This year is the International Year of Astronomy. January 15th and 16th will see the official opening in Paris, but the accompanying podcast, 365 Days of Astronomy, has kicked off with an introductory episode in which several of the team behind the podcast speak a little about themselves. I was late handing in my entry (typical) and so do not feature, which is a shame. However I intend to contribute later on in the year.
2009 will also see the publication of the proceedings from my conference, .Astronomy. Our publishers say they can have a proof ready very soon and so the book should be available this month – hurrah!
This year I will be leading my first project as principal investigator. That means I am in charge – if my PhD supervisor lets me! We have secured 40 hours of time on the JCMT on Mauna Kea (the same place where I had an unfortunate incident). If all goes well ,this project could lead to a PhD thesis for me and then 2009 would be very significant!
More importantly though, 2009 will be the year I become a father. We are expecting our first child in early March and we are very excited. The house is not yet ready, we have no money and in many ways I am terrified. I am told that this is reasonably normal.
Happy New Year to one and all and I hope that 2009 will be prosperous for you all.
Orbiting Frog 
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