catdynamics | September 12, 2009NuStar is a small explorer class hard x-ray focusing telescope.
It is now scheduled for launch in august 2011.
NuStar is optimised for the hard x-ray range, looking at energies from 6 keV to 79 keV, with energy resolution of ~ 1 keV and, sub-arcmin angular resolution ( Prof. F. Harrison PI).
The telescope does narrow field x-ray imaging in the spectral range beyond that covered by Chandra and XMM-Newton.
Previous imaging telescopes in the hard x-rays used coded aperture masks, but NuStar uses grazing incidence focusing optics on a 10 meter deployable boom.
The satellite is due to be…
catdynamics | September 11, 2009Hubble post-refurbishment engineering and early science images were released on wednesday.
Go check them out.
Here is the press release and image link
sorry this is late, I'm on a field trip in the middle of somewhere...
Showcases Wide Field Camera 3 very nicely!
All the images are here - there are a LOT of images and spectra
Everything from Jupiter post-impact to distant Quasar spectra.
catdynamics | September 9, 2009Our astrobiology graduate seminar has started, and last week it got interesting as we pondered "weird life".
I'm a co-PI of the Penn State Astrobiology Research Center, and as part of our program we run an Astrobiology graduate seminar, which is generally topic based.
This year it is more student oriented, but occasionally the faculty are invited to kibitz.
Last week the theme was "Weird Life" - we fling this at all groups of students we can gather in astrobiology, in the hope that someone will eventually have a flash of insight.
The essential topic is: "if there is life out there that is…
catdynamics | September 8, 2009Ok, here we go again... someone thinks it is funny to compare economics with astronomy...
Worse, than that, it is Chad hisself, hovering near one of the antipodes of the blogosphere.
It was of course Krugman who started it, but Sean had to go stir it up, didn't he?
Then Dave's got to go Pontificate and all, so how can I not?
Why, some of my best friends are economists...
So, is economics really like astronomy?
No!
Well, except for our mutual affinity for unreasonably large numbers, mesoscale problems and models that are mostly too messy to actually solve for realistic situations.…
catdynamics | September 8, 2009Augustine Panel delivered its report and recommendations to Obama today.
This is important, it will set the menu of options for Obama to choose NASA's future, and a decision needs to be made, and soon.
Almost none of the options are good.
The basic problem is that NASA "Exploration" - the human spaceflight component, does not have enough funding in the projected budget to do what needs to be done - it can't run ISS, and the Space Shuttle while developing new launchers and hardware for new Exploration goals.
This is underfunding that goes back to Nixon, but has been most acute in the last 3-4…
catdynamics | September 8, 2009To understand the furore over The President's speech to school children, it is probably sufficient to ignore the facts of the matter and precedent of previous addresses by Presidents of various hues, and just note that a lot of peoples' fears are based on "What would I do given that access?".
Hence the paranoia.
If my kid's teacher opted out of letting the class watch the speech, as the local School District permitted, I will be rather irate.
catdynamics | September 8, 2009can't remember if I put up a pointer for this yet, but
Billy Bragg podcast #14 - Half Bragg, Half Blokes was put up this summer.
catdynamics | September 4, 2009trump trump trump
strange things flash into my mind on hot friday afternoons
The Toy Dolls
Original TOTP version, with period costumes.
Strangely enough, this is one of the best songs to ice skate to.
Who knew?
catdynamics | September 2, 2009yes, it is linkedy link time,
because it has been a while,
because I can, and...
because linking is an intrinsic good, ain't it?
Sometimes it is what is not said that matter. (It all goes back to this).
why yes, yes it does
e-Astronomer on a roll: University Challenge - don't get me going about the good old days, when Universities were Real Universities...
and, Sex Lives of Famous Astronomers.
Between these you will find Obama Bicycle Sneakers
The Female Science Professor is on a graduate roll:
Playing Favourites
Adviser with Benefits
Unintentional Bad Advisers
and Moving Grads
Chad goes…
catdynamics | August 29, 2009Station Fire in La Canada down in SoCal looks to be getting a bit nasty.
Spectacular Evening Images from a Mt Wilson webcam - hope it is still there in the morning.
Fire/Evacuation map from LA Times
I hear JPL is closed over the weekend.
Better hope wind doesn't shift and pick up.
Oh, ok, grabbed a night image for souvenir - web cam images are of course dynamic
Mt Wilson view 9:30 pm 29th Aug '09
PS: view over JPL towards the mountains the other night
click to embiggen
catdynamics | August 27, 2009The Photomixers are back, inspired by the Great Jupiter Impact of 2009 they reminisce in style.
catdynamics | August 27, 2009Is it like standing unarmed in front of a column of tanks?
Or is it more like following someone blindly off a cliff into a pool whose depth you do not know?
Iceland knows.
Kaupþing was the largest of the Icelandic Investment Banks.
It grew by 500% in years, on paper at least.
They were inspired.
By the Spruce Goose, apparently.
Though I have to admit, the use of The Agent from the Matrix as a metaphor has some accuracy, despite the apparent lack of irony.
The Space Science/Cure Cancer metaphors are cute. Inaccurate, but cute.
Hoocoodanode it'd all come to a bad end.
I don't think the…
catdynamics | August 21, 2009Splendid Idea.
NYC cricket crawl.
Bring a bit of culture to the Big Apple.
I must say, though, I didn't think there'd be enough matches in NYC on a given day to make it worthwhile, even if you count limited over matches...
Make mine a Pimm's.
catdynamics | August 19, 2009Interesting new paper coming out in Nature this week, presenting early scientific results from LIGO on the amplitude of stochastic gravitational radiation background of cosmological origin.
LIGO went into science operation a few years ago, achieving phase I design sensitivity at the end of that set of operation, the S5 science run from Nov 5th 2005 till Sep 30th 2007. During that time a year of coincident operation at the Hanford and Livingston interferometers was achieved, and the results of this data set are coming out.
LIGO Hanford (click to embiggen)
LIGO shut down for interim…
catdynamics | August 19, 2009"...a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity"
click to embiggen
with apologies to WB and PZ both.
The Great American Bubble Machine article is up on the Rolling Stone website.
Great rant.
catdynamics | August 17, 2009" 1. Read a paper that has a mistake in it.
2. Write and submit a Comment, politely correcting the mistake...
3. Enjoy your Comment in print along with the author's equally polite Reply, basking in the joy of having participated in the glorious scientific process and of the new friends you've made - the authors whose research you've greatly assisted."
This was circulated anonymously by e-mail among a group of my colleagues.
I asked, and got tracked back to the author who, I am informed, would like to see it out there and with his name on it.
It is, I am assured, a true story. Some of you…
catdynamics | August 13, 2009never mind h'
it is the second derivative we like...
yes, I know it is pathetic, I got nothing
Unfortunately I know exactly what made me think of this.
Curse you C. Ford!
'though associating "Hair Cut 100" with the whole process is wholesome in a strange sort of way.
Ay ah ah ah ah ah
catdynamics | August 13, 2009I don't know what made me think of this, but since it is on youtube...
Spizz Energi!