Preface This article was originally published in the Amherst STEM Network magazine online (at this link) with the title “Observing Outbursts from Orbit.” I’ve republished it here for posterity (the online articles are usually fleeting – there will be a link to the stable magazine copy of this article sometime soon as well). I hope you enjoy it, and that
Preface This article was originally published in the Amherst STEM Network magazine online (at this link) with the title “High Flying Adored: Whole Air Sampling Research Tracks Emissions from Fuel Leaks.” I’ve republished it here for posterity (the online articles are usually fleeting – there will be a link to the stable magazine copy of this article sometime soon as
Preface This article was originally published in the Amherst STEM Network magazine online (at this link) with the title “Telescope Time Trials.” I’ve republished it here for posterity (the online articles usually fleeting – there will be a link to the stable magazine copy of this article sometime soon as well). I hope you enjoy it, and that you check
Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO), the beloved observatory which “supports the most diverse collection of astronomical observatories on Earth” is in turn supported by – that is, resides atop – a sacred mountain of the O’odham people. The observatory, which has provided smaller institutions and the public an equal opportunity to conduct and publish astronomy research for over half a
Preface This article was originally published in the Amherst STEM Network magazine online (at this link) with the title “Accretion Machines.” I’ve republished it here for posterity (the online articles are usually fleeting – there will be a link to the stable magazine copy of this article sometime soon as well). I hope you enjoy it, and that you check
Thy flesh consumed A simple browser game, styled after DOOM clone shooters of the early 90’s, MARS FOR THE RICH is promotional material for the song of the same name. Leaving an antechamber filled with nondescript wooden crates, the player – armed with a handgun – enters a sunken arena of floating stone and blood red sky. At its center,
Quarantine and geographical location are between many of us and the inspiring uprisings across this country, here are some things we can do to help. As much as it may have frustrated Einstein, action at a distance can still play a critical role in this struggle. (UPDATE 5/31/2020: the MFF is now more than well-funded, organizers within and without the
I wrote this article originally for the Amherst STEM Network, where I’m the Astronomy Department Editor, and it is reposted here for posterity. You can find an amazing magazine version of it following this link. What makes a planet? If you grew up before the mid-2000s, you probably learned that Pluto is a planet, and might have reacted strongly to
when molecular clouds – large clumps of gas and dust within galaxies – become unable to support their own weight they collapse inwards into a cascading series of overdensities and clumps which then become stars. even if they can support themselves, collisions between clouds, supernovae, or other dramatic events can cause dynamical disruptions in molecular clouds which trigger star formation.
Luritja aboriginal astronomers have a classification system for by-eye observation of stars: Tjilkera (white) stars, Tataka Tjilkera (red/white), Tataka (red) and Tataka Indora (very red) [1, 2]. Astronomers today, thanks to Williamina Flemming and Annie Jump Cannon (among other Harvard Computers), use a rather opaque system of stellar classification called the Harvard spectral classification: OBAFGKM(LTY), ranging from white/blue to red/brown.