Astronomy and the Chile earthquake March 2, 2010
Posted by sarah in: astronomy, geology . Add a comment
Pretty Valaparaiso in 2005
I noticed a lot of traffic to the blog today from google searches for people looking for info on the fate of the telescopes in Chile after last weekend’s huge earthquake that has devastated the central part of the country. The bottom line is that they all seem to be fine – although let’s not forget that the damage to Chile’s infrastructure could easily pay for hundreds of VLTs. As for the lives lost, well, no hardware can replace those.
On a personal note, my only experience of earthquakes dates back to 2005, while observing at Gemini South at Cerro Pachon, near La Serena in Chile. In our week-long observing run we suffered 2 earthquakes of magnitudes 5.8 and 5.0 or so, if I remember correctly. Our telescope operator, recognising the distant rumble, gave us a few seconds’ warning that a quake was under way, giving me ample time to freak out completely. Having just escaped the London bombings a few weeks earlier, I guess my nerves were pretty shot, but it was still pretty scary. I can only imagine how terrifying a magnitude 8+ quake must be when you’re sound asleep in your home at 3 am and I truly hope I never get to find out.
Anyway, here’s a round-up of some of the statements released by the astronomy organisations with bases in the country.
On Software in Astronomy March 1, 2010
Posted by sarah in: astronomy . 4comments
Importance of the Hubble archive. The number of archival papers has exceeded the number of PI-led papers since 2006 (from White et al., 2009)
I’ve been giving some thought to software development in astronomy, which is a difficult topic. All astronomers agree that good data processing, and hence good software, is crucial to doing rigorous science. To interpret observational data, to translate electrons on a detector to scientific knowledge, requires a solid understanding of the instrument, the observing conditions, and of the exact process with which the data were treated. Many large ground- and space-based observatories, like those run by ESO, Gemini and NASA, strive to provide the community with “science-ready” data. This means that the data are processed to remove all instrumental signatures, allowing astronomers to dive straight into the analysis.
The rationale is that providing science-ready data essentially makes them usable by a much wider community than those involved in the observing campaign, or those used to working with a given instrument. Indeed, a big driver behind the global Virtual Observatory initiative is the “democratisation of astronomy” by providing anyone in the world with ready-to-use astronomical data, irrespective of their location or affiliation to large organisations.
Hearts in Space February 14, 2010
Posted by sarah in: science . Add a commentI love the Sixty Symbols videos – and this is a particularly kooky one. I think Valentine’s Day is the most pointless of all the pointless contrived holidays – but if I were to celebrate it, this is how I’d do it.
The Astronomer’s Mating Call January 28, 2010
Posted by sarah in: astronomy, politics . 1 comment so far
Every winter is the time for an age-old mating ritual that takes place in the astronomy community: a special courtship dance where graduate students and postdocs parade round, flashing their colourful feathers, trying to appear smarter and savvier than their peers in the desperate quest for a new mecenas who will support their addiction to MacBooks and airmiles. It’s jobs season, when the friendships we’ve cherished for the past year become meaningless and it’s each astronomer to their own.
Laura Veirs January 24, 2010
Posted by sarah in: science . Add a commentI just bought tickets to go see Laura Veirs, an American singer-songwriter whose music I really love. She is one cool lady: she has a background in geology, speaks Chinese and was into feminist punck rock in her college days. Her music contains a lot of nature imagery with lots of references to astronomy as well. Apparently I’m not the only one who noticed that, as I found this video on YouTube produced by Roger Griffith at NASA/JPL set to her lovely song Galaxies. Apparently Veirs is also having a baby in April, so I look forward to seeing her with bump.
