Category Archives: Astronomy/astrophysics

Seeking advice from stargazers.

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Reader hp asks:

Do you (or your commenters) know what to look out for in a small-child-friendly telescope? My daughter (now aged 4.5) has been space-obsessed for over a year now, and I’d like to encourage her but am nervous of spending a lot of money on the wrong thing.

For those of you who look at the night sky with kids (or who once looked at the night sky while kids), what are your suggestions? What are the crucial features of a decent ‘scope, and which of the bells and whistles are things you can live without (and without paying for)? How important do you think it is for a kid to be able to mess with the adjustments herself (and what kind of ‘scopes would make it easier for a kid to make the adjustments herself)?
(It’s worth noting that, in a post on measuring devices for kids, Natalie mentioned she had heard an astronomer recommend binoculars as a good place for kids to start in terms of star-gazing instrumentation. So if you have good binocular recommendations for 4- to 6-year-olds, lay those on us, too. )
Thanks in advance for your input!

Data paparazzi.

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In a comment on another post, Blatnoi asks for my take on a recent news item in Nature:

An Italian-led research group’s closely held data have been outed by paparazzi physicists, who photographed conference slides and then used the data in their own publications.
For weeks, the physics community has been buzzing with the latest results on ‘dark matter’ from a European satellite mission known as PAMELA (Payload for Antimatter Matter Exploration and Light-nuclei Astrophysics). Team members have talked about their latest results at several recent conferences … but beyond a quick flash of a slide, the collaboration has not shared the data. Many high-profile journals, including Nature, have strict rules about authors publicizing data before publication.
It now seems that some physicists have taken matters into their own hands. At least two papers recently appeared on the preprint server arXiv.org showing representations of PAMELA’s latest findings (M. Cirelli et al. http://arxiv.org/abs/0808.3867; 2008, and L. Bergstrom et al. http://arxiv.org/abs/0808.3725; 2008). Both have recreated data from photos taken of a PAMELA presentation on 20 August at the Identification of Dark Matter conference in Stockholm, Sweden.

I’d say this is a situation that bears closer examination.

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Colleagues behaving badly: symmetry considerations.

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Go to Cosmic Variance at once to read Julianne Dalcanton’s musings on why spherical jerks (not the word she uses) are preferable to the asymmetric ones:

No one is surprised when a known, calibrated asshole acts up. We all just adjust the gain on our emotional response and carry on. I’ve been quite fond of many assholes through the years, and when I look back, the one trait they shared was that while they may have been ornery, they were at least predictable.

Go read the whole thing to explore the topology of the muppethuggers she’s been having to deal with lately.

A plea to vote in the Weblog Awards poll

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… despite the fact that I’m deeply suspicious of claims that getting the most votes is truly indicative of being the best.
Anyhow, the category in which your vote might make a real difference (here at the last minute) is Best Science Blog:

I’m a big fan of In the Pipeline, Bootstrap Analysis and Invasive Species Weblog (and I hear that “Pharyngula” guy is a good read), in terms of the maximization of quality and “electability”, I urge you to vote for Bad Astronomy.
Cast your vote now, before it’s too late!

Fifty years after Sputnik.

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Fifty years ago today, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik I, Earth’s first artificial satellite. I don’t remember it (because I wouldn’t be born for another decade), but the “BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP” heard ’round the world left indelible traces on the fabric of life for my parents’ generation, my generation, and for the subsequent generations, too.

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Three cheers for Dr. May!

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A reader made sure I saw this today. (Thank you, reader!)
From Brian May’s website:

Yes. It’s done, and after about 37 years, I am finally a doctor. The oral examination of my thesis, and of me, lasted about 3 hours, and then I retired with Prof Rowan-Robinson, for a few moments, for my two examiners to confer. After only a couple of minutes they called me back into the room and offered their hands in congratulations. Yes, my category was number 2. I understand pretty much nobody gets a 1st category – which is “This is perfect – here’s your PhD.”

Congratulations to Dr. May on a job well done!

Something to entertain you while comments are down tonight.

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The ScienceBlogs servers are undergoing some serious spa treatments this evening (Saturday, June 2nd, starting at 9PM EDT) to rejuvenate them and help them achieve inner peace.
Or something.
Their massage and facial package (or whatever) is projected to last about three hours, during which time the system won’t be able to accept new comments. Jot them down on paper and get them in tomorrow!
In the meantime, via my mom, there’s a cool streaming video you might want to check out of Nobel Prize winner John Mather giving a colloquium at NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center on November 21, 2006, before he flew out to Stockholm to receive his medal. (Click on the link near the top of the page that says “Video of John Mather’s special Scientific Colloquium (courtesy of the Goddard Library).”. You may need Windows Media Player to watch it.) Mom was “entertained by Mather’s ability to connect the dots for a more general audience.”
Further down the page, there’s a list of other colloquia given at GSFC whose streaming video you can access, but the Mather has Mom’s recommendation.