The Universe as seen from the perspective of an astronomical researcher, presenter and writer.
No time to write today – although there’s so much to say about Saturn, comets and cosmology – but in the meantime this combines the last two rants nicely.
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In 2001, WMAP was launched to study the cosmic microwave background. This radiation has traveled across space since 300,000 years after the Big Bang, and provides a snapshot of this distant epoch. By studying the fluctuations in this radiation, WMAP was able (among other things, and in combination with other ways of gathering data) to [...]
Read More...It’s been a busy solar system week. Thoughts from Saturn coming tomorrow, but we’ve also had the arrival of Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter at the red planet, which means that six spacecraft are now active. MRO will take six months or so to drop down into its science orbit (dipping through the Martian atmosphere on each [...]
Read More...This article from the Guardian has me a little worried. They quote schools standards minister Jacqui Smith as saying
Creationism is one of many differing beliefs which pupils might discuss and consider, perhaps when they learn about another aspect of science: ‘ways in which scientific work may be affected by the contexts in which it takes [...]
I don’t want to comment too much on this story, but did want to say that we’re expecting Patrick back in the saddle (as it were) for the next program. He’s being well looked after, and I’m looking forward to seeing him back at home soon.
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NASA report from amateur observations that Jupiter may have a second semi-permenant red spot, formed from the collision of three smaller ovals back in 2000. Whether it hangs around or not, I’m looking forward to seeing the imaging results as it develops, and it’s a reminder that Jupiter’s now in the morning sky.
I remember a [...]
Lectured last night to Maidenhead AS, continuing the curse which means that all speaker meetings are on clear nights. We managed to do some real astronomy, looking at Saturn after I’d finished wittering about cosmology.
Someone there (hello Vicky) reminded me about the Stardust@home project which is calling for volunteers to help look for particles returned [...]
The second of our two BBC4 specials goes out on Monday as part of a slightly esoteric Sun night (to accompany last Monday’s moon night).
This means the ‘regular’ program, which features Saturn news from Cassini together with amateur imaging from Pete Lawrence, Damian Peach, Dave Tyler and Ian Sharp, won’t be repeated as normal on [...]