Stream of consciousness Technically, we still haven’t imaged the actual black hole… 26 Sep 201924 Sep 2019 Alright, that's not just nitpicking, that's misunderstanding what language is for. This, right there, with its global network of collaborators turning their telescopes on the same object at given times,…
Stream of consciousness Remember a piece of history 12 Sep 20194 Sep 2019 The very first photograph of a solar eclipse: From the source: Johann Julius Friedrich Berkowski made the first solar eclipse photograph on July 28, 1851, also using the daguerrotype process,…
Nerdy stuff Who says there’s “fun” in physics? 3 Sep 201925 Aug 2019 Making fun of physics is difficult. Sure, you can go Sitcom-style and make fun of people, the scientists. But making fun of science itself? What's the Sheldon Cooper of actual…
Stream of consciousness The balance of forces 29 Aug 201927 Aug 2019 A star. Our star. The Sun. Something pushing inwards, something pushing outwards. The balance between those two things is such that the Sun looks like (or close to) this to…
Stream of consciousness Now, I’ve seen everything! 22 Aug 201922 Aug 2019 I found an image by the Hubble telescope that I had, in fact, not seen yet. And what an amazing one it is, too! I dare you to go to…
Stream of consciousness No comet 8 Aug 20198 Aug 2019 You know what strikes me about asteroid Gault (6478)? Astronomers believe it might be disintegrating due to the sunlight's effect on its spin velocity. Yes, I just wrote that. Photons,…
Stream of consciousness Direct imaging of an exoplanet 27 Jun 201928 Jun 2019 Read that. Slowly. Then remember what you know about the universe. Read it again. More slowly... I have no words of any significance, to be honest. Image credit and source…
Stream of consciousness Going to Mars… 20 Jun 201910 Jun 2019 In economy, there is a rather rough concept called "sunk costs". Going to #moononmars may just very well lead to the James Webb Space Telescope and others being considered sunk…
Stream of consciousness Ever seen a spiral galaxy? 30 May 201929 May 2019 As in: Have you ever looked through a telescope and seen the spiral arms reaching outwards? Not many objects in the sky will give you that pleasure. The Andromeda galaxy…