Dr. Amanda Foster

If you’ve ever been cornered by a four-year-old asking why the sky is blue and felt your brain scramble for an answer, you are not alone. I’ve been there, fumbling through half-remembered high school physics while a small human stares at me expecting revelation. The good news is that learning how to talk to kids … Read more

Learning how to fact-check a viral science claim online is now a basic skill for anyone who scrolls social media. A 2018 MIT study found that false news spreads roughly six times faster than the truth on platforms like Twitter, and science claims sit right at the center of the worst viral hoaxes. I have … Read more

If you have ever heard someone say “correlation does not imply causation” and wondered what that actually means, you are in the right place. In this guide, I will walk you through exactly how to explain correlation versus causation with everyday examples that anyone can understand, no statistics degree required. Correlation is when two variables … Read more

STOP – Read this first: Pointing an unfiltered telescope at the Sun can burn a permanent blind spot into your retina in less than one second. The damage is painless because the retina has no pain receptors. Before you try anything described below, please read our safety section. The good news: you can absolutely observe … Read more

I still remember the first time I watched the International Space Station glide silently over my neighborhood. There were no flashing lights, no roar of an engine, just a steady white point moving faster than any airplane I had ever seen. Within three minutes it vanished over the rooftops, and I was hooked. If you … Read more

Learning how to identify constellations season by season is one of the most rewarding hobbies you can pick up. I still remember my first clear winter night, tracing Orion’s Belt across the sky and feeling like I had unlocked a secret the universe had been waiting to share. This guide walks you through every season … Read more

I still remember the first time I pointed a cheap pair of 10×50 binoculars at the sky. The Milky Way stretched across my backyard view, and Jupiter showed actual moons lined up like tiny pins of light. That moment changed everything. You do not need a telescope to start exploring the night sky. In fact, … Read more

I still remember the first time I split a double star through my 4-inch refractor. Albireo sat there in the eyepiece like a sapphire next to a topaz, and I could not stop grinning. If you have ever wanted to observe double stars and split close pairs yourself, you are in for a genuinely rewarding … Read more

Learning how to log your deep sky observations like an amateur astronomer transforms a casual night under the stars into a lasting scientific record. I have spent years at the eyepiece, and the observers who improve the fastest are the ones who write things down. Whether you hunt Messier galaxies from a dark sky site … Read more

I still remember the first time I dragged my 8-inch Dobsonian into the backyard on a clear Friday night, excited to see Saturn’s rings. Instead, I got a boiling, blurry blob because I had not cooled the mirror, misaligned the finder, and tried to push 300x magnification through terrible seeing. That session taught me that … Read more