Slacker Astronomy » Slacker Astronomy Archival Podcasts

Supernova Lite Brite Video

slackadmin — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 04:54:55 +0000

Aaron made a video that describes the supernova process using Lite Brite diagrams. Click here to view it at YouTube.

Carbon Monoxide with Purpose

Aaron — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 00:58:54 +0000

Show Notes

This is a neat image comparing the size of the moon to the size of Andromeda. This image was taken by Nigel Sharp, a group of REU students while using equipment and time supplied by NOAO/AURA/NSF.

We kid you not, this is the boiler in Pamela’s new house. Please have mercy on her soul.

Pluto Demoted

Aaron — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 14:03:36 +0000

Watch the proceedings live here and discuss here in our new forums.

My Fair Plutonian Menace (Show #61.5)

Aaron — Wed, 16 Aug 2006 06:00:42 +0000

(It’s a .5 because it is a quick, fun show.)
Title: My Fair Plutonian Menace
Written By: Aaron
Disembodied Voices: Travis, Rebecca, Aaron
Rating: [FF] Family Friendly

IAU press release
A talk about the issue will be streamed here on August 22, 12:45-13:45 CEST.
Sky & Telescope article

The conclusion to this show will have the nitty gritty details. In short, there are 12 planets, which are divided into sub categories: classical and pluton. Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune are the classical planets. Pluto, Charon and UB313 are the Plutons. Ceres is the 12th planet.
I’m especially happy about seeing Charon get her props!

UB313 will get a name at a later date. This proposal has to be voted on by the entire IAU General Assembly on Aug 24. If approved, then the process of assigning a name to UB313 wil begin.

Personally, I like this proposal a lot and hope it passes. The buzz has been positive, although the discoverer of UB313 doesnt like it.

Sometimes Too Much Light Can Be A Bad Thing (Show #61)

Aaron — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 01:50:19 +0000

Title: Sometimes Too Much Light Can Be A Bad Thing

Castdate: 060802

Written By: Aaron

Disembodied Voices: Pamela, Travis, Rebecca

Engineered: Travis

Rating: [FF] Family Friendly

R.I.P.

Great Balls of Low Entropy Gas Fire!

Aaron — Mon, 31 Jul 2006 16:16:13 +0000

Why? Well why not? If you were a bored bit of gas living out your days in the suburbs of such a great galactic metropolis, wouldn’t you too want to take a plunge, and go live in the center of things for a while?

Show Notes:

SA Extra: Interview With Keith Cowing

Aaron — Sun, 30 Jul 2006 18:16:44 +0000

NASAWatch
SpaceRef.com
Mars On Earth - the Haughton Mars Project
Keith’s Bio

SA Extra: Chit Chat #10

Aaron — Wed, 26 Jul 2006 00:12:08 +0000

Astrophysics With Presolar Stardust - another explanation for the SN dust discussion
Press release describing the “other” SN dust story.
AMAZING FACTS ABOUT AUSTRALIA’S SOUTHERN SKIES - Doug’s new book- can be purchased here in the USA. (what does this mean for new zealand skies??)
Travel Company Sells Walk In Space
Starfest 2006
Stellarium

from Doug: “Regarding the M81 question, it would be worth mentioning that none of
foreground stars that adorn all in-Milky Way based images of external
galaxies would be visible to the observer sitting in intergalactic space!”

The blazar: 2 oz vodka, 4 oz OJ, 1 oz grenadine…

Ring around the Planet (Show #59)

slackadmin — Thu, 20 Jul 2006 14:20:16 +0000

Show Notes

And now for some pictures…
Saturn’s double banded E-Ring (credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute)

Persistent Arc at the edge of Saturn’s G-ring. (credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute)

And in finally ….

Dancing Moons

SA Extra: Interview With Dr. Lee Anne Willson

Aaron — Thu, 20 Jul 2006 00:35:17 +0000

Finders Keepers (Show #58)

Aaron — Tue, 11 Jul 2006 23:44:57 +0000

Castdate: 060711
Title: Finder’s Keeper’s
Written By: Aaron
Disembodied Voices: Pamela, Travis, Rebecca
Engineered By: Travis
Rating: [OF] Office Friendly

And then there was dust … (Show #57)

slackadmin — Thu, 06 Jul 2006 22:47:47 +0000

Images Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/B.E.K. Sugerman (STScI)

Show notes:

From the Spitzer website: “The dust factory, also known as supernova SN 2003gd, is shown at the center of the two small insets from Spitzer’s Infrared Array Camera (IRAC). A white arrow points to its exact location. The yellow-green dot shown in the July 2004 inset (top) shows that the source’s temperature is warmer than the surrounding material. This is because newly formed dust within the supernova is just starting to cool. By January 2005, the dust had cooled and completely faded from IRAC’s view. However, it was still detected in January 2005 by another instrument aboard Spitzer called the Multiband Imaging Photometer (MIPS). The MIPS image is not shown here.

The larger image to the right of the insets is the galaxy M74, as seen by Spitzer’s Infrared Array Camera. The white box to the left of the galaxy’s center identifies the location of the supernova remnant. In all the images, the blue dots represent hot gas and stars. The galaxy’s cool dust is shown in red.

The images are false-color, infrared composites, in which 3.6-micron light is blue, 4.5-micron light is green, and 8-micron light is red.”

Bigger Than the Motor Car (Show #55)

Aaron — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 02:57:06 +0000

Castdate: 060706
Written by: Aaron
Disembodied Voices: Pamela & Travis
Engineered: Travis
Rating: [OF] Office Friendly

Transcript
Squirt by Fluke
Penn State Press Release
SDSS press release
The science paper
Scientific American - good summary

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa007&articleID=00054F9D-371E-146A-B71E83414B7F0000

How to build a real Tardis

Chit Chat Show #9

Aaron — Thu, 01 Jun 2006 22:38:55 +0000

This week we have Mario Garcia as our in studio guest. He talks about recent trips on NASA’s Vomit Comet and other astronomy work he’s involved in. Also, Phil Plait returns and we have a wonderful visit from a friend we haven’t heard from in a long time - Derek of Skepticality. He has some awesome news to share also.

To the right is the SA seal by Sheala Bacon. Thanks, Sheala!

Here is a link to a digital video feed of Mario’s flight (3MB WMV format)
Badastronomy.com
Skepticality podcast
The Vomit Comet via Wikipedia
Mobile Broadcast Network - listen to Slacker Astronomy on your cell phone

A rough order of things we covered:

-Listener Survey/Seal of Approval
-Exoplanet Discovery
-Mobil Broadcast Network
-WGBH
-Mario Garcia
-Derek
-Story Follow-ups
-Phil
-Listener Mail, Etc…

Skepticality…

And Phil…

Running Backwards (show #54)

Pamela — Mon, 22 May 2006 17:52:19 +0000

Show Notes:

Transcript
Univ. Rochester Press Release
PhyOrg article - This has some really cool animations and explainations of how it works.
Really cool graphics based on Data:

Backward light pulse propagation

SA Extra: Our Morning Story Ages Like a Fine Wine

Aaron — Fri, 19 May 2006 20:17:18 +0000

(I’ve always wanted to use extraordinaire in a real sentence, and I’ve finally succeeded! Mark one more thing off the to-do-before-I-die list.)

In April, 2005 we visited WGBH’s studios in Boston and recorded a joint show with Tony Kahn of the Morning Stories podcast. The idea was that we’d just chat for a bit and each of us would record and edit the material as we see fit, but put it online at the same time. Things got a bit busy…. okay VERY busy… but finally the long lost material sees the light of day.

On May 19th, WGBH’s podcast Morning Stories (the first public radio podcast) released an episode about various science topics and they included a snippet of the chat in the show. So now we are putting online our version - which is a complete recording of the 1 hour and 5 minute chit chat. Check it out! But remember that we were still only about 2 months old at the time - so a bit raw and unpolished.

Don’t forget to susbcribe to Tony’s Morning Stories podcast either. When Aaron first got the idea for Slacker Astronomy, he downloaded ipodder and the first podcast he subscribed to was Morning Stories so it has a special place his my heart. You never forget your first!

Direct link to the Morning Stories show MP3 (after the segment about the 17 year cecada)
Morning Stories Main Page

Aaron, Pamela, Travis, Tony Kahn, & Gary Mott in the studio.

Travis and Pamela being bathed in an eerie blue light. They are now sterile and we plan to sue.

Why Space Telescopes Need a Union (Show #53)

Aaron — Wed, 17 May 2006 03:22:42 +0000

Castdate: 060516
Title: Why Space Telescopes Need a Union
Written By: Aaron
Disembodied Voices: Pamela & Travis & assorted protesters
Engineered: Travis
Rating: [OF] Office Friendly

Transcript
First views of monstrous stars being born Spaceflightnow.com
Article via physorg.org
ISOPHOT home page
First data from the ISOPHOT FIR Serendipity Survey - their first paper

ISO’s slew map:

SA Extra: Interview With Lars Lindberg Christensen

Aaron — Thu, 11 May 2006 02:52:18 +0000

Personal Web Page Check out his wonderful photos!
European Space Agency
Spacetelescope.org
FITS Liberator - use Photoshop to analyse HST images
International Virtual Observatory Alliance
Tycho Brahe Planetarium

Lars is the Head of Communications for the Hubble Space Telescope and the James E. Webb Space Telescope. He is responsible for many of the press releases and imagery which we’ve covered in this show. Before that he was head of a planetarium in Copenhagen for ten years. This is the last of our interviews from the 207th meeting of the American Astronomical Society.

One Less Thing To Worry About (Show #52)

Aaron — Tue, 09 May 2006 20:45:24 +0000

Castdate: 060509
Title: One Less Thing To Worry About
Written By: Aaron
Disembodied Voices: Pamela & Travis
Engineered: Travis
Rating: [OF] Office Friendly

Transcript
Article via PhysicsWeb.org
The paper by Stanek et al.
Stars rich in heavy metals tend to harbor planets - Berkeley news release
Nature.com discussion of Population I, II and III stars (and their metallicity)
Mass Extinction Events Wikipedia
Original discovery image of the Yucatan crater

Sorry for the week off. All three slackers were busy at a meeting last week.

Digging In the Dirt (Show #51)

slackadmin — Thu, 27 Apr 2006 03:48:28 +0000

Title: Digging In the Dirt
Castdate: 050425
Written By: Aaron
Disembodied Voices: Travis & Pamela (and Pamela’s friend playing Flora)
Engineered: Travis
Rating: [FF] Family Friendly

The first footprint on the Moon. Imagine the dirt Neil dragged in.

SA Extra: Chit Chat Show#8

Aaron — Thu, 27 Apr 2006 00:13:44 +0000

Dr. Doug Welch is a professor at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. He was in Boston and joined us for the duration of the show in the swanky SA studio in Travis’ apartment. Thanks to him this turned out to be the best chit chat show yet. If you haven’t listened to the SA Extra feed, this is a good time to give it a shot.

Thanks for joining us, Doug!

Doug’s Home Page
Doug’s Blahzko Animation
AH Leo AAVSO Variable Star of the Season
Supernovae & the Zwickyman The earlier SA show about the Supernova Light Echo
Super Earths that really aren’t! (read with skepticism)
McMaster University
Sky Quality Meter by Unihedron
Astronomy A Go Go!
Supermassive Black Holes
Gemini Observatory

Doug and his posse’:

Sterile Neutrinos (Show #50)

Pamela — Thu, 20 Apr 2006 18:35:31 +0000

Show Notes:

And Now for Something Completely Different . . .

NASA and ESA have recently gotten two, count them, TWO different space probes safely into orbit around two (count them again - TWO) different planets. When the science is out, we will report. For now, enjoy some pretty pictures.

From Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

From Venus Express

SA Extra: Girl Scouts A Go Go

slackadmin — Fri, 14 Apr 2006 04:07:46 +0000

This trip would not have been possible without the invitation from, organization by, and coffee from Alice Few of Astronomy A Go-Go. Please go take a look at her show.

One odd side note for those of you who have clicked through this far. Read the lable on the cookie below. I found it in my Girl Scout provided lunch. This was just too funny not to photograph and share with you wonderful souls. (click it to see a larger version)

SA Extra: Interview With Dr. Guenther Eichorn

Aaron — Tue, 11 Apr 2006 04:00:58 +0000

Guenther and his team created and still maintain the astrophysical data service, known as ADS. This is a searchable database of astronomical publications. It includes digitized copies, or links to digitized copies, of almost every astronomical journal article ever published. This database is crutial to any researcher. What used to take days laboring in libraries and worshipping the God of Xerox now takes only minutes and can be done laying in bed in PJs (as I’m doing now as I write this).

It is really difficult to describe the importance of ADS to astronomy. It not only saves time, but opens it up to so many who otherwise didn’t have access to astronomical research. This includes - but is not limited to - those in small or rural colleges, underdeveloped countries and amateur astronomers. As a result, astronomy is rapidly becoming more internationalized than many other sciences.

Guenther is somewhat of a quiet person, so this interview is short. It is also heavy in detail as I wanted to know all about the story behind ADS and the team that runs it. So this interview may not be as interesting to non-astronomers. If so, rest assured we have more interviews in the can and a chit chat show coming soon..

The Breakfast of Enceladians (Show #49)

Aaron — Thu, 06 Apr 2006 03:14:00 +0000

Castdate: 060405
Title: The Breakfast of Enceladians
Disebodied Voices: Pamela & Travis
Written By: Aaron
Produced: Travis
Rating: [JF] (Just For Fun)

SA Extra: Women Rock Physics

Aaron — Wed, 29 Mar 2006 03:38:47 +0000

During her OPT paid for trip to Anchorage, Alaska, Pamela had a rare chance to shoot the breeze with other women in science and talk about just how common it is to get mistaken for a (secretary/student/someone’s wife) instead of being recognized for the science chicks we are.

The image used in above and below comes froma PowerPoint presentation given by Jill Marshall and depicts women trying to make it through the academic pipeline and periodically deciding to fight their way free.

The low numbers of women in science is something that is getting studied by several people, and the links below will take you to studies based statistics and interviews instead (as seems to be preferred by at least one former Harvard president) guesswork and conjecture.

Dr. Laura McCullough’s webpage on Women in Science This is an amazing resource!

NSF data on Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering

“Where have all the Smart Women Gone?” by Dr. Alice Rowe, PhD Just women, not science.

Dr. Kim Shaw’s homepage

Dr. Laura McCullough’s homepage

Dr. Kathy Harper’s homepage

Light Brite (show #48)

Pamela — Wed, 29 Mar 2006 02:53:55 +0000

The National Center for Atmospheric Research & the UCAR Office of Programs is encouraging everyone to go out and look at Orion and then go to http://www.globe.gov/GaN/” to report what they see. Please join in on the game!

Castdate: 060328
Title: Lite Brite
Disembodied Voices: Everyone
Written By: Pamela w/Something Else segment by Aaron
Produced: Travis
Rating: [FF] Family Friendly

Show Notes:

WMAP’s Anisotrophy Trophy (Show #47)

Aaron — Wed, 22 Mar 2006 03:56:34 +0000

Title: WMAP’s Anisotropy Trophy
Written By: Aaron
Disembodied Voices: Pamela & Travis
Engineered: Travis

Transcript
WMAP press release and background info
WMAP results — cosmology makes sense! via Cosmic Variance Blog
The 2003 press release
About WMAP Space.com
WMAP APOD
The Twinkies Project - get to the source!

WMAP’s version of the content of the Universe. Looks like the dark side is winning.

Twinkie the kid says, I’m the source for cosmic inflation (of the wasteline)

Pop and Glow (Show #46)

slackadmin — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 03:59:06 +0000

Title: Pop and Glow
Written by: Pamela
Disembodied Voices: Travis and Pamela
Engineered: Travis
Rating: [JF]: Just for Fun

GRB060218 is located at: 03:21:39.71, +16:52:02.01 (2000)

Just Blame the Termites And Be Done With It (Show #45)

Aaron — Thu, 09 Mar 2006 05:20:51 +0000

Title: Just Blame the Termites And Be Done With It
Written by: Aaron
Disembodied Voices: Travis, Pamela and a special guest appearance by Flora
Engineered: Travis
Rating: [JF]: Just for Fun

Transcript
press release via Cassini-Huygens
Methane via Wikipedia
Titan with a nice shot of its atmosphere
Lakes Found on Titan - THIS IS NOT TRUE and is dated 2003 - but it makes for interesting reading and is an illustration of the scientific process in action. Scientists make bold statements and get into the journal Science, yet are later proven incorrect. The surface of Titan is dry as a bone.

True color photograph of Titan’s upper atmosphere.

SA Extra: Stuck in the Arizona Desert

Aaron — Tue, 07 Mar 2006 02:43:22 +0000

Matt and I were visiting the US Naval Observatory Flagstaff Station and the Lowell Observatory for business on February 23-26, 2006. On our way home, via Pheonix, we were stuck in a 30+ mile traffic jam. At one point our rented van didn’t move once within about an hour. So I turned on the iRiver (don’t leave home without it!) and asked Matt some questions about his job, our visit to the USNO NOFS and the Lowell Observatory. Remember this was unplanned and unscripted, but it sure did help us pass the time!

When we were done, I got out to take some pictures. Other people did the same and soon we had about 10-15 strangers outside in a group taking pictures and goofing off. It was actually pretty cool…

US Naval Observatory Flagstaff Station
Lowell Observatory
About the discovery of Pluto at Lowell Observatory
Flagstaff, Arizona
Meteor Crater

Some pics…

The USNO 1.6m

The USNO 1m R/C

Percival Lowell’s Crypt

Lowell Observatory’s 24-inch Clark Refractor - the scope that discovered the expansion of the Universe

The Chalet, where we stayed. It’s a converted roll-off observatory.

Aaron & Matt on I-17

The interstate…

As Simple As That (Show #44)

Aaron — Wed, 01 Mar 2006 02:11:30 +0000

Castdate: 060228
Title: As Simple As That
Written By: Aaron
Disembodied Voices: Pamela & Travis
Engineered: Travis
Rating: [FF] - Family Friendly

Transcript
RS Oph - AAVSO Variable Star of the Season
Latest pictures and spectra of this outburst
RS Oph - Sokoloski’s RXTE X-Ray observations telegram
A 1990’s survey and report on gender equity in astronomy
Study showing increasing numbers of female astronomers - among 18-23 year-olds women are in the majority
Buddhist Sand Mandala via Wikipedia

At right is RS Oph in outburst. Image by amateur astronomer John Chumack in New Mexico, USA.

Above is a light curve of the 1985 outburst. Vertical axis is brightness (5 is naked eye from dark locations, 7-10 requires binoculars and 10+ a telescope) and horizontal axis is time (approximately 2 years).

Dirty Rotten Snow Balls (Show #43)

Pamela — Thu, 16 Feb 2006 16:16:42 +0000

Image of Hyakataki from the STScI.

Title: Dirt Rotten Snow Balls
Written By: Pamela
Disembodied Voices: Pamela & Travis
Engineered: Travis
Castdate: 060216
Rating: FF

Wikipedia Entry on Gravitational Lenses

Image taken from Wikipedia. Each of the Lagrange Points (L1-L5) represent places where the gravitational tug from the yellow sphere and blue sphere are balanced, allowing a third object to (at least temporarily) corotate with the system.

SA Extra: Interview With Dr. Sally Oey

Aaron — Tue, 14 Feb 2006 04:08:49 +0000

Dr. Oey’s homepage
A biography from the Hubble Heritage Project
University of Michigan Department of Astronomy
Annie Jump Cannon Award - Wikipedia

A Star, By Any Other Name (Show #42)

Aaron — Sat, 11 Feb 2006 04:32:20 +0000

Title: A Star, By Any Other Name
Written By: Aaron
Disembodied Voices: Pamela & Travis
Engineered: Travis
Castdate: 060207
Rating: FF

Transcript
Press release
Paper via ArXiv
Article from Yahoo/Space.com
OBAFGKM Mneumatic Fun
Stellar Classification
Stars so lonely they were tossed out of our galaxy - HubbleSite

This show describes a pretty fundamental change in our knowledge of the galaxy. But is it real, or just a question of classification?

PR caption: This artist’s conception shows a rocky planet orbiting around a red dwarf star. Such planets may be more common than astronomers realized, since single red dwarfs are the most abundant stars in the galactic disk. Credit: ESO

SA Extra: Chit Chat Show#6

Aaron — Sat, 11 Feb 2006 03:05:10 +0000

Bad Astronomy Blog
Scopereviews.com - A good web site for telescope reviews
Our AAS and AAPT meeting blog
Ricky Gervais Show
NASA Administrator Talk - Michael Brown’s talk about E/PO at the AAS Meeting
Sky & Telescope list of local astro clubs

Pamela talks about the physics teachers meeting, we answer some listener mail, then Phil Plait joins us for a bit of talk about the AAS meeting and NASA responsibilities for education and public outreach. Then we talk about good starter telescopes for under US$300. Aaron and Pamela duke it out over dobsonian mounts and mutually reach the same conclusion that our listeners reached years ago - we’re both clueless.

Enjoy.

SA Extra: Interview With Dr. Steve Howell

Aaron — Wed, 01 Feb 2006 04:06:05 +0000

Our next regular show will go online next Monday.

Steve’s home page at NOAO
WIYN Observatory
Online interview with Steve about cataclysmic variable stars
Leap Second via Wikipedia
Mount Union College
University of Amsterdam - Institute of Astronomy

Steve’s office: (the WIYN observatory @ Kitt Peak)

The Bubba Gump Galaxy Co. (Show #41)

Aaron — Wed, 25 Jan 2006 03:17:30 +0000

Castdate: 060123
Title: The Bubba Gump Galaxy Co.
Written By: Aaron Price
Disembodied Voices: Pamela Gay & Travis “Don Ho” Searle
Engineered: Travis
Rating: [FF]

From the press release:

“The map shows the view from far away above the galactic plane.

According to the standard Milky Way models, the top and bottom halves should be symmetric with respect to the horizontal line in the middle.

The discovery of the large overdensity of stars… breaks the expected symmetry and is at odds with the standard models.

The dashed line shows the position of the plane containing debris from the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy that is being cannibalized by the Milky Way. While its proximity to the new structure suggests that perhaps the two may be related, the known Sagittarius debris is located about four times further away.”

Green Stars (with apologies to Green Acres):

Antartica is the place for me. I get sunburned in the sea. I just adore the aurorae view. Keep the tropics and send me to the frozen blue.
Puerto Rico is where I’d rather stay. Beach volleyball I like to play. Polka dot bikini’s so far and wide. Keep your penguins and send me a mai tai.
The snow men!
Sand castles!
Frosbite!
Mosquito Bites!
You are an astronomer…
I’ll go where the NSF sends me!
Grant committees, we are yours!

AAPT: Pamela Repeats Herself

slackadmin — Tue, 24 Jan 2006 17:30:12 +0000

Pamela has been sent, cold and alone, to Pacific North Rim to talk about Podcasting at a meeting of the American Association of Physics teachers. Read the Blog for details, thank OPT for funding her, and listen here if you dare.

Gamma-Ray Candle (episode #40)

Aaron — Thu, 19 Jan 2006 13:58:54 +0000

Castdate: 060117
Title: Gamma-Ray Candle
Written By: Pamela Gay
Disembodied Voices: Pamela & Travis
Engineered: Travis
Rating: [FF] Family Friendly

Show Notes

SA Extra: Schaeffer and 52 Gamma-Ray Bursts

Aaron — Thu, 19 Jan 2006 04:00:41 +0000

Brad Schaeffer used 52 gamma-ray bursts to demonstrate that GRBs can be used to observe the cosmological constant (which his initial and preliminary analysis shows may be a variable). We walk you through the day of his announcement, and include his press conference and an interview for your listening pleasure.

SA Extra: Raw Education Talk (AAS)

Aaron — Sat, 14 Jan 2006 00:24:10 +0000

NOTE: Currently posted audio file is not the final edit. Garageband does not want to open this mp3. Once the problem is solved, we will edit in better audio of the student podcasts.

TalkDate: 060109
Title: Thieving Tendy Tech
Author: Pamela
Engineering: Aaron & Travis

Shownotes:

Transcript with complete PowerPoint Presentation [LARGE FILE: 63.1Mb]
Wordpress
iPodder includes history of podcasting and the original aggragator software
Pew Internet and American Life Project
MIT Student Podcasts
Podcast Alley Podcast Directory
MIT Educational Studies Program
MySQL Server
Database Design 101
MediaWiki
The IRAF Wiki
PHP BB bulliton board forum

SA Extra: NASA Talks (AAS)

Aaron — Tue, 10 Jan 2006 04:54:17 +0000

In this recording you will hear three voices. The moderator of the presentation is AAS president Robert Kirshner of Harvard University. The individual asking question on behalf of the astronomical community at the end is AAS president-elect Craig Wheeler of the University of Texas at Austin.

Please note – Due to technical difficulties, we can’t present this talk in its entirety. As near as I can tell, after I set up my equipment on the podium, someone went up and went “Oh, strange electronics,” and picked up my iRiver and disconnected my mic in the process. Thankfully, Dave Tytell of Sky & Tel was kind enough to share his audio, which was recorded from the audience . I had to edit out some private audience comments, and I shortened extremely long bouts of applause/laughter. Enjoy.

The Players:
Person who does introductions: AAS President Robert Kirshner, Harvard University
Main Speaker: NASA Administrator Michael Griffin
Person asking questions on behalf of astronomical community: AAS President-Elect Craig Wheeler, University of Texas

Read Pamela’s review of it here

Supernovae Echo & the Zwickymen (Show #39) [OF]

Aaron — Mon, 09 Jan 2006 17:27:30 +0000

Castdate: 060109
Title: Echo and the Zwickymen
Written By: Aaron
Disembodied Voices: Pamela & Travis
Engineered: Travis
Rating: [OF] Office Friendly

Transcript
Press release from NOAO
SuperMacho web page about the light echos - SuperMacho’s web page describing the light echos is excellent. Check it out!
The SuperMacho Team
The Macho Man

Light Echo Bands (Dec 8, 2005)

Burns’ attempt to block da Sun…

…you know some corporation, somewhere has at least discussed it!

SAExtra: Chit Chat #5

slackadmin — Fri, 06 Jan 2006 04:57:35 +0000

It takes us a little time to get going, but towards the end we’re full steam ahead. All from Travis’ new studio…

Topics (in order):
Listener Mail/Questions
Pamela at AAPT
AAS Meeting Info
OPT Sponsorship
Survey Requests
iTunes Reviews
Seal of Approval
Katrina Auction

And the seals of approval sent to us by listeners:

I hope this seal bought that at OPT… (by Larry K.)

This seal looks like he’s been around the block a few times… (Stephen U.)

The seal on acid, now that’s slack! (Tom C.)

Are You Ready For Some Astronomy? (Show #38)

Aaron — Wed, 04 Jan 2006 03:50:05 +0000

Title: Are You Ready For Some Astronomy?
Castdate: 060102
Written By: Aaron
Disembodied Voices: Pamela & Travis
Engineered: Travis
Rating: [FF] Family Friendly

Transcript (PDF)
Press Release from Harvard
The science paper HTMLized by Google
Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) Satellite F13
Monday Night Football

(01:02 - fixed mp3 link - thanks ozastro and danny)

SA Extra: Interview With Dr. Greg Laughlin

Aaron — Fri, 23 Dec 2005 03:31:08 +0000

Lagrange point diagram from Systemic:

A Slacker Christmas Story

Pamela — Fri, 23 Dec 2005 03:02:12 +0000

Words by Pamela Gay
Piano accompaniment by Travis Searle
Production by Travis Searle
images from NASA

T’was the day before Christmas, and all through the dome
Not a GUI was stirring, not even gnome.

The CCDs were stored in their cases with care,
In hopes that a super nova soon would be there;

The astronomers nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of dark-matter danced in their heads;

And I in my headphones, and my Mac in its place
Had just settled in to a podcast writing pace,

When out on the crest there arose such a clatter
I sprang to the desk to see what was the matter.

Away to the webcam (I tripped in my dash)
I tore open the Windows and threw up the Flash

The sun on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the luster of summer to objects below

When, what to my wandering cam should appear,
But a theorist prof, and eight grads dressed like reindeer

With fear for the telescopes, so precious their time
I knew in a moment it must be Dr Belstein

More rapid than eagles his equations they came,
And he twittered, and shouted, to grad students by name;

Now, Daniel! Now, Donald! Now Ronald and Randy
On, Christin! on Kirsten on Rachel and Mandy

To the white board you go, No Greek letter too small!
Now solve away, solve away, solve away all!

As the comets that before the Sun’s gravity fly,
When they meet with an obstacle light up the sky,

So up to the markers the students they flew
With many reference books, and Dr. Belstein too

And then, in a twinkling, I saw in the math
Equations mapping the vectors of Santa’s path

As I drew near my screen, and was scrolling around
In the entry Dr. Belstein came with a bound

He was dressed all in Tweed from his head to his cuffs
And his clothes were all chalky from lecturing on space stuff

A bundle of finders he had clutched in his gloves
And he looked a bit crazed like a boy first in love

His eyes – how the twinkled! His intelligence how vast!
His pencils were nubs, his calculations so fast!

His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the fuzz on his head was as white as the snow;

The stump of a pencil he held tight in his teeth,
And the shavings from sharpening it formed a small wreath

He had a broad face; a little pot belly,
That shook when he shouted like bowlful of jelly

He was tenured and sage, a right proper old prof
I trembled when I saw him, my nerves went all soft

A blink of his eye and a twist of his head
Soon gave me to know I had all things to dread;

He spoke not a word, but went straight to the scope
And pressed all the buttons; then gave one final poke

And laying his fingers on the telescope’s pier
He awaited images on the screen to appear

His screen went all white, and his team gave a whistle
The sunlight brought instrument death like a missile!

But I heard him exclaim, ere he fled out of sight,
“Next Christmas I’ll observe Santa only at night!”

We’d like to wish all of you a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Joyful Solstice, Best Kwanza Wishes, and may the Pasta be with you.

Please share the love and laughter and pass this story on to others!

Titanic news on Titan (Show #37)

Aaron — Sun, 18 Dec 2005 23:20:27 +0000

Show Notes
all images from ESA / Huygens

River Channels on Titan.

Stellar Skeletons (Show #36)

Aaron — Thu, 08 Dec 2005 04:53:36 +0000

Show Notes:

For those of you wanting to find the Crab Nebulae with your own telescope, the finder below (click on it to get a hi res finding chart) shows 1) The constellation Taurus (lower left) photographed by the avid astrophotographer Akira Fujii. 2) A two-colour image (right) shows the surroundings of the Crab Nebula. It was composed from Digitized Sky Survey 2 images, and 3) The new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image (upper left) of the entire Crab Nebula in super high resolution.
Credit: Akira Fujii, Davide De Martin (http://www.skyfactory.org) and NASA, ESA & Allison Loll/Jeff Hester (Arizona State University) Quoted from the HST site

Also discuseed was Supernova 1970g, in M101. While SN 1970g is not optically visible in a backyard scope, M101 is.
Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/GFSC/S.Immler & K.Kuntz; Optical: NOAO/AURA/NSF/G.Jacoby, B.Bohannan & M.Hanna

SA Extra: Interview With David Levy

Aaron — Thu, 08 Dec 2005 02:15:36 +0000

David Levy is the rock star of amateur astronomers (even though he has 4 honorary doctorates!). He is best known as a co-discoverer of the Showmaker-Levy 9 (SL9) comet that crashed into Jupiter in 1994. He is a major writer of astronomy books and articles as well as a popular speaker. In his spare time he’s discovered 21 comets, so far. He’s also one darn nice Man.

(Sorry for the clicks from 01:06 - 01:30!!)

Castdate: 051207
Disembodied Voices: David Levy & Aaron
Rating: [FF] Family Friendly

Jarnac.org - personal web site
Let’s Talk Stars - his radio show
Shoemaker-Levy 9 via Wikipedia
Adirondack Astronomy Retreat
David’s Amazon.com book list
Deep Sky Objects: The Best And Brightest from Four Decades of Comet Chasing

Saturn As a Litter Box (Show #35)

Aaron — Wed, 30 Nov 2005 04:53:37 +0000

Castdate: 051129
Title: Saturn As a Litter Box
Written By: Aaron
Disembodied Voices: Pamela & Travis
Engineered: Travis
Rating: [OF] Office Friendly

Transcript
Press Release & Cornell web page
Scientific paper abstract
Cassini-Huygens web site at NASA/JPL
VIMS How the isual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer works on Cassini
MC Hawking
A bad 90’s movie

VIMS:

Andromeda Has Never Been So Hot (Show #33)

slackadmin — Wed, 16 Nov 2005 14:36:13 +0000

Castdate: 051116
Title: Andromeda Has Never Been So Hot
Written By: Aaron
Disembodied Voices: Pamela, Travis
Rating: [FF] Family Friendly

Transcript
Spitzer Podcasts
Images & Press Release
JPL Press Release
M32 its neighbor galaxy
Infrared Astronomy Tutorial from Spitzer
Gene Roddenberry’s Andromeda

Real:

Fake:

Eta Boy Eta Car (Show #32)

slackadmin — Wed, 09 Nov 2005 02:09:32 +0000

Castdate: 051108
Title: Eta Boy Eta Car
Written By: Aaron
Disembodied Voices: Pamela & Travis
Engineered: Travis
Rating: FF

Transcript
Sky & Telescope coverage
NASA press release
Eta Car Variable Star of the Month from AAVSO
HST Treasury Program from The University of Minnesota
Eta Car’s Cocoon 2003 ESO Press Eelease
What is a Homonculus
Pigs In Space
Map of Slacker Astronomy Listeners - Add yourself!

SA Extra: Chit Chat Show#4

slackadmin — Wed, 02 Nov 2005 05:53:35 +0000

Castdate:051102
Voices: Pamela, Travis, Aaron
Engineered: Travis

It’s been 3 months since our last one so we kind of flew through it. Loads of listener e-mail, some promos, an audio quiz, some gossip and Simpsons clips. We hope to do another one sooner…

Lolife Podcast
Simpson’s Season 6 DVD from Amazon
Comedy 4cast - podcast in 4 minutes or less

Show 31: Pop Goes the Neutrons (neutron stars that is)

Aaron — Tue, 25 Oct 2005 16:38:29 +0000

Show Notes:

SA Extra: Getting Astronomy News Online

slackadmin — Sat, 22 Oct 2005 17:40:11 +0000

Aaron gave a talk about getting astronomy news online at a local club. In the talk he interviewed Phil Plait, the Bad Astronomer. The talk begins with a description of various tools to get astro info online, then it goes into how to read them critically including examples of of the wilder side of the astro web.
Rating: [FF] Family friendly

Slides of the talk in PDF form. Follow along as you listen. (2MB)
Amateur Telescope Makers of Boston
Bad Astronomy
Universe Today
Wikipedia
MSNBC Cosmic Blog
Blogcritics.com
Skepticality
Spitzer podcast
Astronomy Ireland radio show podcast
ArXiv preprint server (astro-ph)
ADS paper search server

Visiting an Old Friend For the First Time (Show #30)

slackadmin — Wed, 19 Oct 2005 04:18:28 +0000

Title: Visiting an Old Friend For the First Time
Castdate: 051018
Written By: Aaron
Disembodied Voices: Pamela & Travis
Engineered By: Travis
Rating: [JF] Just for Fun

Transcript
New Horizons Discussion Forum unmannedspaceflight.com
New Horizons info Wikipedia
New Horizons official site jpl

Thanks for being patient with us for taking last week off. We really needed it! More new scripts and SA-Extra bits are coming soon…