Tag Archives: SOFIA

Publishing a 3D Illustration of SOFIA

Posted on January 22, 2017 by davidvblack

The second semester of the 2014-15 school year was incredibly busy. I was elected to the Utah Science Teachers Association board, representing science teachers from Charter, Private, Home, and Online schools. I traveled to Chicago for the National Science … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 3d animation, astronomy education, kelly beatty, science illustration, sky and telescope magazine, SOFIA, stratospheric observatory for infrared astronomy, student created projects | Leave a comment

Mastering the Dark Arts: BYU-RET Week 2

Posted on July 18, 2014 by davidvblack

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 | Leave a comment

The State of the Universe

Posted on March 29, 2014 by davidvblack

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 →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged american astronomical society, ari buchalter, blake bullock, david helfand, lamar smith, megan urry, nitarp, peggy piper, science and technology committee, SOFIA, united states congress, yerkes observatory | Leave a comment

AAS Day 3: Lots of Posters

Posted on January 25, 2014 by davidvblack

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 →

Posted in Uncategorized | 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 | Leave a comment

At the AAS Conference, Day 2: Astrophysics

Posted on January 17, 2014 by davidvblack

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 →

Posted in Uncategorized | 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 | Leave a comment

At the AAS Conference, Day 1

Posted on January 7, 2014 by davidvblack

Today was the opening day of the American Astronomical Society conference in Washington, D.C. I’m here to learn about NITARP, the NASA/IPAC Teacher Archive Research Program. Seven teachers, including myself, have been selected as a new class to learn how … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged american astronomical society, arctic vortex, cosmos, exomoons, exoplanets, galactic halo, gaylord national resort, globular cluster, hayden planetarium, hot jupiters, k2 mission, kepler mission, meme, neil degrasse tyson, nitarp, SOFIA, stellar metallicity, subneptunes, super earths, thin disk, twitterverse | Leave a comment

My Flight on SOFIA Part 2: Westward Leg

Posted on August 12, 2013 by davidvblack

In my previous post, I wrote about the first half of our flight aboard SOFIA, the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, on the evening of June 25-26, 2013. We took off from the Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility near Palmdale, CA … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged beta pegasi, chopping and nodding, dryden aircraft operations center, ds9, fits file, FORCAST, grism, h-II region, hyperbolic mirror, infrared telescope, interstellar medium, m16, messier 16, nasa data formats, ngc 7538, nod and chop, pah, palmdale california, parabolic mirror, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, proto-star, proto-stellar jet, protostar, sheat, SOFIA, star formation, star jet, stratospheric observatory for infrared astronomy, vignetting, young stellar object, yso | Leave a comment

Flying on SOFIA Part 1: Briefing, Take-Off, and Eastward Leg

Posted on July 25, 2013 by davidvblack

As stated in previous posts, I was chosen along with Carolyn Bushman of Wendover Jr/Sr. High School to fly on SOFIA as Airborne Astronomy Ambassadors. On the evening of June 25-26, 2013 our dreams and preparation finally paid off as … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 747sp, airborne astronomy ambassadors, alpha bootes, arcturus, calibration, cepheus a, daof, dryden aircraft operations facility, flight path, FORCAST, grism, infrared astronomy, ngc 7129, palmdale california, SOFIA, stratospheric observatory for infrared astronomy, tania australis | 1 Comment

SOFIA Instruments and Operations

Posted on July 1, 2013 by davidvblack

In order to be on vampire time for tonight’s flight, we were encouraged to stay up as late as possible last night and sleep in this morning. I got up to eat breakfast about 7:00, then went back to sleep … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged astronomy, bolometer, coating mirrors, daof, dryden aircraft operations facility, exes, fifi-ls, flitecam, FORCAST, german receiver for Astronomy at Terahertz Frequencies, hawc, hipo, infrared, SOFIA, stratospheric observatory for infrared astronomy, vapor deposition | Leave a comment

Meeting SOFIA

Posted on June 28, 2013 by davidvblack

Today I got to finally meet SOFIA, the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy. I was selected as an Airborne Astronomy Ambassador (AAA) for SOFIA in January, 2012, and this week I will be at Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility (DAOF) … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged daof, dryden aircraft operations facility, egress, FORCAST, interstellar medium, pah, polycyclic aromatic hydrocabons, SOFIA, stratospheric observatory for infrared astronomy | Leave a comment