With this giant disco ball suspended 50 meters above Paris, the city got to appreciate once again what a starry night might look and feel like. Michel de Broin photo Or, in French, Aimez-vous les étoiles ? As many of you probably know already, the Moon was full and extraordinarily bright Friday because it was at perigee, the closest it gets to Earth. Likewise, Mars was unusually bright because it, too, was at its closest point to us, called opposition...

On September 15, the City of Alpine, Texas, approved a proclamation that designated October as “Dark Sky Month.” This announcement came as citizens worked towards having Alpine recognized by the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) under its Dark Sky Community designation. Gil Bartee, vice president of development for Sierra la Rana , a development near Alpine, said, “Our plan is to use the James T. Walker Dark Sky Fund to retrofit existing non...

Perplexed by planets? Confused by cosmology? Baffled by black holes? Then send in your questions to Astronomy magazine at askastro@astronomy.com . If you have an astronomy question about observing, the planets, stars, cosmology, or astronomy history, send it in! Five are selected each month for publication in the Ask Astro section of Astronomy magazine. If your question is selected, we will forward it to an expert for his or her response. Then, the...

“Now therefore, we, the Board of Trustees and its President, do hereby proclaim the dark sky over the village of Barrington Hills a fitting attribute for the celebration of the International Year of Astronomy in 2009.” So states the proclamation dated December 15, 2008, and originating from Village Hall, Barrington Hills, Illinois. Just before the International Year of Astronomy (IYA2009) began, the village’s board of trustees took up the cause against...

Those of you who know me or have read some of my stories realize I’m kind of a crusader against light pollution . I’ll take any opportunity to rail against it or to let you know of a worthwhile project that will help decrease it. Well, I’ve found another one. For the past several years, a project to determine the darkness of our night sky has been underway, and you can help. The Globe at Night project invites people from all over the world to go outside...