Leap Day!

How could I forget to mention leap day?

A Big Camera

The Dark Energy Camera, the largest camera in the world is being installed on a 4-meter telescope in Chile (photo below). It's goal, over the next 2-3 years, is to measure properties of dark energy. There's a good write-up in the Economist.

An awesome video showing the Keck telescopes in action:

Keck in Motion from Andrew Cooper on Vimeo.

Science is Hard.

A great post by Adam Frank at the 13.7 blog on NPR:

What is true for science is also true for the other great human endeavors.

To engage with the world in search of any kind of Truth is an expression of the search for excellence. That, by its very nature, is desperately difficult. There will always be a price to be paid in time, sweat and tears. We should never sugarcoat that reality.

We want to teach students more than just how to get jobs, we also want to teach them how to live with depth and for purposes that stretch beyond their own immediate interests. We should never forget that connection. If we do, we are in danger of losing more than just the next generation of science majors.

 Also, I liked the discussion of the "math-science death march" that first year college students are subjected too.

More on the Cuts to Planetary Science

The Bad Astronomer sums it up nicely.

Feynman Makes It Simple

I've always loved this:

Scale of the Universe

Astronomy professors are always looking for better movies, images, etc. to help students visualize both the extremely small and large scales in the universe.  Here's a really nice website that does just that.

Astronomical Image Enhancement

I've been working too much.