Most Recent Posts to Astronomy

Pluto, Once and Future Planet
In modern parlance, Pluto “is what it is”. The semantic lexicon of astrophysics does need to be redefined with expansion of the knowledge base, of course, but the objects being described don’t change a bit. Posted August 06, 2010

Mars Hoax 2010
The annual "Two Moons on Aug 27th" Mars e-mail is circulating again. Alas, the myth is another internet hoax, a best fit for the "liar liar pants on fire" category. Amateur astronomers already know this. This year, for the benefit of everybody else, we do our best to explain why. Article in Astronomy. Posted June 27, 2010

Piraro: The Truth About 2012
"Bizarro" cartoon by Dan Piraro, December 21, 2009. The truth about 2012. Posted December 21, 2009

National Geo: Seeking new earths

There's an article of interest in the December 2009 National Geographic, "Worlds Apart: Seeking new earths". Written by stargazer Timothy Ferris, the article discusses, in lay editorial style, the mission of NASA spacecraft Kepler. Discussion and links to the National Geo article's web version.

The Great 2012 Scare - Sky & Telescope
In our October postings we noted with regret that the S&T magazine's website was "under construction" and we could not provide the customary link to document our sources. They're here, with free article PDF's at the linked Sky and Telescope page. Posted November 13, 2009

You Are Here, Part II
The graphic below follows up on yesterday's article Debunking the “2012" Myth. The question is: how exactly is a supposed alignment of the sun with the core of the Milky Way supposed to cause catastropic destruction in 2012? Posted October 06, 2009

Debunking the "2012" Myth
Gravitational effects of heavenly bodies upon Earth can be measured and calculated. Only the Sun and Moon have any noticeable effect on the Earth, its tides, or its crustal plates. Mayan calendars and Nostradamus occultism aside, the producers of the "2012" movie know perfectly well nothing's going to happen on December 21, 2012 - and we prove that here with basic high school math. Posted October 04, 2009

Mystery Object Tears Star Apart?
Excerpted from the Sky&Telescope posting June 7, 2009, below. We know that binary star groups sometimes consume one partner with cataclysmic results, so this article should be no surprise. Still, the idea of invisible black holes that can tear a star apart in 200 days is something that boggles the mind ... Posted June 13, 2009

Houston Mega-Dome?
We review and analyze the Discovery channel's interesting "Mega-Builders" segment on building a geodesic dome over downtown Houston. Posted June 08, 2009

Summer Solstice
This photo was taken June 20, 2006. I got around to posting it in Photos that August. It's not that bad for a photo, and even though the light is interesting, it's not the kind of photo I normally post to a gallery. But there was something special about it ... Posted May 13, 2009

SETI
It's not so much that I expect to be the first to detect signals from ET. In fact, as I've often joked, I'd rather that you detect them first, because then I get to stay at home and smoke my pipe, while you get to cope with the demands of the media. Posted April 21, 2009

Pluto - Enough Already
Try this "it's not a mountain" argument with several generations of New England skiers. They'll tell you the same thing we're telling the IAU. It's a mountain, just like Pluto's a planet. No amount of academic internecine warfare is going to change that. Posted February 17, 2009

WMAP*
"Let there be light", said the Lord. And, whereupon electrons and protons recombined approximately 110,000 years later, give or take, there was light. Posted April 07, 2008

Black Holes and Chariot of Fools
Wait a minute, I meant Chariot of The Gods, no, dang, I mean Ship of Fools - gosh darn it, why can't I get this right? I mean micro-black holes - here on Earth, explaining everything we didn't want to know about the Bermuda Triangle. Posted March 08, 2008

The End of Cosmology
I guess that's OK, as long as it doesn't happen before my subscription runs out. Posted February 25, 2008