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Category Archives: Uncategorized
Mastering the Dark Arts: BYU-RET Week 2
With my prospectus completed and approved, I was ready to begin my actual research project at Brigham Young University. I am here on a Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) program funded through the National Science Foundation (Grant # PHY1157078). I’m … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged argelander, astronomy, bonner durchmusterung, Brigham Young University, byu ret, CCD, data analysis, data bias, data reduction, experimental methodology, IRAF, master darks, master flats, National Science Foundation, photometry, preparing data, process of science, reducing data, research methodology, scientific method, SOFIA, Uintah and Ouray Reservation
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Prospectus: BYU-RET Week 1
For the next ten or so posts, I will report on my experiences doing astronomical research at Brigham Young University this summer (2014). As I mentioned in a previous post, I have been selected to participate in a National Science … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged astronomy, be star, binary star, black hole, blue straggler, cassiopeia, cepheid, cmd, color magnitude diagram, delta scuti, evolution of stars, high mass x-ray binary, hmxb, hr diagram, hydrogen alpha, m 67, main sequence, neutron star, ngc 659, ngc 663, nucleosynthesis, open cluster, rr lyrae, supernova, turnoff point, variable stars
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An Article for The Science Teacher
Over a year ago I wrote an article for The Science Teacher, the journal of the National Science Teachers Association geared for high school teachers. I’ve known two of the authors of a column for that magazine, called Science 2.0, … Continue reading
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Tagged astronomy lesson, brown dwarf, close stars, constellations, kevin luhman, light year, manuscript, models, nearby stars, newly discovered stars, ngss, nsta, rogue planet, science and math, stellar abundance, stellar classes, stellar neighborhood, super jupiter, types of stars, WISE mission
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Recent Developments: Spring, 2014
I haven’t written any posts recently for this blog for several reasons: partly because I’m not actively teaching astronomy or astrobiology this semester (winter 2014) and partly because I’ve been so busy with so many things that I haven’t had … Continue reading
The State of the Universe
On January 9th, the last day of the American Astronomical Society conference in Washington, D.C., I had the opportunity to do something quite unusual. I attended a briefing on the State of the Universe presented by the President of AAS … Continue reading
AAS Day 3: Lots of Posters
On Wednesday, Jan. 8 I spent the better part of the day in the Exhibit Hall looking at posters. I had intended to visit several of the breakout sessions, but the posters today were mostly on exoplanets, young stellar objects, … Continue reading
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Tagged aas, american astronomical society, astronomy poster, brc 38, bright rimmed clouds, count yorga, drake equation, dyson sphere, fermi paradox, galactic civilization, habitable zone, hz, maser, nasa origins, nearby stars, nitarp, nuclear engineering, panspermia, recons, SOFIA, spook alley, tau ceti, upper centaurus lupus, young stellar objects, yso
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At the AAS Conference, Day 2: Astrophysics
I had fallen asleep while flipping through the channels on my hotel TV the night before, then when I finally woke up enough to take my contacts out and really go to bed, I couldn’t get back to sleep. I … Continue reading
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Tagged airborne astronomy ambassadors, astronomy posters, astrophysics, exoplanet atmospheres, gravity waves, habitable zone, hz, kepler mission, ligo, nasa decadal survey, NASA epo, nitarp, quantum computer, SOFIA, tess, transiting exoplanet survey satellite, zerodur
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The NITARP Workshop
Today is Jan. 5, 2014. It’s been a fairly steep learning curve as I’ve attended the opening workshop for NITARP, the NASA/IPAC Teacher Archive Research Program. As mentioned in yesterday’s post, NITARP provides opportunities for science teachers and their students … Continue reading
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Tagged 2mass, aas, american astronomical society, astronomy data, authentic science data, bright rimmed clouds, caltech, data archive, excess infrared, exoplanet, infrared, ipac, lithium, magfest, mentor teacher, nasa astrophysics division, NASA science mission directorate, nitarp, paul hertz, planet-eating stars, spitzer, stellar rotation, wise
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You Know You’re at the Wrong Conference When . . .
I realize this will be out of order. I still have two days of my SOFIA trip last June to report on, and now it’s suddenly January and I’m in Washington, D.C. I want to describe my experiences here in … Continue reading
The Spaced-Out Classroom 