If You Are Against Nuclear Power

The threat of nuclear war and the increasing rate of climate change means we must walk a thin line when it comes to nuclear power.When you are told what someone is against, ask them what they are for. If you against nuclear power, what kind of power are you for? Reasonable answers include coal, natural gas, biomass, wind, solar, hydro, or geothermal....

Oct 2015

Pale Terraqueous Globes

Imagine the closest star beyond the Sun has a planet orbiting it about the size of Earth. Visualize what your sunset would look like on this distant planet. Perhaps there would be two stars at the center of this solar system. Your sunset would be breathtaking. You could even visualize what the Sun would look like from this planet – just another unassuming...

Mar 2014

Galaxy Formation in the Cosmic Web

The research group I work with has made a fantastic poster about how galaxies form in the cosmic web and how we use computer simulations to understand such a complex process. We made the poster as a form of outreach and in particular for students who may be interested in astronomy research. Please feel free share or print the poster and if there is...

Dec 2013

A Comet Unnoticed

Comets have long been portents of change. They challenge the rote repetition of our skies. An astute observer of the sky will perhaps have recently noticed a new object in the sky, a comet, present for the last few weeks (you would have had to look east just before sunrise near the star Spica). This was the comet ISON. But comet ISON, having strayed...

Dec 2013

Comet ISON in the Sky

There is a new object in the sky. Comet ISON is an icy wanderer making its first and probably last last trip into the solar system from its previous home in the Oort cloud. It will graze by the Sun brilliantly and then depart. As it approaches the inner solar system, it is now inside the orbit of Earth, astronomers have been watching its outbursts of...

Nov 2013

Common Observer, uncommon observations

I have a new online project and venue that I have launched! Common Observer is a collaborative online venue of science, art, philosophy, and culture. The tagline is "Common Observer, uncommon observations." The idea is that we must reason as if we are the most common observer, but that doesn't preclude uncommon observations. An uncommon observation...

Nov 2013

ASTRONOMICAL - The Movie

A scale model of our solar system in twelve 500 page volumes printed-on-demand. On page 1 the Sun, on page 6,000 Pluto. The width of each page equals one million kilometres.This film takes us through the first volume where we encounter the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars and the Asteroid Belt.Yes, this is just a film of someone flipping through a book...

Jun 2013

The Stars seen from the the International Space Station

'Dedicated to those who dream of exploring the solar system, and those who are sharing their experiences while doing it.'

Jun 2013

A likely Supernova in M95

A bright object has appeared conspicusouly in the outer spiral arm of the local galaxy M95 38 million light years away in the constellation Leo. This new illumination in M95 is probably a supernova. While supernova are not all that rare throughout the entire universe, a supernova occurring this close is rare and interesting as it is a chance to gather...

Jun 2013

Perspectives on the Vertical

Cabinet Magazine has an interesting cultural perspective on human's attempts to zoom in and out of nature in the vertical. Particularly they focus on one of my favorite science films ever, Power of Ten.Powers of Ten was originally inspired by a 1957 book by the Dutch educator Kees Boeke titled Cosmic View. By 1963, the Eameses were experimenting with...

Jun 2013