Space

The Daytime Astronomer on Power and Authority

A post-doc is extremely low on the totem pole of authority.  The ranking goes roughly: Principal Investigators and Branch Heads, Staff Scientists, Secretaries, Soft-Money Scientists, Technical Staff, Support Staff, Janitors, the stray cats in the garage (y ...

Blog Post - Alex "Sandy" Antunes - May 26 2009 - 3:19pm

Magnetic Blast Waves And The Impact Epicenter Of Earthbound Space Storms

Researchers using data from NASA's THEMIS mission have pinpointed the impact epicenter of an earthbound space storm as it crashes into the atmosphere- and given an advance warning of its arrival. The team's study reveals that magnetic blast wave ...

Article - News Staff - May 28 2009 - 11:40pm

PKS 0745-191: First Complete X-Ray View Of A Galaxy Cluster

The joint Japan-U.S. Suzaku mission is providing new insight into how assemblages of thousands of galaxies pull themselves together and, for the first time, Suzaku has detected X-ray-emitting gas at a cluster's outskirts, where a billion-year plunge t ...

Article - News Staff - May 28 2009 - 11:52pm

HDF 130- Cosmic 'Ghost' Around A Supermassive Black Hole

NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory has found a cosmic "ghost" lurking around a distant supermassive black hole. This is the first detection of such a high-energy apparition, and scientists think it is evidence of a huge eruption produced by th ...

Article - News Staff - May 29 2009 - 12:24am

The Daytime Astronomer says Not My Field

I believe that a scientist looking at nonscientific problems is just as dumb as the next guy.  - Richard Feynman I just read a neat HST result on dark matter on slashdot.org. I also enjoy peeking at Astronomy Picture of the Day to find out about stuff I d ...

Blog Post - Alex "Sandy" Antunes - May 29 2009 - 6:34pm

SCP 06F6- Stellar Explosion With One Heck Of A Carbon Footprint

We're somewhat lost in how to meet future carbon footprint goals.  Heck, Germany should have been able to just close a few Soviet-era East German factories and hit their Kyoto protocol targets but even they couldn't do it.    The answer, as alway ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 1 2009 - 10:35pm

Mercury Mystery- Magnetic Reconnection 10X That On Earth

Mercury, closest planet to the sun, is as hot as you would expect, with daytime temperatures of 800 degrees Fahrenheit/450 degrees Celsius and because of its small size, its gravity is weak, only about 38 percent of Earth's. These conditions make it h ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 2 2009 - 3:18pm

Space Weather Can Kill Astronauts?

Space weather can kill astronauts. This is one of the motivations for funding space weather. Solar events-- flares, particle storms, and coronal mass ejections-- can knock out GPS and cell phone reception, screw up radio and radar, and endanger airline pil ...

Article - Alex "Sandy" Antunes - Jun 8 2009 - 2:56pm

The Sexy Afterglow Of Gamma Ray Bursts

A recent survey of 'dark' gamma-ray bursts, which are bright in gamma- and X-ray emissions, but have little or no visible light, are giving us a look into the dusty corners of otherwise dust-free galaxies. Star formation occurs in dense clouds th ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 8 2009 - 12:19pm

How To Annoy An Astronomer

At parties, some people are intimidated when I say I'm an astronomer (or, worse, astrophysicist).  They assume I'm a haughty ivory tower genius who laughs at little people like them.  It's so hard to reassure them that, no, I don't laug ...

Article - Alex "Sandy" Antunes - Jun 9 2009 - 11:51am