The Bad Astronomy Newsletter

Bad Astronomy Newsletter #5

Contents:

1. New article at astronomy.com
2. Public talk in Pittsburgh in April
3. Astronomy Tidbit: The Moon occults Saturn
4. Subscribe/Unsubscribe info

1) New article at astronomy.com

I have an open-ended deal with Astronomy magazine to write a series of articles for their website at astronomy.com. The second of these articles is now online.

The article, "Galaxies in my Coffee Cup", is about how spirals form in galaxies. I wrote the original version two years ago and tucked it away because, to be honest, it was awful. I pulled it out a few times, hacked away at it, then shelved it again. Finally, I re-worked it extensively and the final product is what you see at astronomy.com.

The first article I wrote for them, "Everything's Under the Sun" is online too.

Unlike "Galaxies", I wrote this one in one sitting, on an airplane flying back from a meeting in Minnesota. I had just made the deal to write the article series, and told the editor that it might take me me a few months to get the first one to her. I emailed "Sun" a day later. ;-)

I have written two more articles which will be coming out every month or so, and plans for several more. Stay Tuned.

2) Public talk in Pittsburgh in April

Attention Iron City Bad Readers! I'll be in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on April 13 and 14, attending the Pittsburgh International Science and Technology Festival. I've been invited to give two talks there. One will be a general Bad Astronomy talk (including egg standing, meteor impacts and what it's like on a comet) and the other is my Moon Hoax debunking talk. Both are multimedia affairs, with video clips and lots of fun. You can read about the festival at the PISTF website.

I'll be signing copies of my book there too. The book comes out around March 20, and as always you can buy a copy through my bookstore.

(hint hint) ;-)

3) Astronomy Tidbit: The Moon occults Saturn

On Wednesday, February 20 at roughly 23:00 Universal Time, the Moon will pass in front of the planet Saturn. This kind of event is called an occultation.

This event favors people in the eastern and middle United States, when the occultation happens at night. For those elsewhere, it's either a daytime event, or the Moon won't be up at that time.

I have seen a few occultations, and they are pretty neat. The Moon will be *very* close to Saturn, getting closer and closer... and then blip! Saturn is gone. A telescope is not necessary, though it's handy. Binoculars are fine, but you can also watch with your naked eye... assuming this is a nighttime event for you.

You can get details and a map at Sky and Telescope's website. Universal Time (UT) is another way to say Greenwich Time, the time as measured in Greenwich, England. If you are not sure of what time it is where you are, try the U.S. government's time server. That lets you get the time synchronized to a master clock, and will tell you what time it is in UT (for example, Eastern U.S. time is UT-5 hours, so 23:00 UT is 18:00 (6:00 p.m.) Eastern time).

4) Subscribe/Unsubscribe Information

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