. During our annual editorial retreat back in October, we discussed a way to showcase more astronomy professionals in the magazine. We knew from reading feedback on our Forums that readers are interested in learning more about both professional and amateur astronomers, so we created “Astro Confidential.” In a two-page spread each month starting with our April issue (on newsstands ...

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Calling all astroimagers

Posted 15 years ago by Michael Bakich

The 2009 Midwest Astro-Imaging Conference will be held June 26 and 27 at the Northern Illinois University Hoffman Estates Meeting Center in Dekalb, Illinois. This is the third incarnation of this annual meeting. The 2009 conference will include expert speakers covering the latest in CCD and digital SLR imaging along with image-acquisition and processing techniques. Many vendors will showcase new products through exhibits and displays. And a host of great door prizes await participants. C...

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The planet search continues with Kepler

Posted 15 years ago by Michael Bakich

Recently, I edited a story for the magazine about NASA's Kepler Telescope and its search for earthlike planets outside our solar system. It’s a fascinating spacecraft and mission, and I’ll be following its progress closely. What’s more, NASA has scheduled the spacecraft to rocket into the night sky this Friday, March 6, from Cape Canaveral in Florida. The mission should tell us how common rocky planets like Earth are. Of the 340 extrasolar planets discovered so far, fewer than a handful a...

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March 6-13, 2009: Head of Hydra, NGC 1981, and NGC 1999

Posted 15 years ago by Michael Bakich

Here is the transcript for my podcast about how to see the Head of Hydra, open cluster NGC 1981, and reflection nebula NGC 1999 this week. Check out the Astronomy.com's interactive star chart — StarDome — to see an accurate map of your sky. It'll help you locate some of this week's key targets. Astronomy magazine subscribers have access to a slew of cool functions with StarDome PLUS. Each week, I highlight three different night-sky targets for you to see: One object you c...

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The perfect deep-sky observing guide

Posted 15 years ago by Rich Talcott

A dark night and a small- to medium-sized telescope are all you need to enjoy the deep-sky splendors that dot Earth’s skies. Oh, and one other thing — a good guide that describes what to look for and what you’ll see through the eyepiece. We’re excited to offer one of the best deep-sky observing guides of the past decade. Author and Astronomy magazine Contributing Editor Tom Polakis created an exclusive series of articles for the magazine called “Celestial Portraits.” The series ran in Astrono...

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Astronomy on display in parks, malls, airports, and metro stations

Posted 15 years ago by Karri Ferron

One of the International Year of Astronomy 2009 (IYA2009) Cornerstone projects that I’m really looking forward to is From Earth to the Universe (FETTU). During the next year, images of a variety of astronomical objects — planets, comets, stars, nebulae, galaxies, clusters, and more — will be on display in some non-traditional venues across the world. The purpose of FETTU is to bring the beauty of astronomy to a wider public by showcasing them in places like public parks, shopping malls, airp...

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Frozen-finger astronomy in the North Country

Posted 15 years ago by Daniel Pendick

Did you see the gorgeous moonset Friday night (February 27)? A slender crescent Moon — “horns” pointing upward — set along with Venus close by. Earthshine illuminated the body of the Moon above the horns. Someone once told me this is called “the new Moon in the cradle of the old.” If you looked at Venus with a small telescope or binoculars, you would have noticed that the planet was, like the Moon, a delicate crescent. In the east, Saturn rose after dark, and Comet Lulin was still visible in ...

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You, too, can photograph Comet Lulin

Posted 15 years ago by Michael Bakich

I just received an e-mail from Ohio amateur astronomer and longtime contributor to the magazine John Chumack. In it, he included a tutorial on how to photograph Comet Lulin. I wanted to share it with you all. And remember, if you have success, be sure to submit your photo to our Online Reader Gallery. “How to Capture Comet Lulin”by John ChumackYou can capture the comet with either a film single-lens reflex (SLR) camera or a digital SLR camera and camera lens, too, but if you just want to see ...

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March IYA2009 events

Posted 15 years ago by Karri Ferron

March continues the celebration of the International Year of Astronomy 2009 (IYA2009), which commemorates the 400th anniversary of Galileo turning the telescope to the heavens. Here’s what the month has in store for you:March 2009NASA theme: Observing at night (and during the day)Featured object in the sky: Saturn and its nearly edge-on rings March 8: Saturn is at opposition (exactly opposite the Sun) and in the sky all night. It’s great for viewing in a telescope this month, but its rings are...

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February 27-March 6, 2009: constellation Columba, globular cluster NGC 1851, and spiral galaxy NGC 1808

Posted 15 years ago by Michael Bakich

Here is the transcript for my podcast about how to see constellation Columba, globular cluster NGC 1851, and spiral galaxy NGC 1808 this week. Check out the Astronomy.com's interactive star chart to see an accurate map of your sky. It'll help you locate some of this week's key targets. Astronomy magazine subscribers have access to a slew of cool functions with StarDome PLUS. Each week, I highlight three different night-sky targets for you to see: One object you can find with yo...

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April 2009 Web extras for subscribers

Posted 15 years ago by Karri Ferron

Now that your April issue is in hand or on its way, we’ve updated Astronomy.com with our newest Web extras to give subscribers exclusive complementary information on the magazine articles. Take a sneak peek inside the April 2009 Astronomy magazine. If you subscribe to Astronomy, make sure you’re registered with Astronomy.com so you can access these great extras. Here are the highlights: Senior Editor Richard Talcott explores an animation representing the “cyclic model of the universe” in A c...

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John Chumack captures Lulin

Posted 15 years ago by Karri Ferron

Astronomy magazine contributor and longtime imager John Chumack had some luck spotting Comet Lulin February 20/21, and he was nice enough to share his account with us: I took a chance last Friday night and went out to my observatories in Yellow Springs, Ohio, even though there were some high cirrus clouds floating around. It finally cleared enough around 11:30 p.m., just about the time for Comet Lulin to clear the trees east of the compound.I was worried because the seeing/transparency really...

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Q&A: Kepler mission — not just for planet research

Posted 15 years ago by Liz Kruesi

NASA will launch the Kepler mission March 5. Kepler will be the first mission able to find Earth-mass and smaller planets. Its main goal is to determine how many exoplanets (terrestrial and larger) lie within (or near) the habitable zones of different types of stars. While exoplanet searches are its main goal, Kepler will perform other science studies. Because the satellite will be observing stars to look for orbiting planets, stellar astronomers will be able to use the data as well. One such as...

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Big-scope observing without leaving home

Posted 15 years ago by Michael Bakich

Are you tired of cold or cloudy nights getting in the way of your astronomy hobby? Is light pollution forcing you drive for hours just to get to a dark-sky site? Ever wonder what it would be like to use a research-grade telescope to image your favorite nebula, galaxy, or cluster? If so, then take a look at the new online telescopes from LightBuckets. The team at LightBuckets owns three RC Optical Systems Ritchey-Chrétien telescopes and one wide-field Takahashi FSQ-106EDX you can control from an...

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