Archive of Writings
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To Hubble with Love
For my entire professional astronomer life, Hubble has been there as a beloved icon of what scientists can accomplish technically and scientifically when they are given the opportunity to dream. The images most of us think of when we pull up a mental image of the...
Can I Pin You?
AAS has started and life is good. Phil, Fraser and I are moving in a happy pack and having great time. It was wonderful finally meeting Fraser face to face (check out the latest Astronomy Cast for pictures of the two of us recording). The real meeting starts about...
Austin: Day 0
We've arrived. Mostly. Fraser and I are in the warm and overcast city of Austin, drinking in a bit of atmosphere and a whole lot of TexMex. Today is a day of planning, talking, and recording. In a little while we'll be recording an Episode of Astronomy Cast while...
Welcome to A New Year
It's Jan 2 most places, but since I haven't gone to bed yet, I'm going to claim it's still the first day of a new year. For me the first week of January always means 1 thing: A dead news feed and pre-conference chaos. You see, next week is the annual Winter Meeting of...
T’was the Astronomer’s Sys Admin’s Night Before Christmas
'Twas the night before Christmas, and clouds filled the sky Not an object was twinkling, not even Iota Tri; The telescope was parked in its dome with great care, In hopes of spying a star on which it could stare; My students were nested all snug in their beds While...
Repeat: T’was the Astronomer’s Day Before Christmas
A couple years ago I wrote the following for "Slacker Astronomy." Enjoy! (New adventures may be posted this evening). [Link To Audio] T’was the day before Christmas, and all through the dome Not a GUI was stirring, not even gnome. The CCDs were stored in their...
Austin Meetup Jan 8 at 8pm
Astronomy Cast and the Bad Astronomer his bad self are planning to have meetup for all you wonderful fans and friends out there who will be at the AAS meeting or who feel like driving to Austin. The place isn't set in stone, but we're thinking maybe the Iron Cactus...
Carnival of Space #34
Yes, it's that time of the week again. This weeks carnival can be found over at Rainer Gerhards' Spaceflight Blog
Tis the Season for Cynicism
It's nearly Christmas. Everyday my email is getting blasted with messages from Amazon, Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware reminding me exactly how long I have to order if I want gifts to arrive by Christmas. The neighborhood houses have grown luminous fur (whoever...
Getting Ready for AAS
It is just a few short weeks until the Astronomy Cast crew (that would be Fraser, Rebecca and I) as well as the Bad Astronomer (that would be Phil) all head down to Austin, Texas for this year's winter meeting of the American Astronomical Society. It should be a great...