The Polaris Flare
Hearing that a nebula I knew little about was mapped by Herschel made me go and find out more. The Polaris Flare is a cirrus nebula that appears to surround the North Star. Here’s a bit more about it – pretty pictures included.
University
Rosette Nebula and HOBYS
Many amazing images were released at the Herschel meeting last week but one that seems to have slipped by is this incredible montage of data from the Rosette Nebula.
Merry Fucking Christmas
I’m not one to engage in STFC politics – I’m far too vulnerable and ignorant as PhD student – but I can make a few observations about the UK’s impending funding disaster.
The Gould Belt
The Gould Belt is a vast ring of active stellar nurseries and molecuar clouds encircling our Solar System. I am part of the JCMT Gould Belt Survey and the Spitzer Gould Belt Survey who study the star-forming regions within it, but what is the belt – and how did it come to be?
The International Astronomical Union
On Monday I will be setting off for Rio de Janeiro for the 2009 International Astronomical Union General Assembly. This is a massive multi-conference that takes place every three years and covers almost all aspects of astronomy. I will of course be blogging it.
Herschel and Planck Launch Minute-by-Minute
On Thursday (at 13:12 UT) Arianespace will send into orbit two scientific satellites for the European Space Agency: the Herschel space telescope and the Planck scientific observatory. The launch process which will take these amazing new instruments from the ground into space takes less than an hour! I will be watching the event live from [...]
BLAST on the BBC
BLAST will be on the BBC tonight. It has an interesting story behind it and luckily the brother of the head investigator is a film maker. He followed the international science team literally around the world as they tried to map star-forming regions and to find the origins of the galaxies.
Detox Supernova in 3D (Part 2)
Many products in the shops use scientific language to promote their products. At this time of year, following a period of festive excess, many detox products are popular. Detoxing herbal teas, shampoos, facial washes, foot pads and more can be purchased at a premium in Boots, Superdrug and miscellany other shops and pharmacies. Do they work? Well no, not really.
Detox Supernova in 3D (Part 1)
Using X-Ray images, and infrared data, a team of astronomers led by Dr Tracey DeLaney of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and including Dr. Gomez from Cardiff, created a 3D visualisation of the Cassiopeia A supernova to get a more complete understanding of how the explosion happened.
Popular Posts
Lifestream
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This train is filled with so much innane conversation! I have heard three independent conversations involving Katie Price. [orbitingfrog]
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@IanMulvany it was my fault I lost it. No wonder it's sulking and eyeing up other commuters. [orbitingfrog]
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@jpsmythe I don't think so. It looks like it's had lots of fun without me. [orbitingfrog]
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I am finally reunited with the suitcase I lost last week. Such happy times. [orbitingfrog]
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I just made it to my train. For my tickets I performed a Krypton Factor style series of 3 FastTicket machine collections against the clock. [orbitingfrog]
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This is a CrossCountry train - normally I am on First Great Western. I suddenly realise how good I usually have it... [orbitingfrog]
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TravelineCymru lied to me about bus times. Website totally out of date. I think Sinterklass may make a visit... [orbitingfrog]
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Spent yesterday being horribly ill. On the mend today I think - what fun. Playing with making REST services using Rails. [orbitingfrog]
