IAU, Pluto, and naming P5

The 2012 meeting of the International Astronomical Union is about to begin in Beijing, China. I’ll be attending the second week of the meeting, and talking on the very last day (yikes!) The 2 constant questions about IAU are “Will Pluto get back its planethood?” and “what new objects...

A week to look up: LCROSS Impact and White House Star Party

As a 1 year long event, IYA2009 has worked hard to provide a steady stream of events. That said, some weeks are more interesting than others, and this week is shaping up to be one of those more interesting weeks. On October 7, Mr and Mrs Obama will host a star party at the US White House, and on the night of...

Galileoscope: A dream of 1 Telescope Per Child

I know a set of men who had a dream. They wanted to see every child in the world have access to a high-quality low-cost telescope. They wanted something that would show the rings of Saturn, survive a tumble down the stairs, and just keep revealing the sky night after night after night. This is a good dream;...

Astronomy & Fire: Mt Wilson Observatory & JPL under threat

This has not been a good August for the hearts of observational astronomers around the globe. A few weeks ago, smoke filled the Canary Islands as fires swept toward – but not quite to – Roque de Los Muchacho, home of the 4.2-m William Herschel Telescope . Now, the Station Fire is threatening both...

Eclipse of the Century Part 3 of 3: My First Total Eclipse

I have had several near misses with the Sun. In 1984, I lived beneath an annular eclipse that occurred above rather thick and nasty rain clouds. In 1994 I viewed a partial eclipse from the upper peninsula of Michigan. Total eclipses, however, have always avoided my path. This year I decided to purposely put...

Astronomy Twitter Users?

So, I’m trying really hard to put together a list of twitter users who talk about astronomy on a regular basis. I’m doing this as part of a general report on New Media for the Decadal Survey. This is a list of everyone from folks who promote their local club, to people who actively share their...