Category: Astronomy & Space

Can I pick your brain for a minute? Next week I’m going to be part of a panel discussion on the topic of citizen science. It’s part of a joint conference of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific and the Geological Society of America titled “Earth and Space Science: Making Connections in Education and Public Outreach.” To […]

While in New York last week, I dropped in at the Hayden Planetarium for a real treat: an old-fashioned sky show. This was not your typical overwrought, highly digitized, celebrity narrated, long-on-glitz and short-on-insights production number that planetariums feel they have to create these days in order to get the public’s attention. This was a […]

Not that we’re competing, but stargazers Anthony Wesley and Christopher Go have now spotted one more giant fireball on Jupiter than me, according to several news reports. Wesley apparently caught the impact event on camera from Australia, and Go simultaneously captured video of the resulting blast of light from the Philipines. Pretty amazing stuff. If […]

This is going to sound odd, but I’m pretty sure I’m being stalked…by citizen science. Ever since we launched Science for Citizens a few months ago, I find myself bumping into science and taking part in science-flavored activities no matter where I am or what I’m doing. Take my recent trip to California’s Anza Borrego […]

One of the many reasons I love to sneak up to Point Reyes is the night sky.  It’s often stunningly clear up there compared to foggy, urban San Francisco, offering a gorgeous celestial show to anyone inclined to look up. But on a recent getaway, I was bummed to find out that I’d forgotten to […]

The coolest new citizen science project may also be the HOTTEST! Launched this week, Solar Stormwatch is looking to citizen scientists to help spot explosions on the sun and track them across space to Earth. These explosions, also known as “coronal mass ejections” or “solar storms”, release high-energy particles that can be a safety hazard for […]

British astronomers have shed new light on an intriguing quirk in the anatomy of certain galaxies: a structure that looks like a bar running through a galaxy’s center. But how the researchers formulated their findings is just as interesting as the findings themselves. Their report is based on an analysis of a mountain of astronomical […]

Have you ever seen the Milky Way from where you live? Most of us have not and it’s largely due to increased light pollution from outdoor lighting. Light pollution not only wastes between 2 to 10 billion dollars a year in energy and money but it causes human sleep disorders and disrupts habits critical to […]

Yesterday, New Scientist magazine announced the latest project in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence: SETI Quest: SETIQuest is the product of astronomer Jill Tarter’s TED Prize wish. After being awarded the TED Prize last year, Tarter was given the opportunity to make a single wish before an auditorium full of the top names in technology […]

It had been more than 10 years since the two-star system known as U Scorpii had erupted into one of its unpredictable bursts of brightness. Then yesterday morning, two amateur astronomers in Florida observed this “recurrent nova” come to life. Barbara Harris spotted it first and Shawn Dvorak soon confirmed. They notified the American Association […]