News from across the universe

Post your press release from the TP 2 assignment here. Include your name, your topic, and a brief description of the main result that will appeal to the other people in the class. Then provide a link to your press release. If someone's description sparks your interest, feel free to post a follow-up comment!

To make a clickable link, use the following HTML command:

<a href="http://link-address-here.com">Clickable text here</a>

Here's one of my recent favorite press releases: Solar System object 3552 Don Quixote, which was previously thought to be an asteroid or a "dead" comet, is actually alive and well! Here's the story: Comet Found Hiding in Plain Sight

With the help of NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, astronomers
have discovered that what was thought to be a large asteroid called
Don Quixote is in fact a comet. Image credit:
NASA/JPL-Caltech/DLR/NAU

Remember, you can use the Name/URL option instead of Anonymous if you want to use your name in the comment header. I can't wait to see what you find!

Open thread: what's new, cool observations, homework help?

Welcome to Week 3! Here's hoping everyone is starting to feel comfortable with their classes and with college life. 

This post is a chance for you to check in with me and others in the class. How are things going? Did you do anything fun over the weekend? What have you seen in the sky lately? 

You can also post homework questions here. What can I help with?

Crowdsourcing science

Want to get involved in a real astronomy project? Or contribute to research in marine biology or genetics or climatology? Check out Zooniverse, a clearinghouse for "citizen science" projects that let people around the world participate in scientific research. You can join projects in a variety of scientific areas and contribute a little at a time. The astronomy projects usually consist of classifying objects like galaxies or craters, or looking for specific patterns in images (things which humans are much better at than computers). Check it out -- you might discover something no one's every seen!

http://www.zooniverse.org

Another famous example of citizen science -- in fact, the site that started the trend, way back in 1999 (the Wild West days of the Internet) -- is called SETI@home. This site works a little differently from Zooniverse: you install a small piece of software that runs as a screensaver when your computer is idle. It communicates with the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) project in Berkeley, downloads small chunks of data from radio telescopes to your computer, and analyzes them to look for potential signals from alien civilizations. It's admittedly a very long shot that your computer will discover ET, but we'll never know what's out there if we don't look, right?

http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/

Have you done any citizen science projects in the past? Know of any other good ones? Plan on trying out any of these? Let us know in the comments! (Use the "Name/URL" option to post under your first name at least, so I know whom to award extra participation points...)

Frog photobombs NASA

I thought this was hilarious. Read the whole story and get the high-res picture over at Universe Today.

 

According to Slate.com, NASA's caption says "The photo team confirms the frog is real and was captured in a single frame by one of the remote cameras used to photograph the launch... The condition of the frog, however, is uncertain."

Eyes on the skies

It was a beautiful clear evening tonight and I got a gorgeous glimpse of the crescent Moon and Venus low in the west. They'll be close together for the next few days, so keep your eyes open!

From skyandtelescope.com, an excellent source
of information about what's currently visible in the sky.

What have you seen in the sky so far?