Browsing all posts in May, 2008.

Me, You, UStream and Astronomy Cast Live

So, I seemingly dropped off the planet this week prepping for next week’s AAS/ASP/IYA meeting in St Louis, MO. Sadly, Fraser had something come up and won’t be able to make it, but Phil, Chris, and Universe Today writer Nancy Atkinson will be taking the meeting by storm.
Here is a plan of events. All will [...]

Astronomy Cast Live and STS-124

The high energy Scott Miller is down in Florida covering the Launch of STS-124. Check out his coverage over on Astronomy Cast Live!

Astronomy Cast / Bad Astronomy / Galaxy Zoo / Blogger meetup in St Louis

Following the success of our meeting in Austin back in January, we’re planning another meetup to coincide with the St Louis AAS meeting next week. If you’re nearby, you’ll find Phil, me, Chris , Michael and a host of other astronomical types in the K-Kitchen bar from 7pm on Tuesday June 3.
Come. Chat. Drink. Astronomise.
Be [...]

Carnival of Space!

It’s Thursday so it’s Carnival Time.
This week’s carnival of space is at the Lifeboat Foundation (which is just really cool).

I’m on Technorama!

This has been a very chaotic week. Next week is a joint meeting of the AAS / ASP with a major meeting-within-a-meeting dedicated to IYA. I’m involved in a lot of things, and I’m afraid something had to give this week, and it ended up being my blog.
To hold you over until I can write [...]

Of Audio Books and Guilty Pleasures…

It is spring (or at least pretending to be spring in the middle of the country. Temperatures are in the 70s F (low 20s C), flowers are in bloom, and the birds are LOUD. For me spring means 2 things: no more classes and lots of weeding. It also means that I have time to [...]

And then there were 3: Jupiter’s trio of red spots

When I saw this new press release, my first thought was “Good lord, there’s another one.” This response was loaded with about the same emotional energy I give sparrows in the attic. Sure, I love wild birds, but sometimes (like when they come into the house), I’m just not sure how to react other then [...]

If it’s Thursday, it’s Carnival Time

They are actually setting up a Carnival a couple block from my home in the city hall parking lot. I wonder if my iPhone and I can ride both the Space Carnival and town carnival at the same time…
This week’s Space Carnival is located on Catholic Sensibility. Have a great time (no dramamine required).

A new way to find Supernovae: SN2008D

In case you haven’t heard, on January 9, 2008, astronomer Edo Berger (working with Alicia Soderberg) noticed something fuzzy emerge in fresh Swift data, and that something fuzzy turned out to be the first supernova ever caught in the act of exploding. This discovery is fabulous for a variety of reasons. First off, there is [...]

Common Misconceptions

Let me start by saying, this is Phil’s area of expertise. That said, there are certain things that as an astronomer I face over and over and over and over and … well, you get the picture. And some of them I just don’t understand.
There are the jokes, of course – Oh, you’re an astronomer? [...]