via Chandra, Hubble, and the Very Large Array

Check it all out at Discovery News this week!

A few people got this shot, but George is sitting right next to me!

And there’s video of it as well. I haven’t seen an embeddable version yet, but click to see this one hosted on spaceweather.com, taken by 13-year-old Anna Herbst from California. The ripples were seen in the clouds as a result of a shockwave just after the craft went supersonic and as it hit “max-Q” or the point at which the pressure on the craft is at its maximum. (I didn’t keep track of the timing, but Nancy Atkinson of Universe Today did!)

Such a shockwave occurs when an object is moving through a medium faster than the speed of sound in that medium (the atmosphere, in this case). The speed of sound sets the limit of how fast information about the gas can travel within that gas in the atmosphere. Sharp discontinuities in temperature, pressure, and density can occur. We could “see” these discontinuities as it reached the cirrus clouds. For whatever reason, it appeared to bust up the cloud material that was creating the sundog.

Little SDO put on quite a show in its first few minutes as a spacecraft! I’ll be writing more on SDO science and our amazing TweetUp adventure, once I get some darn sleep…

I’ll let you know how it works out for me!

No, seriously, I look forward to the day when a dangerous cult like Scientology can’t afford prime real estate in Midtown Manhattan.

Stay tuned… after this vacation I’ll be at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Washington, DC, catching up on all the astronomy goodness I can handle.  When I’m not too busy running between sessions, manning my posters, and catching up with all my long-distance astronomy pals, I’ll try and write about some of the cool new research being presented! I’m sure there will be a Twitter hashtag for the meeting as well.

There are not enough hours in the day, or days in the week, for me to do everything that is interesting or a great opportunity.  I’m working to scale down my current commitments and not feel guilty about it.  If you ask me for something, and I say no, don’t take it personally!  I’m still figuring this all out and working to be realistic about my life.

Anyway, since that was a more serious and personal post than I often write, here are some pretty pictures from my most recent field work trip to Green Bank to get our field mowed with losing our cables and antenna positions.

Pretty fall colors have hit western Virginia. Click to embiggenify.

Understaffed and under time pressure, we ate our lunch while working outside. Erin, you are a trooper!

The skies clear and the old barn is a gray contrast to the colorful mountain behind it. PAPER antennas can be seen in front! (Also embiggenifiable.)

So, I attended, no, experienced my very first Dragon*Con. It was on a scale of something that I have never seen before. Tens of thousands of freaks and geeks, many in costume, descended upon downtown Atlanta to laugh, squee, drink, and just be themselves (or whoever they want to be) for a while.

Crowd partying at the Marriott bar

Some classic superheroes, at least one with a new spin! Lots more pictures, including some of Tim and me in costume, are on Picasa and Facebook.

I actually spent a lot of my time at Skeptrack. I finally got to meet many wonderful people that I had only know of through their writing or podcasts or through Twitter.  We had SUCH a blast!  These intelligent, creative people are each in their own right a force of nature, so the congregation of them in one place was simply spectacular.  Conversations started early in the day with the first panels, and stretched well into the next AM.  I don’t think I can do justice to each and every person that I met there so I’ll just say, thank you! And a special thanks to Derek and Swoopy of Skepticality for all of us even being there.

The closing Skeptrack panel

I’ve come away with a lot of great ideas and inspiration for various things I’d like to write and do.  As usual, it will take time for any one to come to fruition in my “spare time” (hahaha).  But as a number of the panelists stressed at various points, each one of us can do something, even something little, to advance skeptical thinking in the culture around us.

Some other highlights from the Con:

The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast won the “Best Infotainment” Parsec Award! Congrats to the whole team who work tirelessly to put this project together, and each and every one of the contributors to the cast.

George Hrab accepted this little gem on behalf of the cast.

The world record attempt at the most people dancing “Thriller” was attempted! I was not present, but the video is fantastic.

The pre-Dragon*Con Star Party was a success! The event was sold out, and then some, while guests mingled, chatted, and honored the late Jeff Medkeff.  Kudos to Maria Walters and the Atlanta Skeptics for organizing (and driving us around, and just for everything!), Pamela Gay and Phil Plait for giving kick-ass talks to a tipsy, rowdy crowd, and the Bradley Observatory at Agnes Scott for hosting and for letting Pamela and I talk to their students during the day. Despite the clouds, we got some good views of the Moon and Jupiter.  I have to say, the Galileoscope is a really neat tool for introducing astronomy.  I would recommend a tripod, however, though sitting on the concrete in your new dress to balance it on the back of a chair is also perfectly acceptable. Except maybe to my dress.

Randomly walking past celebrities in the hallway and in the bathroom was so weird.  I did a double take for both Michael Trucco and Felicia Day.  I also got to enjoy Felicia Day’s Guild Q&A and a really fun BSG panel with Michael Hogan and Mary McDonnell.  So it wasn’t all Skeptrack all the time, I got out and geeked out a bit, too.

I got pissed with the FDO. Really. A lot of us did… I’m surprised the bar ever let us back. That was one of at least four* (maybe five if Geologic gets posted!) live podcasts I got to attend, the others being Skeptic Zone, SGU, and a hilarious, hilarious Amateur Scientist. And we finally got to hear Christian Walters on that latter podcast!  Special thanks to him for driving my ass around Atlanta and helping us find a hotel and for even getting me to come down there in the first place.

So, check out my pictures, and look forward to some new skeptical thoughts to come! If I met you and haven’t friended you on Facebook or Twitter yet, go ahead and say hi!

The flight home. Oh no, how did they find me! Oh, that’s how. Props to the BA for that recommendation.

*Ack, apologies. I can’t remember what was recorded for podcast and what wasn’t!

Dr. SETI is the nickname used by Dr. Paul Shuch, an engineer with years of experience in commercial, academic, and military pursuits.  An avid radio amateur, he served as the Executive Director of the SETI League, a non-profit organization that brings together amateur radio astronomers in the search for signals from extraterrestrial intelligence.  And let me tell you, if you thought amateur astronomers were awesomely smart and resourceful people, and they are, amateur radio astronomers are doubly so, with their understanding of radio engineering and creativity in designing their own projects.  I first met Dr. Shuch when he gave a performance at Lycoming College in my sophomore year, and I happily sang along to “Cosmic Carl” from the audience!  So, listening to Skeptics Mix Tape, I was transported back to that memory.

Dr. Shuch lived just outside of Willamsport, home to Lyco, so he stayed in touch with our department over the years.  In my senior year, we visited the “Very Small Array,” part of the SETI League’s efforts, at his home.  I loved the way that he could explain the instrumentation of the array, although this was four years ago now and I didn’t take good notes.  But I do have pictures!

Dr. Shuch, showing off the green and brown antennas. Why that color? Well the neighbors complained he was “spoiling the natural landscape.”

For the record, I think dishes are pretty.

Right after I graduated, Dr. Shuch joined the faculty at Lyco for a year to help out the understaffed physics and astronomy department. Although I’m sad that I missed his teaching there, I’m sure that his work with our Small Radio Telescope was fun and educational!

So, the song itself makes me *squee* because of my geeky love of Carl Sagan.  First of all, I saw “Contact” in theatres when I was 13, which is about the time I decided I wanted to be an astronomer.  I was fascinated with the character of Ellie and her drive to pursue her life’s work.  Later, I started working in radio astronomy in Socorro, New Mexico, near the Very Large Array (which is not actually an awful waste of space). I got to geek out by reenacting various scenes in the movie with my REU* compatriots, as my standard avatar shows.  And yes, we even came up with a “Contact” drinking game. I now own the book version of Contact, which is also fantastic, and “Cosmos” on DVD, which is totally inspiring.  But Carl Sagan also had a big impact on my life when I read Demon-Haunted World just a few years ago. That book was really my introduction to skepticism as a world-view, not just something used in science and while watching infomercials.  So I owe much of my love of and interest in astronomy and skepticism to Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan through their creative works.

So to Carl… “billions and billions of cheers!”

* REU = Research Experience for Undergraduates.  If you are a science major, this is a GREAT way to spend a summer doing research, especially if you attend a small institution with limited resources.

My celebration included cherry picking!  A late frost nipped some of the cherry blossoms before they could bear fruit, and the recent rains made many of the rest moldy.  In addition, many of the trees in the open section of Spring Valley Orchard had been well picked over, but the boys decided that getting into the trees was the way to get those hard to reach fruits!  There were some ladders scattered about, but what boy doesn’t like climbing into a tree?

Tim, hunting the wild cherry…

Quality control on the ground

Later that night, my boyfriend said something wonderful to me. He said, “Dear, could we watch ‘Contact’? I know you love that movie and I’ve never seen it before.”  Boys, to make a geekgirl swoon, the little things will do it.  I’ll nerd-out over Carl Sagan in an upcoming post, so stay tuned!

Way back on a Friday afternoon a week and a half ago, I trucked up to Philly via I-81 while listening in on a PAPER telecon, and later my iPod. There is something wonderful about singing at the top of your lungs in the car, especially when you are alone because your singing leaves much to be desired.  East Coasters know that Google Maps or car GPS will try to take you to Philly via I-95, but summer weekend traffic on that road is awful, hence I took the longer route.  I finally got to crash at my boyfriend’s house for the whole week, which was wonderful, and if you aren’t following our obnoxiously sickening banter on Twitter already, why aren’t you?  I immediately started playing with his cat, Jinx, and promptly got into an itchy-eyed sneezing fit.  The Target-brand Claritin knock-off I use is good, but not good enough for completely rolling around in cat hair.  *sigh* Sorry Jinx, I had to take it easy with you the rest of the week.  Thank goodness for laser pointers.

Saturday, we headed out to a skeptic meetup organized over on Skepchick, where I got to meet the lovely Rebecca Watson.  I reiterate my statement that I wish all the Skepchicks went to high school with me, so we could have taken over the school with our nerdy awesomeness, and it wouldn’t have taken me so long to come out of my shell.  I spent a good part of brunch conversing with Martha Knox, who told me all about the various skeptic/atheist/humanist groups in Philly, and how they have different events with different focus groups and they all keep in touch as a sort of coalition. Wow! I was impressed and heartened by the level of community among non-believers in Philly.  I hope to see something similar come out of our smaller town of CVille, and when I get a free second, ever, like to think of ways to help make that happen.  (Martha, if you are reading this, I hope you got the pictures I emailed you!) I also spent some time chatting with Box Brown, who writes a funny, adorable, and thoughtful comic called Bellen.

After a sufficiently sangria-infused brunch, we went off to the Continental where they actually serve a drink called the Buzz Aldrin!  I think it’s some kind of peach vodka in a Tang-encrusted glass, and it was quite delicious, though uber-girly.

Who needs a refill? This girl!

This bar also boasted these fantastic chairs shaped like undefinable animals, and I so want one…

After drinks, the group headed off to the Mutter Museum, which was already on my to-do list as it was recommended by Seth.  This museum is not for the weak of stomach, since it displays various human specimens, many of which were used to educate medical students in the 19th century.  You can find plaster casts depicting all kinds of diseases, a huge collection of human skulls, human-leather bound medical books, a collection of 2,000 objects removed from throats, fetuses in various stages of growth, the skeleton of a giant, and so much more.  It’s like the freak show meets medical education and shouldn’t be missed.

Finally, Tim and I had to hit to road to go to Atlantic City, for we had tickets to see Penn and Teller in a rare East Coast appearance! Tim’s brother had alerted us to the show a few months ago, and we started making plans immediately. Tim has been a big fan of P&T’s magic and their show Bullsh*t for many years, and I’ve been a fan for a few years now, and neither of us had ever seen a live show.  We met up at Harrah’s with a number of very cool skeptics, and we didn’t do one bit of gambling. This must be what happens at TAM in Vegas, right?

A bundle of trouble: Ken, Andrew, Heidi, Tim, Daphne, Christian, me, and Tim.

The show was wonderful.  It was everything I could have hoped for: illusions, surprise, showmanship, humor, and skepticism.  Both men are talented performers, with Penn having a flair for the dramatic and Teller performing some beautifully, elegant tricks.  What makes them stand out from other magicians is their reiteration of magic as a trick and an illusion, not some supernatural power.  They use their show as a soapbox against psychics who con innocent people out of their money with tricks like cold and hot reading.  They even show how our own perceptions can be misused to fool us. I won’t give away of the show, just go see them if you ever have a chance.

Obligatory fanboy pics!

Being that we were in Atlantic City, we took advantage and went out on the town! Since my mother reads this blog every once in a while, I’ll just say that what happens in Atlantic City, stays in Atlantic City. (And gets referenced in tweets for the next week…)  We stayed overnight in a lovely beach house and, after discovering that IHOP no longer existed where Google Maps said it did, had a really fun and thoughtful conversation over brunch.  I also realized that I need an iPhone. We’ll see how that turns out…

Tim and I headed back to Philly where we got a short rest (aka passed out for the rest of the day) and went to a family picnic for Memorial Day. I got to meet the whole bunch! The geeks clustered together at one point and talked about video games, Mythbusters, Penn & Teller, and more, thus driving non-geeks far away from our conversation.

I spent most of the actual work week at the University of Pennsylvania, working with some PAPER collaborators. For being out of my familiar office, I actually got quite a bit done.  There is something special about actually being able to communicate with collaborators face-to-face, and having a change of scenery to motivate you.  I also spent half a day at Temple, and they have a fabulous crepe lunch truck!  Both urban campuses (and the train commute) brought out the city girl in me, but for some reason, the urban campus also comes along with some seriously locked down wireless internet.  I came short of selling my firstborn child for access to the internet. Mid-week, we shipped of to Staten Island for an evening so Tim could meet my family and friends, and that was also a blast.  You know that your mom likes your boyfriend when they team up to pick on you. Tim and I got to play house all week, and he enjoyed my cooking even though it included veggies! I am also slowly getter better at Rock Band. Okay, by “better” I mean less amateurishly horrible.

On Friday, we got a chance to check out the Galileo exhibit at the Franklin, which showcases many examples of the scientific tools and books of his time.  The tools themselves are works of art as well as of precision, and we got a mini-lesson from a museum worker about how they have to keep the temperature, light levels, and humidity at a certain level to preserve the paper for hundreds of years, even though the paper made from cloth at the time is sturdier that what we make from pulp now.  I was totally in awe at Galileo’s telescope, to think that something so simple started it all.  Again, go see this exhibit yourself, for the short time that it is on loan from Italy!

Celestial sphere… since you couldn’t actually take a picture of the telescope.

Next, we were joined by the AstroKids of UVa for the wedding of one of our beloved grad students to her doctor fiancee.  Congrats to those two crazy kids!  Not content to have that be the only entertainment of the weekend, Tim and I also went up to the Poconos with his cousin and parents on Sunday to summer-ize his cousin’s boat on Lake Wallenpaupack. It was chilly, but really fun, and I’m looking forward to my weeklong visit up there in July!

Sadly, finally, I had to head back to CVille on Monday, and get used to it just being me again. I was very grateful to find that not only had my plants survived in my absence, but my plant sitter must have a magical green touch because my herbs and flowers had doubled in size and greenery since I had left!  She says it was all the rain. I suspend my skepticism in this case and insist that it’s magic.

So that’s it! A great week to kick off what looks to be an eventful and productive summer.

(More on Flickr.)

I’ll update on my crazy week of travel a bit later, but for now, go check out Carnivals of Space 103 and 104 and 105. A note on that last one… congrats to Ian O’Neill on becoming the new producer of Discovery Space!  I wish the best to both he and Dave Mosher on their new jobs