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”
Tag Archives: space
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”
Listening "Above the Sky"
While I was at the #SDOisGO tweetup, I got to meet a really cool, fun, and sweet musician who drove all the way through the snow down from Jersey to be there. Yes, I am talking about the lovely CraftLass! She has released her new album of folk pop, science and space songs, called “AboveContinue reading “Listening "Above the Sky"”
Telescopes from Space!
Soichi Noguchi, an astronaut currently living aboard the International Space Station as part of Expedition 23, loves sending back gorgeous pictures of the Earth and Moon via his Twitter feed, astro_soichi. This morning, I woke up to a lovely picture of the Atacama Desert, complete with a from-orbit view of the ALMA OSF. Don’t yetContinue reading “Telescopes from Space!”
AstroJargon of the Week: Parsec
This week I thought I’d scale back from such a rich topic as AGN and tell you a little bit about the parsec. (In this case, I do not mean the podcast awards!) A parsec is a measure of distance. But, you are thinking, Nicole, don’t you astronomers already use the light year as aContinue reading “AstroJargon of the Week: Parsec”
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 is GO!!!!!
Today, we could finally, honestly, say… SDO is GO!!! The Solar Dynamics Observatory launched today at 10:23am EST by an Atlas V from Kennedy Space Center. (The wha? The this! And this!) 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,Continue reading “SDO is GO!!!!!”
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!”