I have a new article in Sky At Night Magazine this month, about asteroids, addressing a topic that I’ve often wondered about and one I’ve heard asked about quite a lot recently (especially after things like this happen) — “why do we miss some spacerocks and why do we spot some of them so late?”. It turns out there are a few reasons, and thankfully there are several things that are being done about it. If you want to get the whole story though you’ll have to see pages 39-43 of the June issue.
Archive Page 2
New asteroid article in Sky At Night Magazine
Published Friday, 22 May, 2009 media , science writing Leave a CommentTags: asteroids, Sky At Night Magazine
Special S@N vodcast from the JENAM 2009
Published Monday, 11 May, 2009 media Leave a CommentTags: E-ELT, ESO, JENAM, vodcast
Video credit: Sky At Night Magazine. Click ‘HD’ for high quality version.
A few of us from Sky At Night Magazine visited the 2009 Joint European National Astronomy Meeting at the University of Hertfordshire, in late April. Whilst there we filmed two special episodes of the magazine’s vodcast, the first of which (an extended 10 minute episode) has just been released. In it we talk to Prof Michel Mayor, who tells us about a new extrasolar planet he and his colleagues recently discovered, and we chat with Prof Bruno Liebundgut from ESO about the European Extremely Large Telescope. Part 2 will be along next month with a special interview with another one of the JENAM’s wheely interesting delegates!
Neil deGrasse Tyson speaks to Google
Published Thursday, 16 April, 2009 astronomy outreach , media 1 CommentTags: Neil deGrasse Tyson
In February the folks at Google invited astrophysicist Dr Neil deGrasse Tyson to their New York offices to speak about his latest book The Pluto Files: The Rise and Fall of America’s Favorite Planet. Tyson is the Director of the Hayden Planetarium in New York and a wonderfully engaging and humorous public speaker. Last week Google uploaded the video of his talk, which I’ve embedded below.
In the video Tyson explores the historical context of Pluto’s re-classification, the controversy surrounding the ‘demotion’ of Pluto and what it means to be a planet today. The Q&As after, not necessarily relating to the book, are interesting too; his description of the smoothness of the Earth for example, towards the end of the video, is just brilliant.
Whatever your views on Pluto’s status today, Tyson’s ability to eloquently and enthusiastically communicate science, in particular astronomy, is something we can all really enjoy.
Video courtesy AtGoogleTalks YouTube channel. Hat tip to my colleague Kerry.
Get to know our neighbour this Moonwatch week
Published Monday, 30 March, 2009 astronomy 2 CommentsTags: IYA2009, observing, Spring Moonwatch
The Moon — an incredible sight through even a small telescope. Credit: WillGater.com
In the UK we’ve just started the Spring Moonwatch week, as part of the International Year of Astronomy. It’s the first of a handful of special lunar observing weeks planned throughout the year aimed at getting everyone out having a look at our nearest Solar System neighbour, the Moon.
Even a good pair of small binoculars can show you interesting features on the Moon’s surface like the larger craters, the darker maria (which are vast expanses of smooth basalt) and ray ejecta (the brighter streaks of material stretching across the Moon from when an asteroid hit the surface). If you own a telescope and maybe haven’t used it in months/years/decades why not get it out of the cupboard, dust it off and see what the Moon has to offer? And if you’re already a dedicated amateur astronomer then here’s a perfect opportunity to show some friends some stunning selenogical sights through your scope — there’s nothing quite as rewarding as giving someone their first view of the lunar surface at high magnification. Also be sure to look up your local astronomy society, as they may well have their own Moonwatch events already planned that you can join in with; a good place to start is the IYA UK events page here.
The craters Eratosthenes, Archimedes, Clavius and Plato as well as the rille the ‘Straight Wall’ are all visible during Spring Moonwatch. Credit: WillGater.com
The April Sky At Night Magazine has a special 6-page guide to the Spring Moonwatch week and there’s more info. about the whole project over on the Society for Popular Astronomy’s website here. Lastly, if you do observe the Moon and you tweet about them on Twitter, remember to tag it with #starparty. Happy observing!
Spectacular spin around the space station
Published Saturday, 28 March, 2009 space shuttle 1 CommentTags: ISS, space shuttle, STS-119
The ISS now has its full complement of solar panels. Credit: NASA
The Space Shuttle Discovery (mission STS-119) has just touched down at the Kennedy Space Center after 202 orbits of the Earth. It’s been in space for the past 12 and a bit days visiting the International Space Station where the shuttle’s crew has installed a new set of huge solar panels; giving the orbiting structure some more power. As Discovery undocked and parted with the ISS a few days ago it flew around the station. One of the astronauts on-board captured a high-definition video of the manoeuvre. The result is amazing. I’ve embedded the YouTube video below but it’s really worth clicking the HD button to see the much sharper footage.
