Will you be swinging through West Virginia any time soon? Maybe you are visiting family, taking a road trip, or hitting the slopes. Then don’t forget to visit the amazing Green Bank Observatory! It came to my attention through the NRAO‘s new twitter feed that the Washington Post recently had an article on visiting theContinue reading “Visiting the GBT”
Author Archives: Nicole G
Carnival of Space #79
Welcome, one and all, to the glittering light show that is the Carnival of Space! Only this time, it’s not a carnival lit by twinkling bulbs but by the nuclear furnaces of stars and the fires of our own imaginations. This week, it’s all about planets as we start from Earth and move through ourContinue reading “Carnival of Space #79”
Google Maps and Astronomy
No, this won’t be about Google Sky or Google Mars or anything like that. This is just plain old Google Maps. I was dismayed to find that a topology map website I had used before now required your credit card information to view, but I still needed some view of our telescope site to planContinue reading “Google Maps and Astronomy”
The gorgeous radio sky
Although we all love to marvel and the wonder of those tantalizing images put out by Hubble, there is a whole other universe out there that our eyes just can’t see. A universe of supernova afterglows, black hole jets, molecular clouds, magnetic fields, and more teems at wavelengths much longer than what the eye canContinue reading “The gorgeous radio sky”
Seeing extrasolar planets?!?!
I would be remiss if I didn’t post this fantabulous awesome picture that just might be the first picture of an extrasolar planet around a star. The little one is the planet around the K7 star in the middle. I haven’t taken time to read the paper yet, but there’s more good info at BadContinue reading “Seeing extrasolar planets?!?!”
Lunar Goodness over CVille
UPDATE: Rocking great picture by Rachael from McCormick Observatory last night, on her Flickr page, with the awesome 6-inch Clark Refractor in the foreground. UPDATE Again (9/17): Rachael’s pic gets a kudos from UVa alumn, the Bad Astronomer. — I got a great twitter update from Nick in CVille saying that there was a MoonContinue reading “Lunar Goodness over CVille”
Seeing Black Holes
This press release came out yesterday that was SO EXCITING to me that I was bouncing up and down. In today’s Nature, astronomers write about the successful attempt to resolve the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy using 1.3 mm VLBI. And now you are going, “huh? jargon say what?” As mostContinue reading “Seeing Black Holes”
Oh, Jorge Cham gets it right AGAIN!
Welcome to my life…
Educating the Mind
Some cool education articles that popped up on Skepchick today. First, “The Secret to Raising Smart Kids,” which focuses on praising kids for their effort, rather than their intelligence. The writer cites numerous studies in which this works to improve the students’ performance. Our society worships talent, and many people assume that possessing superior intelligenceContinue reading “Educating the Mind”
Awful Waste of a Drink
This is old, but it’s for posterity. The 2004 Socorro Summer Students present “Contact: The Drinking Game”! Take a swig any time one of these happens: We killed the “Bad Science” rule after Ellie discovers the signal, since then it delves way too far into the unknown. Oh, and the NRAO is not affiliated withContinue reading “Awful Waste of a Drink”