Fluffy Galaxy with Surprise Center

The American Astronomical Society meeting in Seattle is in full swing, so the astronomy news is going to be flying this week! One of the first press releases is one I’ve been looking forward to for weeks. Several UVa and NRAO astronomers discovered a supermassive black hole in a dwarf galaxy! I actually heard aboutContinue reading “Fluffy Galaxy with Surprise Center”

Two Weeks in the Quiet Zone…

Hello to those of you who haven’t given up on me ever posting here again! 🙂 I’m slowly getting back to a normal schedule after spending two weeks in Green Bank, West Virginia, in the Radio Quiet Zone. What’s that, you ask? Well, I wrote a two–parter all about radio astronomy’s own version of “lightContinue reading “Two Weeks in the Quiet Zone…”

AstroJargon of the Week: HI

For this week’s (late) AstroJargon, I’d like to point out a bit of jargon I used in my Ada Lovelace post the other day. I talked all about HI (the letter “H” and the Roman numeral one) studies, and before posting, I quickly inserted “neutral hydrogen” as a definition. But why is that important anyway?Continue reading “AstroJargon of the Week: HI”

Astronomical Tales to be Told!

So, I just finished watching, and being very entertained by, “The Pluto Files,” a NOVA special by Neil deGrasse Tyson. Go watch it. Seriously! I’ll wait… There was a part where Clyde Tombaugh’s son was showing off some of his father’s homemade telescopes, including one that had an axle of a Buick. And I thought,Continue reading “Astronomical Tales to be Told!”

AAS Wrap-up: Personal Perspective and the Big Stories

What a crazy ride! I am finally recovered, mostly, from the big American Astronomical Society meeting in Washington, DC, that occurred last week.  What a ride! For me, the conference started off with a teaching workshop put on by the Center for Astronomy Education on interactive learning methods in “Astro 101.” As I start toContinue reading “AAS Wrap-up: Personal Perspective and the Big Stories”

News from the Radio Spectrum

The life of a grad student gets pretty crazy from time to time, but I’m excited about returning to blogging as things cool down a bit.  As mentioned in my last post, I’ve got a list of fun things that have caught by attention recently, so I hope to churn those out in time!  Today,Continue reading “News from the Radio Spectrum”