The Universe: Death, Destruction, and the Planet Jupiter

So, I have to admit to being a bit remiss in blogging about the Universe series. I have a reasonably good reason: I like my husband. That may sound like a non sequitur, but you need to understand that after dating a long series of science and engineering types who all thought astronomy was great, I decided I...

Redshifted Formaldehyde

I just finished taking a tour through the latest papers posted on the astronomy preprint server. In general, few things do more to attract a my attention than a good title. One title in particular stopped my casual scrolling dead on its pixels: Redshifted formaldehyde from the gravitational lens B0218+357....

Random Thought 5

I just looked over my podcast stats (a self hating act if there ever was one). My numbers have been slowly creeping up about 10 readers per week since I went daily at the beginning of May. It is sad, but it is encouraging. I see growth. It’s just slow. If you guys could plug my little blog whenever you...

Random Thought 4

Just last week, it seems, Venus was in Gemini and Saturn stood half a sky away in Leo. Seeing Venus and Saturn side-by-side in Leo the past couple days makes me wonder where the days have gone. When you really watch the sky, it is truly amazing how fast things can move.

The Art of the Star Party

Last night I attempted to give a star party for a group of about 50 girl scouts. It was a noble effort, but I have to admit that it devolved into learned old(ish) person speaking before a group of seated in rows youngish people. I’m generally opposed to this type of teaching, but I had run out of...