The Launch of Urban Skygazer

New York City isn't an ideal place for an amateur astronomer to end up, but it's where I've lived for nearly 30 years. The location is conducive to my career in publishing, but it's no place to see the stars in their full glory, as the view is impeded by the scourge of stray light that has come to be known as light pollution. Nonetheless, I try to make the best of what observing opportunities I do get, whether it's observing with a friend or at a star party, or going on an out-of-town expedition, or simply going for a walk beneath the stars in my neighborhood, trying to get away from the glare from streetlights while doing my best to remain inconspicuous lest people mistake me for a prowler, an occupational hazard for an urban astronomer.

I may never be able to see Pluto or even the Crab Nebula from the city (barring a majo blackout); the challenge and joy of urban astronomy is in making the best of what the relatively adverse conditions permit. Over the years I've observed numerous comets, meteors, asteroids, novae (even a supernova or two, planets, variable stars, planet-bearing stars, spacecraft (MIR, ISS, Space Shuttles) and deep-sky objects, and have photographed many of these objects as well.

In Urban Skygazer, I want to relate my own experiences as a city astronomer and provide a forum for others to discuss their own. I also want to report on and discuss astronomy news of more general interest.