Articles for the Public

These are links to some articles I have written that are aimed at a non-technical audience

(and then to some articles written about me or involving interviews with me):

An Astronomer Looks at Astrology (skeptically): 

http://bit.ly/astrologydebunked

An Astronomer Looks at UFO’s: A Lot Less than Meets the Eye (brief skeptical overview):
researchgate.net/publication/269402762_An_Astronomer_Looks_at_UFOs_A_Lot_Less_than_Meets_the_Eye

Astronomy in Popular Culture (Article from the 2014 Handbook of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada):
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/261707922_Astronomy_in_Popular_Culture

Astronomy in Popular Culture (A Quiz):
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/sky-and-telescope-magazine/beyond-the-printed-page/astronomy-in-popular-culture/

Celebrating the Astronomical Society of the Pacific’s 120^th Anniversary: Some Glimpses from our Past:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/261513030_Celebrating_the_Astronomical_Society_of_the_Pacific%27s_120th_Anniversary_Some_Glimpses_from_our_Past

Comets: Visitors from Deep Space (brief introduction):
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/272817198_Comets_Visitors_from_Deep_Space

Decidedly Demented Definitions of Astronomical Terms (full of bad puns):
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320099739_Andrew_Fraknoi%27s_Decidedly_Demented_Definitions

Doomsday from Pole Shifts (a skeptical look):
http://multiverse.ssl.berkeley.edu/Calendar-in-the-Sky/Articles/Doomsday-from-Pole-Shift

Doomsday from Rogue Planets (a skeptical look):
http://multiverse.ssl.berkeley.edu/Calendar-in-the-Sky/Articles/Doomsday-from-Rogue-Planets

Doomsday from Stellar Explosions (a skeptical look):
http://multiverse.ssl.berkeley.edu/Calendar-in-the-Sky/Articles/Doomsday-from-Stellar-Explosions

Exploring the Red Planet Mars (a brief primer):
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/269136272_Exploring_the_Red_Planet_Mars

Extra-solar Planets (brief introduction for the general public):
http://www.pbs.org/seeinginthedark/astronomy-topics/extrasolar-planets.html

Fifty Years After Our First Step: What Do We Know about the Moon (transcript of a 2019 talk to the Commonwealth Club): 

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/336287334_50_Years_Since_our_First_Step_What_Do_We_Know_about_the_Moon

Finding Planets around Other Stars (brief popular-level article):
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/262344297_Finding_Planets_Around_Other_Stars

Gamma-Ray Bursts (brief introduction for the general public):
http://www.pbs.org/seeinginthedark/astronomy-topics/gamma-ray-bursts.html

Getting Started in Astronomy (a guide for those who want to become arm-chair or amateur astronomers):
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/270905253_Getting_Started_in_Astronomy

Glossary of Basic Astronomical Terms (a guide for those starting out in astronomy):
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/261726046_Glossary_of_Basic_Astronomical_Terms

How Fast Are You Moving When You Are Sitting Still? (the motions of the Earth for teachers):
http://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/docs/HowFast.pdf

Interdisciplinary Approaches to Astronomy: Cosmic Fiction, Drama, and Poetry (from CAP Journal):
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/282356348_Interdisciplinary_Approaches_to_Astronomy_Cosmic_Fiction_Drama_and_Poetry

Interdisciplinary Approaches to Astronomy: The Music of the Spheres (from CAP Journal):
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/306746125_Interdisciplinary_Approaches_to_Astronomy_The_Music_of_the_Spheres

Light as a Cosmic Time Machine (brief introduction for the general public):
http://www.pbs.org/seeinginthedark/astronomy-topics/light-as-a-cosmic-time-machine.html (and another version at:
http://www.researchgate.net/publication/261707511_Light_as_a_Cosmic_Time_Machine )

Lives of the Stars (a brief introduction for the general public):
http://www.pbs.org/seeinginthedark/astronomy-topics/lives-of-stars.html

Mars (a brief introduction):
http://www.pbs.org/seeinginthedark/astronomy-topics/mars.html

Revisiting Pluto (first result from the New Horizons flyby; brief introduction):
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/284009472_Revisiting_Pluto

Ten Science Fiction Writers for Scientists and Science Enthusiasts:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/261364023_Ten_Science_Fiction_Writers_for_Scientists_and_Science_Enthusiasts

What’s a Planet and Why is Pluto not in the Planet Club Anymore (brief introduction):
http://www.pbs.org/seeinginthedark/astronomy-topics/planets-and-pluto.html

ARTICLES ABOUT ME (OR USING ME AS A SOURCE):

My Wikipedia Page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Fraknoi

“A Superman in Front of a Classroom” (a profile of me — and a bit about my life history — that appeared in a special Space supplement for the San Jose Mercury News): https://www.fraknoi.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Space-Magazine-Article-on-Fraknoi.pdf

Article about Space Weather from KQED (the San Francisco area public TV station):

https://www.kqed.org/science/1992826/how-solar-storms-that-bring-northern-lights-can-also-cause-tech-chaos

Music Inspired by Astronomy (A 2019 Web Post at the Sky & Telescope magazine site by Diana Hannikainen about my catalog of astronomy-inspired music): https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/people-places-and-events/music-astronomy-catalog/#google_vignette

Teaching is This Astronomer’s True Calling (2022 Article and Interview in the Web Column “Senior Beat”): https://sfseniorbeat.com/2022/01/09/teaching-children-students-and-adults-about-planets-black-holes-and-asteroids-is-this-astronomers-true-calling/

In Search of ET: Fear of What’s Out There Causes Big Split Among Space Scientists (2019 article in the San Francisco Chronicle quoting me and others about whether humanity should just listen for signals from other civilizations among the stars, or send out our own messages): https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/In-search-of-ET-Fear-of-what-s-out-there-has-13640953.php

Foothill College Astronomy Teacher Wins National Physics Prize (an article about my winning the Gemant Prize of the American Institute of Physics, which was earlier won by Stephen Hawking!): https://spacenews.com/foothill-college-astronomy-teacher-wins-national-physics-prize/