Beyond Bones

As planetarium astronomer, my job includes fielding astronomy related questions from the public.  A couple of weeks ago, I received in the mail several perceptive questions from Madison, a third grader in Lawrence, Kansas.  After answering them, I realized that the answers, and the questions that elicited them,  might benefit many of our BEYONDbones readers. […]

 Now in its fifty-second year, Wildlife Photographer of the Year is the international leader of innovative visual representation in the natural world. This prestigious competition and resulting exhibition, opening at the Houston Museum of Natural Science Jan. 27, stimulates engagement with the diversity and beauty of the natural world. On loan from the Natural History Museum […]

Saturn is the only planet in May 2011 evening skies.  Face south southeast at dusk, and you’ll see Saturn near a star of similar brightness— Spica in Virgo.  Saturn is significantly higher in the sky than Spica and a bit to its right as you face south.  Last month, Earth passed between the Sun and […]

During July, you can watch a great planet race, as Venus closes in on Mars while they both close in on Saturn! Saturn is now in the south southwest at dusk.  Look just to the west of due south, about 2/3 of the way up from the horizon to the zenith. Venus remains high in […]