I get Questions

Being the “token astronomer” in some of my circles means that I get asked all kinds of interesting questions. Like this: “You’re an astronomer! Tell me – is it normal for your boobs to actually be separate entities outside your space suit? I mean, I assume that’s for science reasons.” With the picture at rightContinue reading “I get Questions”

Feast your Eyes on the Universe

I’m in the last day of a meeting in Santa Fe, New Mexico and will be heading back to my new home in Illinois tonight. Sadly, that means I’ll miss the annular eclipse that is about to happen, but I’ll be sure to make plans for the 2017 total eclipse that will be visible acrossContinue reading “Feast your Eyes on the Universe”

Carnival of Space #225

Greetings, fellow space nerds and geeks! For the US folks, I hope you have recovered from your turkey coma and are getting back to your regularly scheduled week. We’re getting ready to celebrate the longest night of the year here in the Northern Hemisphere, while you Southern Hemispherers approach summer. However you celebrate the impendingContinue reading “Carnival of Space #225”

A silly little video I made…

… with a not-so-little Saturn V. Starring Pluto Little Dippy, last semester’s mascot for Dark Skies, Bright Kids. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jhZVg5Ucm4] We’re doing a kickoff party today for a new school, yay! If you don’t hear from me in a few days, it’s probably because I’ve been trampled by 80 over-enthusiastic kidlets. Wheeeee!

SDO and Space Weather

The Solar Dynamics Observatory launched last week for the thrilled scientists and engineers who have worked for years on this mission, some happy #SDOisGO TweetUp participants, and countless other space fans around the world. (The who? The wha? Oh, pretty!) SDO’s EVE instrument (Extreme-ultraviolet Variability Experiment) is particularly interesting to me since these EUV photonsContinue reading “SDO and Space Weather”

SDO Almost Ready to Go!

Disclaimer: This week/TweetUp has been super fun so far, and also super busy, so I’m more sleep deprived than normal. Any rambliness/wrongness besides what is normal… apologies in advance. As part of the Kennedy Space Center #SDOisGO TweetUp event, we attended the Guest Mission Briefing for the Solar Dynamics Observatory. (The wha? This!) Since IContinue reading “SDO Almost Ready to Go!”