Tag Archives: Michele Ferrara

Free Astronomy Magazine – September-October 2020 Issue Available For Reading And Download

Greetings, fellow astrophiles!

The most recent issue of Free Astronomy Magazine (September-October 2020) is available for your reading and downloading pleasure at www.astropublishing.com.

September-October 2020 includes a selected survey of astronomical content of local and cosmological interest from NASA/ESA, ESO, ALMA, as well as two feature articles from our fearless leader/editor Michele Ferrara. The feature articles in this issue discuss:

  1. “Betelgeuse – 100 years of uncertainties” – this article was 100 years in the making, but found itself updated with as-of-August scientific reporting in the final 100 hours before going to print (well, 150). The previous (pre-August) analyses were believed to be an adequate explanation, then the new reports indicate that that previous explanation did not, by itself, explain everything observed by us all since late last year.
  2. “In the mind of ET” – Continuing a multi-issue exobiology thread, this next article is a very interest perspective on the state of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (and not just SETI), based on the recent NASA award of Adam Frank (and collaborators) at the University of Rochester.

For those wanting a quick look at what the issue has to offer, the Table of Contents is reproduced below.

The web browser-readable version: www.astropublishing.com/5FAM2020/

Jump right to the PDF download (15 MB): September-October 2020

Special Issue! Free Astronomy Magazine – March/April 2020 Issue Available For Reading And Download

The most recent issue of Free Astronomy Magazine (March-April 2020) is available for your reading and downloading pleasure at www.astropublishing.com.

Yes, the issue is a series of articles about the importance of amateur astronomers coming together as a community through outreach, just in time for a global pandemic to keep everyone from coming together (for a while, anyway). The issue features an opening article by myself and an international perspective (Spain, Catalonia and Italy) by the editor Michele Ferrara and other contributing language editors on the general topics of the state of amateur astronomy and outreach in our respective locations.

For the opening story, I went with a very CNY-centric perspective on some of the great observing/outreach events, as well as their hosts, we’ve known in the past decade-or-so (while trying to name-drop all the area astronomy clubs in the process). These include shout-outs to some of the better-known lectures/observers, including David Bishop with ASRAS, Larry Slosberg with CNYO, James Callens with Western NY Astronomers, Bob Piekiel and his near-rock-solid monthly schedule at Baltimore Woods, my favorite classicist and dark sky proponent Prof. John McMahon, and the late, great Barlow Bob.

For those wanting a quick look at what the issue has to offer, the Table of Contents is reproduced below.

The web browser-readable version: www.astropublishing.com/2FAM2020/

Jump right to the PDF download (18 MB): March-April 2020