One Astronomer's Noise

So I’m back to the lab this week, and hitting work hard since I have a to-do list as long as… well… insert inappropriate comment here. But here are some astronomy-related happenings that have caught my attention.

Carnival of Space #86 is up and running at collectSPACE. If your head still hasn’t exploded from all the AAS news from last week, then go ahead and read more space-happenings there!

Discovery Channel had a story with the very lucrative title “Space is closer than you think” which reports on some new data from the ionosphere (my sworn enemy) which appears to be hanging a bit low at this point in the solar cycle. So low, in fact, that scientific satellites that are usually embedded near the top can study the whole thing from the outside!

Coinciding with the IYA2009 kickoff events in Paris is a great Very Long Baseline Interferometry experiment in which telescopes all around the globe will observe 3 quasars and correlate the data in real time, something which is not usually done, and certainly not world-wide. This e-VLBI project will be watched by many radio astronomers, I am sure!

Finally, check out these sweet and astronomically correct lyrics by Breaking Laces, with the song titled “Astronomy is my life, but I love you.” If you are or have dated an astronomer, or anyone who is obsessed with their work, this song is for you. The song can be purchased on iTunes!