Astronomy

[trolls' bane]

Atronomy is so cool, and I am dying to hear about all of the things that the news and Astronomy.com say. I am also eager to meet amateur astronomers like myself. Please post any cosmic events (meteor showers, etc.) so people have a broader income of such news; as well as anything else to do with astronomy.

Now, could someone please explain to me in terms someone 13 years of age can understand, what "log" means in advanced math. If it's not that easy, try your best. The reason I ask is because I want to figure out the meaning of the equation used for finding out the absolute magnitude of a star by using its apparent magnitude:
M=(m+5) -5 log D
Might as well be in French.

Oh, and all HVEL members interested, the Hidden Valley Telegram has an astonomy section, so if I get enough people to give some more info, it will be more up to date.