Sky this Week.

Some good stuff in the sky right now...

Way cool binocs.

For the 7th anniversary of my 30th birthday, The Husband got me the most awesome pair of binoculars, which I had been coveting for some time.

I subsequently bought solar filters for them.

And this is what I can look at every day now.



It's ridiculously cool.

Early flight...

Old-Timey Daredevil, by the delightfully silly Ryan Berkley
(Available at etsy.com.)

Not space-related.

A 40,000 year old flute has been found.
As a music-lover, this pleases me.

There's just one thing: it's made of vulture bone.

All I can think of is a bunch of cavemen sitting around a fire playing it and thinking, "Myyyyy, how the tables have turned."

It also reminds me of a Far Side cartoon, which was Photoshopped into a real-life scene at Worth1000 by user Bigpeeler thusly:
(I actually cannot find the original Larson 'toon.)

Garrett Gets Some New Friends (or Guess My Application Got Lost in the Mail)

From NASA's website:

After reviewing more than 3500 applications, NASA has selected nine men and women for the 2009 astronaut candidate class. They will begin training at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in August.

The new astronaut candidates:

Serena M. Aunon, 33, of League City, Texas; University of Texas Medical Branch-Wyle flight surgeon for NASA’s Space Shuttle, International Space Station and Constellation Programs; born in Indianapolis, Ind. Aunon holds degrees from The George Washington University, University of Texas Health Sciences Center in Houston, and UTMB.

Jeanette J. Epps, 38, of Fairfax, Va.; technical intelligence officer with the Central Intelligence Agency; born in Syracuse, N.Y. Epps holds degrees from LeMoyne College and the University of Maryland.

Jack D. Fischer, Major U.S. Air Force, 35, of Reston, Va.; test pilot; U.S. Air Force Strategic Policy intern (Joint Chiefs of Staff) at the Pentagon; born in Boulder, Colo. Fischer is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Michael S. Hopkins, Lt. Colonel U.S. Air Force, 40, of Alexandria, Va.; special assistant to the Vice Chairman (Joint Chiefs of Staff) at the Pentagon; born in Lebanon, Mo. Hopkins holds degrees from the University of Illinois and Stanford University.

Kjell N. Lindgren, 36, of League City, Texas; University of Texas Medical Branch-Wyle flight surgeon for NASA’s Space Shuttle, International Space Station and Constellation Programs; born in Taipei, Taiwan. Lindgren has degrees from the U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado State University, University of Colorado, the University of Minnesota, and UTMB.

Kathleen (Kate) Rubins, 30, of Cambridge, Mass.; born in Farmington, Conn.; principal investigator and fellow, Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research at MIT and conducts research trips to the Congo. Rubins has degrees from the University of California-San Diego and Stanford University.

Scott D. Tingle, Commander U.S. Navy, 43, of Hollywood, Md.; born in Attleboro, Mass.; test pilot and Assistant Program Manager-Systems Engineering at Naval Air Station Patuxent River. Tingle holds degrees from Southeastern Massachusetts University (now University of Massachusetts Dartmouth) and Purdue University.

Mark T. Vande Hei, Lt. Colonel U.S. Army, 42, of El Lago, Texas; born in Falls Church, Va.; flight controller for the International Space Station at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, as part of U.S. Army NASA Detachment. Vande Hei is a graduate of Saint John’s University and Stanford University.

Gregory R. (Reid) Wiseman, Lt. Commander U.S. Navy, 33, of Virginia Beach, Va.; born in Baltimore; test pilot; Department Head, Strike Fighter Squadron 103, USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, based out of Oceana Virginia. Wiseman is a graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Johns Hopkins University.

Nine people. Twenty-two degrees. I'm feeling pretty good about the future of the space program.

Friday song video.

There is just so much wrong with this, physics-wise, that it makes my head hurt.
Still, it looks awesome.

Grunsfeld at the Adler

Not Ernest Grunsfeld, who designed the Adler Planetarium - his grandson John, Telescope-Repairer Extraordinaire.
On Wednesday, June 24th, be at the Adler box office when it opens at 9:30 A.M. to get tickets to hear Astronaut John Grunsfeld talk about the recent Hubble Servicing Mission. He will also be bringing back the Adler telescope he snuck out on his last visit when security wasn't looking the Adler gave him to take on his recent mission, with the understanding "You break it, you bought it."
Admission to the event is free with paid Adler admission but it will likely sell out, so if you're not in line at 9:30, you might be SOL.

Grunsfeld's talk will begin at 2 P.M.

The beautiful Adler Planetarium, designed by a talented guy's talented grandfather. Brings to mind* what Felix Mendelssohn's father (the son of a preeminent Jewish philosopher) once remarked: "I used to be known as the son of Mendelssohn. Now, I am known as the father of Mendelssohn."

*In fairness, John Grunsfeld's father is also an accomplished architect which, around these parts, affords one near-rockstar status, too.

To the Moon!

Fingers crossed...

Happy Birthday to You!

Today is Cathy's birthday. That means she gets a new official birthday star, eta bootis, the southeasternmost visible star in Bootes. Also known by its Arabic name, Mufrid or Murphrid, eta bootis is one of a somewhat unusual breed of "super metal rich" stars, which means pretty much anything but hydrogen and helium. Muphrid has a metal abundance about twice that of our sun. It is surrounded by a corono nearly twice as hot as that of the sun.

It is the third brightest star in Bootes.

There are a lot of mythological stories about the origins of Bootes, the Plowman. One is that Zeus raped Callisto, a nymph who ran with Artemis. And that when she gave birth to Arcas, Hera found out and got all, like, "Hey! You been running around on me or what?"

And when Hera tried to kill Callisto and Arcas, Zeus caused a mighty whirlwind to take them into the sky. Other stories involve Artemis killing Callisto, and, again, Zeus sorrowfully sending her into the sky.

Anyway, my sister, Mary, also has a birthday coming up, and her birthday star is some nondescript star in Draco. Mine, meanwhile, is Caph, the upper right star marking the W of Casseopeia.

Your birthday star is, of course, the star whose light began its journey to earth on the day you were born. Look it up if you're bored: http://outreach.jach.hawaii.edu/birthstars/year.php

So happy birthday to my little sister, who was born when I was 18. She is the funniest one of us all, and the reason this blog is so wonderful.