981–1000 of 1,203 results

Cosmic Relief with David Grinspoon

Bring on the Exo-Earths!

Kepler’s most surprising announcement would be that it has not found any Earth-sized planets.

three figurines - one green, one blue, and one red, with a checkmark under the green one

Cosmic Relief with David Grinspoon

Legal Aliens

Will the city of Denver establish a commission to handle diplomacy with aliens?

Stargazing with Tony Flanders

Guest Blog: In Defence of GPS

A reader expounds the virtues of electronic navigation — for automobiles and telescopes.

Stargazing with Tony Flanders

Has Your Observing Site Gotten Brighter?

Measurements with a Sky Quality Meter indicate that none of the author's observing sites has gotten significantly brighter over the last 5 years.

Stargazing with Tony Flanders

Tunnel Vision Navigation

The key to maintaining your integrity and sanity in the computer age is to make sure that electronics are your servant, not your master.

Stargazing with Tony Flanders

A Road Map to the North America Nebula

Hanging high overhead on autmun evenings, the North America Nebula is the season's best — assuming that you have dark skies to enjoy it and a good roadmap to help you interpret it.

Woods lit by flashlight

Stargazing with Tony Flanders

Blinded by the Light

Flashlights create a little bubble of excellent visibility, at the cost of hiding the wider world.

Stargazing with Tony Flanders

Backcountry Stargazing Again

It's hard to find a legal wilderness campsite in the U.S. Northeast that has a decent view of the night sky. But when you do, it's well worth the effort.

a large expanse of orange land with an orange sky

Cosmic Relief with David Grinspoon

Familiar Forms on Fried and Frozen Worlds

Recent discoveries on Titan and Venus show us that nature doesn’t need water to make features that remind us of home.

Stargazing with Tony Flanders

Stargazing versus Hiking

It's not easy to reconcile the demands of strenuous backpacking by day and intensive stargazing at night.

Stargazing with Tony Flanders

Corrected Light-Pollution Atlas

New work indicates that the venerable and highly respected World Atlas of Aritifical Night Sky Brightness was systematically distorted by snow cover when the underlying satellite data was obtained.

Stargazing with Tony Flanders

Have You Seen TWAN?

The World at Night website features the world's finest photos of earthly scenes set against the background of the night sky.

Stargazing with Tony Flanders

Hobby Q&A

How far away can we detect exoplanets? How many stars are visible to the unaided eye? Read Hobby Q&A to find answers to these and other questions.

Stargazing with Tony Flanders

Mount Wilson: Old and New

Mount Wilson is home to two of the world's greatest old telescopes, and also to some cutting-edge technology.

Stargazing with Tony Flanders

RTMC 2010, Part II

Amateur telescope making still plays a central role in our hobby.

Stargazing with Tony Flanders

RTMC 2010: the 42-inch CDK

The Corrected Dall-Kirkham design makes it possible to view through a huge telescope with your feet planted solidly on the ground.

Stargazing with Tony Flanders

Palomar Observatory

Palomar Observatory is still alive and well 62 years after the famous 200-inch Hale Telescope became operational.

People, Places, and Events

RTMC 2010, Part I

For the first time in its history, the Riverside Telescope Maker's Conference was held at new Moon instead of on Memorial Day weekend. That allowed some wonderful views of galaxies under surprisingly dark skies.

Stargazing with Tony Flanders

Griffith Observatory

Griffith Observatory takes full advantage of Los Angeles's extraordinary natural advantages as a site for astronomy.

Choosing Your Astronomy Equipment

Travel Scopes

It's tough to reconcile all the different constraints placed on a telescope for the airplane-traveling stargazer.