see more of martin amm's photography: here
Saturday, February 9, 2008
dew bug
stunningly beautiful example of refraction, using a brilliant target!
see more of martin amm's photography: here
see more of martin amm's photography: here
Friday, February 8, 2008
carnival of space - #40
hop over to the orbiting frog blog, for the 40th installment of the carnival of space!
Thursday, February 7, 2008
upside down orion!
i'm thrilled to be under southern skies again!
in general, when i walk outside of a roofed-structure at night, i look up immediately to see what stars and planets are out, in order to get acquainted with my relative time and location... just 4 days ago, i eagerly awaited the southern summer sun to set so i could look up to see orion upside down (!) and the southern cross above my head… reminding me how far around the other side of the earth i’ve come for this job interview!
i survived my interview, but i have to say it was the most intense one i've had! wow.... i was relieved when it ended, but of course i circled all my responses over and over in my head afterwards, wondering about their "correctness." i tried to be as honest as i could be without getting bogged down with worries about what the "right" answer was they might be expecting. i think i succeeded at this point, but their detailed questions have given me interesting things to ponder for the last couple days!
i leave this evening to head back to the northern hemisphere. i'm excited to discuss the universe a long time ago, in galaxies far, far away!
in general, when i walk outside of a roofed-structure at night, i look up immediately to see what stars and planets are out, in order to get acquainted with my relative time and location... just 4 days ago, i eagerly awaited the southern summer sun to set so i could look up to see orion upside down (!) and the southern cross above my head… reminding me how far around the other side of the earth i’ve come for this job interview!
i survived my interview, but i have to say it was the most intense one i've had! wow.... i was relieved when it ended, but of course i circled all my responses over and over in my head afterwards, wondering about their "correctness." i tried to be as honest as i could be without getting bogged down with worries about what the "right" answer was they might be expecting. i think i succeeded at this point, but their detailed questions have given me interesting things to ponder for the last couple days!
i leave this evening to head back to the northern hemisphere. i'm excited to discuss the universe a long time ago, in galaxies far, far away!
Saturday, February 2, 2008
darwinian valentine's day
did anyone get up early enough to see the conjunction of venus and jupiter? i almost did, but not quite. let me know if you got any good pictures!
this afternoon, i'm leaving on a jetplane for the spanish-speaking wonderland... chile! i'm extremely excited to be heading back to my home of most of 2007!! the main purpose of the trip is for a job interview (think good thoughts for me!), but i also plan to visit old friends, drive to the mystical valley, drink some pisco sours, eat an empanada or four, hopefully listen to fantastic folk music, and lounge a bit on the beach!
i might not be able to post much while traveling, so i leave you with a challenge... enter the darwin valentine's day card contest being held by the skepchicks!!! i think this is a hilarious idea, and i'm feeling inspired to try to come up with something even half as clever as the one they share...
good luck!
this afternoon, i'm leaving on a jetplane for the spanish-speaking wonderland... chile! i'm extremely excited to be heading back to my home of most of 2007!! the main purpose of the trip is for a job interview (think good thoughts for me!), but i also plan to visit old friends, drive to the mystical valley, drink some pisco sours, eat an empanada or four, hopefully listen to fantastic folk music, and lounge a bit on the beach!
i might not be able to post much while traveling, so i leave you with a challenge... enter the darwin valentine's day card contest being held by the skepchicks!!! i think this is a hilarious idea, and i'm feeling inspired to try to come up with something even half as clever as the one they share...
good luck!
space flight: challenges always re-enter
this week we're reminded to learn from our mistakes... by not forgetting them! three major NASA-related events that have helped shape our image of space exploration, all occured in various years during this week. for a more developed summary, see professor astronomy's blog. i'll just mention the two events that i remember from personal experience.
1) on January 28, 1986, the shuttle Challenger exploded. i was young at the time, but i have a very vivid memory of the moment. my class was privileged to watch the launch live and we were all very excited! i sat on the floor, next to my best friend jessica, looking up at the TV. the image of the liftoff and the arc made by the smoke in the air is very vivid in my mind. then the line grew into an unexplainably big puff ball while white streaks shot out to the sides.
the explosion seemed surreal and confusing. my young mind's first thought was "that's odd. i don't think that was supposed to happen." it was ultimately the reaction of the teachers in the room that made me understand the seriousness of the situation. i remember deciding at that moment that i did NOT want to be an astronaut!
2) On February 1, 2003 i was in west texas observing at the mcdonald observatory. i was there for an 8-night observing run on the 2.7m telescope and became excited when i heard the shuttle columbia would pass over texas on its way to landing in florida! depending on the shuttle's final descent path, i would be able to see it crossing the sky, low to the north, early in the morning. i followed NASA's liftoff webpage all night to track columbia in its orbit, in anticipation of seeing the shuttle! while i finished up some morning calibration exposures, i stood out on the catwalk that surrounds the telescope.... looking off to the north.
NASA estimated that the shuttle would pass by between 7:30 and 8am (central time, of course), so i watched from about 7:30 until 8:15am (it was february and cold on the mountain top!). The sun had risen by 8am and since the shuttle would have crossed the sky very low on the horizon, i suspected that i would not see it at all. so i finished the night's observing a little disappointed having not seen the shuttle. i closed down the telescope, walked across the road to my dorm room and went straight to sleep.
it wasnt until i woke up around 4pm that i found all the other astronomers gathered around the TV watching CNN. i was surprised, to say the least, when i heard the news that columbia had broken apart during re-entry! most of the visiting astronomers and observatory staff there were very emotional about the event. this created a somber atmosphere as we discussed the effect of the 3000 degree heat generated during re-entry and our speculations as to what could have happened. as the shock slowly wore off and the reality set in, i reflected on my thoughts that early morning as i waited to see the shuttle.
i think professor astronomy sums them up, and provides excellent insight into these events... so i will leave you with a quote from his blog:
1) on January 28, 1986, the shuttle Challenger exploded. i was young at the time, but i have a very vivid memory of the moment. my class was privileged to watch the launch live and we were all very excited! i sat on the floor, next to my best friend jessica, looking up at the TV. the image of the liftoff and the arc made by the smoke in the air is very vivid in my mind. then the line grew into an unexplainably big puff ball while white streaks shot out to the sides.
the explosion seemed surreal and confusing. my young mind's first thought was "that's odd. i don't think that was supposed to happen." it was ultimately the reaction of the teachers in the room that made me understand the seriousness of the situation. i remember deciding at that moment that i did NOT want to be an astronaut!
2) On February 1, 2003 i was in west texas observing at the mcdonald observatory. i was there for an 8-night observing run on the 2.7m telescope and became excited when i heard the shuttle columbia would pass over texas on its way to landing in florida! depending on the shuttle's final descent path, i would be able to see it crossing the sky, low to the north, early in the morning. i followed NASA's liftoff webpage all night to track columbia in its orbit, in anticipation of seeing the shuttle! while i finished up some morning calibration exposures, i stood out on the catwalk that surrounds the telescope.... looking off to the north.
NASA estimated that the shuttle would pass by between 7:30 and 8am (central time, of course), so i watched from about 7:30 until 8:15am (it was february and cold on the mountain top!). The sun had risen by 8am and since the shuttle would have crossed the sky very low on the horizon, i suspected that i would not see it at all. so i finished the night's observing a little disappointed having not seen the shuttle. i closed down the telescope, walked across the road to my dorm room and went straight to sleep. it wasnt until i woke up around 4pm that i found all the other astronomers gathered around the TV watching CNN. i was surprised, to say the least, when i heard the news that columbia had broken apart during re-entry! most of the visiting astronomers and observatory staff there were very emotional about the event. this created a somber atmosphere as we discussed the effect of the 3000 degree heat generated during re-entry and our speculations as to what could have happened. as the shock slowly wore off and the reality set in, i reflected on my thoughts that early morning as i waited to see the shuttle.
i think professor astronomy sums them up, and provides excellent insight into these events... so i will leave you with a quote from his blog:
It is important to remember these people and accidents. These men and women willingly put their lives at risk to explore space, bravery that deserves recognition. But also, each of these accidents may have been preventable. A string of human errors and cultural issues led to each accident. These errors are much easier to see in retrospect than they were ahead of time, and so we should be careful in assigning blame to freely. Yet we can and must learn from these mistakes to protect future lives; to ignore these lessons would be an unforgivable failure.
Finally, we should all recognize that more lives will be lost in the future. Space travel is extraordinarily dangerous. As private companies also begin to open space to civilians, we must accept that there will be accidents and lives lost, and most of these will probably be due to human error. Let's just hope that those errors are due to exploration and humankind's pushing of the envelope, and not due to our failure to learn from our history.
when imagination becomes reality
here is an amazing project where Yeon Doo Jung, a korean photographer, takes drawings by children and turns them into reality by staging real photoshoots! that must be such a cool feeling as a kid to have so much effort going into creating your personal design! see more at wonderland 2005...
i found this via neat-o-rama
i found this via neat-o-rama
Friday, February 1, 2008
carnival o space - #39
this week's collection of astronomy musings has been collected at sean welton's visual astronomy.
around christmas, many people asked me about what kind of telescope they should buy for their backyard sky watching. assuming the successful purchase of a telescope, i refer you to sean's excellent list of ten essential astronomy accessories. i find especially useful: a good chair, star charts, a red flashlight, warm clothes and various eye pieces. one thing that doesnt make his top ten, but i definitely enjoy when possible, is a tasty beverage kept warm or cold in a good thermos! enjoy!
around christmas, many people asked me about what kind of telescope they should buy for their backyard sky watching. assuming the successful purchase of a telescope, i refer you to sean's excellent list of ten essential astronomy accessories. i find especially useful: a good chair, star charts, a red flashlight, warm clothes and various eye pieces. one thing that doesnt make his top ten, but i definitely enjoy when possible, is a tasty beverage kept warm or cold in a good thermos! enjoy!
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
a long time ago, in galaxies far, far away...
would you, could you be in austin, texas on friday, feb. 8th?? if so, then read on!
you're invited to a public astronomy lecture i'm giving for the austin astronomical society in a couple weeks! At 7:30pm on the evening of friday, february 8th, i'll be talking for 45 minutes about galaxy evolution and answering questions afterwards. No prior astronomy knowledge is necessary... enthusiasm is encouraged! :)
Title: "A long time ago in galaxies far, far, away..."
Topic: Galaxies found in the distant, early universe look and behave differently from those in our local universe. In this presentation, I describe triumphs and tribulations towards our understanding of these differences, by highlighting some fundamental insights into the current questions of galaxy evolution.
Treatise: Astronomy always fascinated Amanda as a child, but she never thought that it could be a feasible career. As an undergraduate at the University of Cincinnati, she studied French for a year before recognizing her true fascination with the Universe. She changed her major to physics, having no real idea of what she was getting herself into! Ten years later, she is preparing to graduate from the University of Texas at Austin with her PhD in Astronomy, still not entirely sure of what the Universe has in store for her, but excited to find out!
The meeting location is in RLM Room 4.102 (The Wheeler Lecture Hall), in the Robert Lee Moore Building, on the University of Texas at Austin campus at the southeast corner of Dean Keeton (26th) and Speedway. more info here:
http://www.austinastro.org/meetings.html
map and parking:
http://www.austinastro.org/meetings-map.gif
see you there!!
amanda
you're invited to a public astronomy lecture i'm giving for the austin astronomical society in a couple weeks! At 7:30pm on the evening of friday, february 8th, i'll be talking for 45 minutes about galaxy evolution and answering questions afterwards. No prior astronomy knowledge is necessary... enthusiasm is encouraged! :)
Title: "A long time ago in galaxies far, far, away..."
Topic: Galaxies found in the distant, early universe look and behave differently from those in our local universe. In this presentation, I describe triumphs and tribulations towards our understanding of these differences, by highlighting some fundamental insights into the current questions of galaxy evolution.
Treatise: Astronomy always fascinated Amanda as a child, but she never thought that it could be a feasible career. As an undergraduate at the University of Cincinnati, she studied French for a year before recognizing her true fascination with the Universe. She changed her major to physics, having no real idea of what she was getting herself into! Ten years later, she is preparing to graduate from the University of Texas at Austin with her PhD in Astronomy, still not entirely sure of what the Universe has in store for her, but excited to find out!
The meeting location is in RLM Room 4.102 (The Wheeler Lecture Hall), in the Robert Lee Moore Building, on the University of Texas at Austin campus at the southeast corner of Dean Keeton (26th) and Speedway. more info here:
http://www.austinastro.org/meetings.html
map and parking:
http://www.austinastro.org/meetings-map.gif
see you there!!
amanda
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