Sky & Telescope October 2003 [antikvár]

focal pointSky Writingmentioned in the column. Her friends were always amazed when she could then point out details of the night sky to them!I believe the general public is eager for good, easy-to-read astronomy columns. There's too much astrology in print, along with too many stories about astronomical discoveries that are difficult to understand. So here are some tips for the aspiring columnists among you:Remember your audience and assume little. Don't show off your knowledge; show off the sky.Double-check your facts and your spelling. It's most distressing to put a "k" in Spica, to misspell Aldebaran or the Pleiades, or to say the full Moon falls on Thursday when it really is next Monday. I've done all of these.Keep your drawings simple. Remember what the sky was like the first time you really looked at it!If you start, you must make the commitment to continue. Newspapers have firm deadlines.The newspaper's editors will fit the column into whatever space is available. They decide, not you.Don't expect to get either rich or famous from astronomy writing. I am paid $35 per column. I have never been asked to speak at a school or a public gathering.Finally, be patient and persistent if your local newspaper isn't initially interested. Offer to write a daily paragraph, a weekly column, or a monthly summary.How long might I continue? I'd like to write 1,000 columns over 25 years. Realistically, my long run could end next week should the newspaper choose. But I don't think that will happen.In the meantime, I have written 60 short essays about memorable nights under dark skies. Now, if I could only find a publisher for them Michael S. Smith (mssq@comcast.net) writes weekly for the Arizona Daily Star. He belongs to the Tucson Amateur Astronomy Association but so far has resisted the tempmwnto^come editor of the club's newsletter.Veteran astronomy columnist Michael S. Smith shareshis secrets for catching the eye of newspaper readers.A1 of us have had special moments in astronomy. We've all enjoyed the rising of the full Moon, a view of M104, or a great Leonid meteor shower. On a recent camping trip I saw, for the first time, seven stars in the Pleiades without optical aid. A week later thousands of others read about it in the column I write for a newspaper in Tucson, Arizona.Of course, Tucson is recognized around the world as a center of research in astronomy, and plenty of astronomical information appears in the newspaper. So how could I, an amateur with no formal astronomy education, dare write a column about the night sky? I decided to try because I felt that too many stories were hard for the public to understand.My approach was simple: I wrote to the newspaper's editors and asked if they would be interested in having me write about stargazing. Not surprisingly, my initial letter went unanswered, so I called. I was persistent but not aggressive. The editor asked for a few writing samples, and I complied. Much to my surprise, he agreed to start a column, which I named "Under Dark Skies."At the time I felt that if my contribution lasted six months it would be a success. That was in 1984. Nineteen years and more than 650 columns later, I'm still pounding the keyboard weekly. My writing is not nearly as popular as the op-ed pieces or restaurant reviews. On the other hand, I've watched many other columns and columnists come and go during my tenure.Over the years I have looked at the sky in many different ways, and my writing has led to discoveries I never would have imagined. I've coined the term "Taurus gaps" to define the ecliptic's passage between the Pleiades and Aldebaran, and between Beta Aurigae and Zeta Tauri. I've discovered that Alpha and Beta Cephei are decent pointers to Polaris, especially on those evenings between November and January when the Big Dipper isn't visible in Tucson's evening sky.I try to mention the beauty of the sky. I want people to view sunsets and sunrises. I want them to see a planet make changing triangles with Castor and Pollux in Gemini. I point out the striking color of Mars compared to that of Regulus or Spica. Every January I ask my readers to look at Sirius through slightly defocused binoculars to see the kaleidoscope of colors. I insist that they view Saturn through a telescope at least once.With the advent of e-mail, I now get more letters than I used to but seldom more than a few each month. Some are special. One was from a woman who saw every planet out to Uranus in one night. She was very excited and thanked me for bringing the thrill back. Another letter came from a club member who read my columns to his 87-year-old mother, who had macular degeneration. She asked him to show her the specific parts of the sky