The Bad Astronomy Newsletter

Bad Astronomy Newsletter #1

Contents:

1. Welcome!
2. Upcoming Events: Two TV shows and a book
3. The Bad Astronomy Bulletin Board
4. Astronomy tidbit
5. Subscribe/Unsubscribe info

1) Welcome!

Hello, and thanks for subscribing to the Bad Astronomy Newsletter! This newsletter is by subscription only (unsubscribing instructions are listed below) and will come out randomly as events warrant. It will keep you up-to-date on any new website additions, Bad events and whatever public stuff I happen to be doing. I opened up the newsletter subscription on January 7, and as of this writing there are nearly 300 people signed up already!

These newsletters are archived, so you can always go back and see older issues.

2) Upcoming Events

The next few days will be busy for me. First, this weekend I am being interviewed for the TV show "Encounters with the Unexplained", which airs on Pax TV. This show talks about matters paranormal (what I would call pseudoscience), including Atlantis, ghosts, and the like. They are preparing an episode about -- you guessed it! -- people who believe men never walked on the Moon. I have a long page debunking the Fox TV show that aired on this topic last year if you want more info.

Anyway, the Pax show should air in March or April. I'll have an update then, but I note there is a bulletin board on the Pax site, so I encourage everyone to post there when the show does air.

The next event is a LIVE appearance on "Call for Help", a program on the channel TechTV. The program will be on Thursday, January 24 at 2:00. I did a segment last November which went so well they invited me back (see for yourself at their website). The show is a live call-in program where people can ask any sort of computer or technology related question, and I was on to dissect movie science. I'll be doing it again with a few movies currently out on DVD. I'll have more info on my website calendar early next week.

Also, my very own book, "Bad Astronomy", is due out in March. I am still hoping it will come out in time for the vernal equinox, but we'll see. It should start shipping to bookstores around March 11. If you want more info, go to my web description. You can even pre-order a copy from that page, and amazon.com will deliver it as soon as they get them in.

3) The Bad Astronomy Bulletin Board

Some time ago, I installed a bulletin board on the Bad Astronomy website to promote a sense of community, where people can exchange ideas about astronomy in general and Bad Astronomy in particular. Currently, there are over 250 registered users; registration is free, of course. I really enjoy reading what others have to say, and many times I have learned quite a bit from it. So sign up!

4) Astronomy Tidbit of the Issue

Did you know that on a clear night right after sunset for the next week you can see both Mercury and Uranus? As the sky darkens after sunset, face west (toward the sunset). There will be a "star" just a few degrees above the horizon (very roughly about twice the width of your outstretched fist or a bit lower). That's Mercury! It orbits the Sun every 88 days, so it moves quickly. If you wait a week it'' be gone.

Near Mercury is the planet Uranus. It's not quite bright enough to see with the unaided eye, but I saw it easily with my binoculars just last night. Sky and Telescope's website has a sky map you can use to spot it (the page says 2001, but it extends into January of 2002).

A map of the whole sky can always be found at Heavens-Above, one of my all time favorite websites. Go to http://www.heavens-above.com and enter your location (using your latitude and longitude or from the database). and you have access to skymaps, planet info and even the times bright satellites will pass overhead.

5) Subscribe/Unsubscribe Information

If, for some weird reason, you want to unsubscribe to this newsletter, just send email to badastronomy-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com with no body text. Make sure you send it from the address to which the newsletter is sent! Alternatively, you can unsubscribe from the Yahoo!Groups website. Go to http://help.yahoo.com/help/us/groups/groups-32.html for more info.

Remember, the newsletters will be archived on the website at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/badastronomy so even if you unsubscribe you can still read them there. I suggest staying subscribed so you get them as soon as I send them.

Also, I do not sell your email addresses and neither does Yahoo! Take a gander at the Yahoo!Groups privacy message if it makes you feel better: http://privacy.yahoo.com/privacy/us/ Note that the email addresses are visible to me, but I have no prurient use for them. If that makes you nervous for whatever reason, feel free to unsubscribe and simply read the archived newsletters at the website listed above.

Phil Plait
The Bad Astronomer
badastro@badastronomy.com
http://www.badastronomy.com