Astronomy

When Cerek mentioned astronomy-inspired artwork in his Astronomy World introduction post, I immediately thought of Russell Crotty. Crotty is a California artist who creates beautiful sculptures and drawings inspired by astronomy, landscape, and surfing. An enthusiastic amateu ...more

On June 23, National Geographic will begin welcoming visitors to the world's first outdoor planetarium in Quebec, Canada, where an augmented reality experience overlaid on the night sky will replace the projection systems of traditional facilities. Visitors at Québec's Observ ...more

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has cleared a path for Google to move forward with hand-tracking technology that could pose a major threat to Leap Motion. In an order issued on Monday, the FCC granted Google permission to run its Project Soli, a sensor that can de ...more

Apparently a little amateur astronomy can go a long way. On March 21, 2009, Ralf Vandebergh, sitting in his backyard, pointed his 10 inch telescope at the sky and "saw a few bright pixels appear precisely where the work was going on at exactly the moment it was being conducted ...more

One of the things I consistently notice amongst fellow internet users is that many people don't know how to properly search for stuff. Google may have served you well in the past, but I'm going to share a few little tricks with you to help make your search results even spiffie ...more

Chris Haney, one of the creators of the Trivial Pursuit board game, died Monday, May 31st. But what does Chris Haney and Trivial Pursuit have to do with SCRABBLE? Well, SCRABBLE and Trivial Pursuit are both owned by Hasbro, but that's not the interesting part. Chris Haney a ...more

There isn't much going on this week, but be sure to try viewing the Spica-moon conjunction. It will be hard to view with the full moon, but it will be spectacular if you can snag a peak. April 6: Spica-moon Conjunction, full moon April 7: Io transit; moon at perigee (358,313 ...more

If you're into entomology, then you probably recognize the name E.L. Trouvelot. After all, he was the person responsible for the outbreak of invasive gypsy moths in North America, which are now one of the most destructive foliage-eating pests in the United States. After leavi ...more

On August 21, a total solar eclipse will be able to be seen across the country for the first time since June 8, 1918, and it's going to be incredible. Retired NASA astrophysicist Fred Espenak spoke to ABC News about what to expect and said: It's unlike any other experience yo ...more

From Astronomy Picture of the Day, Milky Way Over Abandoned Kilns by Tom McEwan. McEwan shot some historic kilns in rural Nevada, stitching together a panoramic "digital conglomerate of five separate images taken in early June from the same location. Visible above the unusual ...more

Later today, an asteroid the size of a city block (about 3,000 feet wide) called 2002 AM31 will fly by the Earth. It will still be about 3.2 million miles away, so there's nothing to be worried about, but you can watch it make its journey in real-time online. 2000 AM31 now, as ...more

The recent report of the ubiquity of extrasolar planets coupled with the fact that it bodes well for searches for life friendly Earth twins, brought me back to my reading of Carl Sagan's 1966 Intelligent Life In The Universe and later article in Sky & Telescope where he came u ...more

Since the Geminid Meteor shower is intensifying more every year, grab your binoculars and lay down in a field to enjoy the show! If you are going to observe one day, do it on the peak: December 14th. The shower is caused by Palladian asteroid 3200 Phaethon. This, along with t ...more

This week's AON might be a little short, but finally, the Garradd comet's peak has come! I picked the Garradd comet to follow because it's a bright and easy-to-follow comet. Be sure to observe it! If you need help finding it, you can find more information here. Until March: T ...more

Measuring the distance from the Earth to the moon doesn't require NASA equipment. The ancient Greeks did it, which means 2,000 years later, you can do it, too. It works something like this: "Many people have held up a round object and let it block the Sun. Most of the time, ...more

Hubble Catches Star Consuming Its Planet Hubble Telescope has discovered a planet-eating star.  According to NASA, the star is currently consuming the planet Wasp-12b.  But don't worry about missing this phenemona. Scientists say the star could take 10 million years to swal ...more