Hello. This is Dr. Larry Krumenaker, and I’d like to take this moment to thank you for your patience. I have found a reason to resurrect this newsletter from its two-year slumber.
I am currently researching and trying to finish two astronomy books, long overdue for being completed. One is based on a series of columns in the OLD Classroom Astronomer Magazine. That book will be called Learning Astronomy Under the Northern Stars (LAUNS) and will present the North Circumpolar region of the sky as a 365-night teaching resource. More pertinently, the book Federation Space is an astronomy book based on the Star Trek franchise and the stars they mention that are actually not made up but real—in the real universe, too. That last book is partially the motivation for this new variation of the TCA Newsletter—I need updated information on all those objects and stars!
Another motivation….at one point I was a professional astronomer, doing research on cool and emission line stars. I have a whole big bunch of stars that need followup data and observations. As I am no longer attached to any university, I didn’t have the resources to do this….until recent years. There are a large number of massive databases of stellar information now! And they are all accessible, usually for free. To wit:
- Gaia
- MAST (Exoplanets and star measures)
- SDSS (Spectra and brightness)
- VRO (The upcoming Vera Rubin Observatory whole-sky survey)
- PAN-STARRS (Comets and asteroids, among other things)
- ZTF (Transient phenomena)
And there are more of these than I list! At least a dozen!
I need to learn how to get data for this research, and for the Trek-related book. And that gave me the idea that I can not be alone in this need. Astronomers—amateur and professional—have stars they want to study and know more about. Educators are seeking to incorporate real star data into their lessons on astronomy in particular, science in general. And I am willing to take people along with me on this ride!
So….
This new variation of The Classroom Astronomer Newsletter would be better titled Exploration of the Universe With Big Data. For that will be the main focus of this publication. I intend a minimum of one issue per month,starting January 2026, but on no particular schedule, on my explorations of these datasets and how to use them in science research and education. Along the way I will also be investigating the various new features of Substack—video posts, live sessions, perhaps schedule workshops in real time.
At some point I may even start adding in the use of various remotely operated observatories, to get more data for my projects, and see what can be done with them.
If you are interested in this Exploration, you will need to subscribe as a PAID subscriber. The free version will also be just occasional, usually with relevant astronomy education research and conference notes, which are hardly month to month.
I have in the Free December 1st, 2025, issue put in two articles. One is an introduction on using Gaia to get information, a repeat of an article as published in TCA #42. The second one is on a number of Big Data related posters and articles observed at the recent 7th Shaw-IAU Workshop on Astronomy for Education, in mid-November of this year. Enjoy!
And then…
Sign up for the Exploration of the Universe With Big Data version, the Paid tier of The Classroom Astronomer Newsletter. Until January, the introductory price is Substack’s minimums, 30 dollars/Euros per year or $5 per month. After January 1st the cost will go up to $40 and $7.50, respectively. (Note that this is still lower than the paid version of the old TCA Newsletter, which was $55.) If you happen to be a subscriber to The Galactic Times, you can sign up there instead of here but here a Free subscriber will only get the occasional free TCA. The Exploration idea will be done with both sets of Paid subscribers, TCA and TGT.
Sign up in the newsletter Substack page or in any issue’s Subscribe buttons.
Please sign up and enjoy the Exploration!
Dr. Larry Krumenaker, Publisher of TCA