Extreme Astronomy: Eclipse Edition!
“This is the fate that often awaits awaits astronomers…to be the spectator of a fatal cloud.” – Guillaume Le Gentil, astronomer Photo of totality during the 2017 solar eclipse. No […]
The Surprisingly Small Difference Between Black Holes and Bird Beaks
“Make no small plans.” – George Ellery Hale, astronomer and telescope-builder Visiting the world’s weirdest-looking observatory: one of two 2.5-mile long vacuum tubes of the LIGO detector in eastern Washington! […]
Why Do We Steal Telescopes?
“This star is not on the map.” – Heinrich d’Arrest, upon discovering Neptune Stealing. For science. Right now astronomers across the world are waiting for it to get dark. They’ve […]
How We Saw A Black Hole
“We have seen what we thought was unseeable.”— Shep Doeleman, Astronomer The eight observatories of the Event Horizon Telescope and [dramatic voice] the sharpest image in the world (no, seriously…) This week […]
At the Edge of the World
“All those stars out there have a story to tell us…what story are we figuring out tonight?”– Suzanne Hawley, astronomer Southern sky over telescopes at Paranal Observatory in Chile (Credit: […]
Congratulations on Accidentally Discovering Mars
“A star is a pretty simple thing.” – Fred Hoyle“Well Fred, you’d look pretty simple too from ten parsecs away.” – R.O. Redman The 210-foot diameter Parkes Observatory radio telescope […]
Condors, Socks, and Bananas
“There are few natural philosophers as frustrated as astronomers in a fog.” – Philip Pullman, The Subtle Knife Waiting for take-off aboard the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) Last week […]
Extreme Astronomy!
“Space isn’t remote at all. It’s only an hour’s drive away if your car could go straight upwards.” – Sir Fred Hoyle, Astronomer SOFIA during a 2010 test flight, flying […]
Becoming An Astronomer
“We especially need imagination in science. It is not all mathematics, nor all logic, but it is somewhat beauty and poetry.” – Astronomer Maria Mitchell Receiving the Gold Medal of […]
Lightning Strikes and Squirrel Permits
“We fund astronomy for the same reason we fund a symphony, or a poet, or an artist: because it distinguishes us as human.” – Bart Bok, astronomer My ONE HUNDREDTH […]