Astronomy’s appeal is inextricably linked to the visual richness of the subject, but it’s not just images from professional observatories that take our breath away. Astrophotography with amateur telescopes is thriving like never before, as more and more people experiment with digital cameras, webcams and all the rest. We know from the Sky at Night [...]

An American Astronomical Society tradition is the party held on the Wednesday evening. I’m sorry to let you down by not bringing you all the gossip- what happens at the AAS party stays at the AAS party - but it’s reassuring to see that the lecture hall is busy this morning for the first talk [...]

Sketch of 12 Lyncis (Struve 948) Observation Notes: 12 Lyncis was a great triple star system. Color contrast was very nice--the primary appeared pale yellow, with a pale blue secondary hugging it. The tertiary appeared to be dull orange. They made for a very striking sight at 120X and 240X.

Observation Notes: I have glanced at and passed over this galaxy a number of times on my way to other nearby sights, such as Stephan's Quintet. On this evening, I finally settled down for a nice, long look at it. Although I would have loved to make this observation from a dark site, I'm taking what I can get these days. So I observed from my back yard. There is increased sky glow from the Flagstaff Mall expansion, and some incidental reflected light to deal with, so conditions weren't ideal. However, for in-town viewing in general it was pretty good. Anyway, those are my excuses. Here's what

The first time I heard about parallel universes was when my friend told me about the M-theory and Ed Witten. That was staggering information because my understanding of “this all” changed rapidly. Actually, I did not really believe in parallel universes because there was no way to prove it. I thought “well, it’s a nice [...]

Alpha Centauri is the nearest star from our Sun and it is located in constellation Centaurus. In fact Alpha Centauri is not one big star, but a formation of three stars located close to each other. The brightest one of those three stars is Rigil Centaurus, many times called just Rigil Cent. Alpha Centauri [...]

     The Space Shuttle Endeavor did a controlled flip on the way to the International Space Shuttle.  It's  similar to watching a trapeze artist doing a death defying somersault from one trapeze bar to the next even though shuttle weighs thousand of tons filled with billions of dollars worth of equipment not to mention seven  crew members.  You can check it out at: www..metacafe.com/watch/773977/nasa_space_shuttle_back_flip_mission_sts_... Just don't get motion sickness watching it...       Enceladus, one of the most exciting pla

NASA is sending a two punch space craft to the moon to bombard the South Pole.  This ship the Centaur and a Shepherding Ship will deliver the blow in February.  Said to be a cost effective,  low risk way to find out if there is hidden water ice under the unique craters on the South Pole.  First Centaur, with all of its sensing devices will be thrust into the moon by the Shepherding Ship and then when the dust settles the Shepherd will send itself and its equipment in a kamikaze dive to see if there is water.  Then some American corporation will bottle the water and sel

Fourth-grader Maryn Smith at Riverview Elementary School in of Great Falls, Montana wins the contest by National Geographic to come up with a new mnemonic device to remember the eleven planets in what is now considered by astronomers to be in our solar system. The two ones you probably are not familiar with are Ceres and Eris.  Ceres lies between Mars and Jupiter, and Eris, is outside of Pluto. The Winning Mnemonic:  "My Very Exciting Magic Carpet Just Sailed Under Nine Palace Elephants."