Developing Low Cost Tools for Astronomy in India
As a subject that acquaints us with the vast universe and our place in it, any mention of Astronomy draws the attention of many. It is also good to attract students towards Science and hence is a very useful tool for teachers. Yet, as something to practice for oneself, hardly anything beyond watching the moon and stars can be done without needing a telescope. This is a hurdle that Astronomy communicators and teachers come across when they want to share all these objects and beautiful sights that they talk about in their presentations etc. These optics and other resources are...
Sharing the Sky
Last fall I had the pleasure of having a conversation with Mike Simmons at the annual Arizona Science and Astronomy Expo in Tucson. We have known each other for many years, and even, last year, AWB joined together briefly with our Sharing the Sky Foundation for our annual Star Night at the University of Arizona. This year's Star Night, on April 5, 2014, features at least 20 telescopes spread out across the Mall at the University of Arizona. From 3 pm, to sunset we look safely at the Sun, monitoring sunspots and prominences. After dark we have the Moon, Jupiter,...
Linked with Light
Expanding Public Science Audiences with the International Year of Light Credit: NASA/CXC/SAO Creatures of this planet – including humans – have an innate and important relationship with light. The horseshoe crab knows when to come ashore due to the light of the full Moon; the dung beetle is able to navigate at night from the glow of the Milky Way; humans regulate their sleep patterns based on the rising and setting of our nearest star, the Sun. The warmth and energy from the Sun's light is, of course, fundamentally responsible for the existence of life itself on Earth. Our connection...
Musings on the 75th Anniversary of McDonald Observatory
On May 5, 1939 an assortment of astronomers from around the world made the arduous trip to a remote mountaintop in Fort Davis, Texas. They came to McDonald Observatory to attend a scientific symposium and to dedicate what was then the world’s second-largest telescope. Many of the world's foremost astronomers attended the dedication of McDonald Observatory on May 5, 1939. This photo includes, among others, Walter Baade, Bart Bok, Edwin Hubble, Jan Oort, Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, Henry Norris Russel, Martin Schwarzschild, and R.J. Trumpler. Credit: McDonald Observatory. This is the key of who is who in the above photo. Signatures of...
A Science Campaign in India
Comet ISON was discovered by Vitali Nevski & Artyom Novichonok in September 2012, when it was at a distance of 6au from Sun. Soon after discovery it was detected in some pre-discovery images too. Astronomers calculated the orbit of this new discovery and found that: It was a new comet coming from the outer reaches of the Solar System, the Oort Cloud. Discovered at such a great distance the comet was intrinsically bright. ISON would become a Sungrazer comet, passing very close to fiery atmosphere of the Sun later near its perihelion. Pretty soon the comet was catapulted to a...
