astro
catdynamics | January 7, 2007It is official, Google is a partner in the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope
"Google's mission is to take the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful. The data from LSST will be an important part of the world's information, and by being involved in the project we hope to make it easier for that data to become accessible and useful."...
"The LSST will be the world's most powerful survey telescope, with vast data management challenges. LSST engineers and scientists have been collaborating with Google on a number of these exciting opportunities. Even though the Universe…
catdynamics | January 7, 2007Rob from Galactic Interactions is here
as is Phil from Bad Asronomy
I gather Sean and Jennifer are here also, not bumped into any of them.
'Course my flight was late and I completely missed the opening reception.
Phil has a good entry on the COSMOS "structure of dark matter press release, Rob on black hole spin.
PS: Professor Astronomy is also here
I'd expect Astroprof to be here also, but the link is dead.
Babe in the Universe is here also
Yes indeedy Astroprofs here also
catdynamics | January 7, 2007NSF town hall meeting today was depressing.
The failure of the 2006 Congress to pass a budget is turning to catastrophe.
I don't blame the democrats from ducking the trap and going for a continuing resolution, am hoping the science budgets will be the pieces exempted, but am not holding my breath.
Cutting earmarks out is also good thing in general, except of course when they are our earmarks.
Eg a big part of the squeeze on the NASA science directorate are the unfunded earmark mandates, but the earmarks also kept Hubble going through the period when it was to be killed; and SIM right now is…
catdynamics | January 7, 2007It really does rain in Seattle, where the umpteenth mega annual meeting of the American Astronomical Society is underway...
Fun. Lots of schmoozing.
Technically I'm already done, "my" poster was up in session 10 on the first day. Yay.
Ok, I sub-let it to one of my students.
Another student gave a Dissertation talk this morning, went well.
A second speaks tomorrow afternoon - pressure's on, dood.
And the third speaks tuesday. Phew.
There's postdoc candidated to interview, talks to listen to, prospective students to cajole, and schmoozing.
Schmoozing, schmoozing, schmoozing.
That is the true…
catdynamics | January 5, 2007There is a trope in classic science fiction, where humans are "special".
We get out there, into the galaxy, and there's a bunch of aliens, and they're all Really Dumb.
So the clean cut heroic square jawed human takes charge and saves the day. Fini.
What if it is true?
Ok, I've been reading too much Alastair Reynolds recently, trying to catch up on the Conjoiner/Inhibitor series, but there is a serious issue here in looking to resolve the Fermi Paradox.
The basic issue is simple: there are a lot of planets; we think a significant fraction of these are habitable (in the narrow sense of having…
catdynamics | January 5, 2007Blue Origin has gone public with info about their first test flight which took place before christmas.
space.com has more
It is a rework of the old DC-X Delta Clipper concept. Looks kinda cool.
Currently low powered peroxide thrusters, sounds like they want to try it with cryogenic LH2/LOX engines next.
Hope it works, going to the high power density engines is non-trivial, and potential difficulties scale as the velocity squared or cubed, as so many have found.
As Chad notes, they're hiring
catdynamics | January 4, 2007CNN has a news item about a mystery object that hit a house in New Jersey
Small picture, no data, but it looks like a possible iron meterorite.
Apparently some damage, but no injuries or deaths.
Owners are being cagey, just wait until their insurance company decides to take an issue.
Show-Me Meteorite Identification
and from down-under
PS: Already on Bad Astronomy - curse that Pacific time zone...
catdynamics | December 27, 2006COROT launched successfully on a Soyuz
COROT is a small transit survey telescope, launched by CNES (France) to look for low mass planets. Secondary science is astroseismology and stellar structure from high precision photometry time series.
Good luck.
catdynamics | December 25, 2006Gleðileg Jól!
Another blast from the past of Ye Olde Blogge
You're in grad school. Yay.
Now wtf do you do...
Well, you need to jump through the hurdles first.
Most places have some course and seminar requirements, you may in some cases test out of them or waive them, but think about whether you really want to. Odds are that your undergraduate curriculum was not complete or advanced enough in at least some areas. Yes, you want to get on with research, but you also want to be solid on the fundamentals.
Take the stoopid exams, whatever they call them, usually some variation on candidacy or comps…
catdynamics | December 24, 2006More repeats from Ye Olde Blogge
So you want to be an astrophysicist?
You've suffered through 3-4 years of undergrad, and you're ready for more.
You picked the places to apply to (or have you...?), and you're ready for the paperwork.
So what do you do. First you apply to the departments. As a rule, go directly to the department web site you are applying to and read carefully (ie do not go to the Graduate School at the University, until/if the department indicates you should), then do as they say.
Application deadlines should be around christmas, either just before or after. Most places move…
catdynamics | December 22, 20062007 year budget to clone the 2006 budget with no earmarks or emergency appropriations
This implies no increases for NASA or NSF.
"...NASA expects to adjust priorities within the Science, Aeronautics and Exploration appropriations account to manage the impact."
This is otherwise know as "find some place to cut". Guess where.
Hopefully the American Competitiveness issue will let NASA and NSF be exempt from the flat funding.
via NASAwatch
"NASA has been informed by Committee staff that the assumption for the full-year FY 2007 joint resolution is expected to be the "current rate," defined as FY…
catdynamics | December 22, 2006Seasonal friday, and we ask the iPod quickly: What IS The One Sentence Summary?
Whoosh goes the randomizer.
Whoosh.
The Covering: Fantasia
The Crossing: Spring - Vivaldi
The Crown: Flesh and Blood - Roxy Music
The Root: Do You Really Want to Hurt Me - Roxy Music
The Past: King Rocker - Generation X
The Future: Driving in My Car - Madness
The Questioner: Blake's Jerusalem
The House: Carnival of the Animals: The Cuckoo
The Inside: Hann Tumi fer á fætur - traditional
The Outcome: The Warmest Room - Billy Bragg
Heh!.
The Inside is the shepherd boy's dream of glory...
Now my answer would have…
catdynamics | December 22, 2006Print your own Hubble Holiday cards
For those who rightly feel that any card postmarked before the 13th day of Winter Solstice counts...
Spotted on Bad Astronomy
catdynamics | December 21, 2006So, you want to be an astrophysicist? You're an undergraduate, doing astronomy or physics (or possibly engineering, mathematics or computer science, or something), should you go to grad school?
Yet another repost installment from Ye Olde Blogge
Why is there a question? Well, it is several years of your life, earning minimal pay, doing some grind work, including classes (1-2 years at most institutions) and exams (most places have some "admission to candidacy" hoop), with interesting but uncertain career prospects. And you have to do research. Supervised, but independent and original research.…
catdynamics | December 20, 2006ATP and BEFS selections have been announced, and letters should have arrived.
Well, except maybe in Colorado +/- 1 state.
Sounds like hit rate was about 12-15%. Fewer submitted proposals than I'd have expected, somewhat higher success rate (but not high enough...).
More worryingly, ROSES '07 is postponed 'till April... so no Requests for Proposals in January as normal. Which suggests the call dates will be late in '07, presumably if-and-when they know what the budget is and therefore not just how much each line has, but whether the lines exist at all!
This could lead to an effective "year…
catdynamics | December 20, 2006More re-runs from Ye Olde Blogge
So, now you're at university, and you're headed for grad school ...
(the following is horribly UScentric, 'cause that's where I am right now, the general principles are broadly applicable, the actual getting into grad school procedure bit in future post will be both US and THEM centric), now what?
Well, each cohort in the US is about 4+ million people, about 4000 of those major in physics. Since participation in the further education in the US is almost 50%, that is 4000 out of about 2 million, or 0.2% of undergraduates (specifically, about 1.2 million…
catdynamics | December 15, 2006New SciBling OmniBrain notes a crucial new astrological discovery.
I am skeptical, Ophiuchians were omitted
so what is your sign? and why do police officers hate people born in later winter and early spring?
catdynamics | December 15, 2006
The Big Picture
30 square degree deep sky image taken by the Oschin Palomar telescope, cutting through Virgo.
Now mounted at Griffith Observatory as a single 3000 square foot image.
That is less than 0.1% of the sky.
catdynamics | December 14, 2006NASA has stopped sending of Microsoft Word Documents to the International Space Station.
Heh.