Archives for the 'astronomers' Category
Bad Astronomer coming to Texas
Published on 14 Apr 2008 at 5:27 pm.
2 Comments.
Filed under astronomers, public science.
For those of you in the area, Phil Plait, the Bad Astronomer, will be speaking Tuesday, April 15, at Tarrant County College - NE Campus (in Hurst, a suburb of Fort Worth). He’ll be speaking at 12:20 in the Student Center. The event is free, so if you get a chance, be […]
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John Archibald Wheeler
Published on 14 Apr 2008 at 12:40 pm.
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Filed under astronomers.
Recently, in my stellar astronomy class, we discussed black holes. The term “black hole” was coined by John Archibald Wheeler in 1967 while trying to explain the object of an ultimate gravitational collapse. The term, as I understand it, was not meant to be an official name for the phenomenon, but it stuck […]
David Fabricius
Published on 9 Mar 2008 at 2:07 pm.
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Filed under astronomers, history.
There is a crater on the Moon named Fabricius. It is about 2.5 kilometers deep and 78 kilometers in diameter. According to a NASA list of crater names, it is named for the astronomer David Goldschmidt. Who is the Goldschmidt, and why is the crater named for him? I chose to […]
The AAS Meeting Banquet
Published on 10 Jan 2007 at 1:26 pm.
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Filed under astronomers, conference blogging.
Last night was the AAS Meeting banquet. The food was OK, though not worth what we paid for it. After the banquet, though, instead of the normal entertainment, we had a film. The film was a very professionally done and gripping story of George Ellery Hale, who I blogged about in an earlier post. The […]
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Astronomers and the Space Needle
Published on 5 Jan 2007 at 6:17 pm.
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Filed under astronomers, travel.
Built for the 1962 World’s Fair, the 605 foot high Space Needle is a famous Seattle landmark. People who’ve never even been to Seattle know it from pictures. The theme of the fair was the 21st Century, and planners wanted some structure to symbolize the future. The Space Needle is what they […]
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Carl Sagan
Published on 21 Dec 2006 at 12:00 pm.
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Filed under astronomers.
I am currently out of town, and snowed in. So, bear with me. I won’t be posting regularly for a while, and this posting will be a bit shorter than it otherwise would have been.
Yesterday was the tenth anniversary of Carl Sagan’s death. I first became aware of him watching the TV […]
Edwin Hubble
Published on 20 Nov 2006 at 5:32 pm.
5 Comments.
Filed under astronomers.
One of the most recognized names in Twentieth Century astronomy is Edwin Hubble. Astronomers and astronomy students recognize the name, of course. Even many people from the public recognized the name. Now, anyone who is even a little aware of world events knows the name through the Hubble Space Telescope, which was named after Edwin […]
