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 explore new books. I say explore...

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...

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...

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...

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...