Stars Above Hawaii

10/23/2024

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jet-propulsion-laboratory_the-europa-clipper-mission-is-a-marvel-of-ugcPost-7237865772344041472-cxah?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios

The Europa Clipper mission is a marvel of science and engineering. It's also the work of human beings. The "Behind the Spacecraft" series introduces team… | 32 comments on LinkedIn

09/30/2024

Star branding ✨

09/19/2024

Since her death in 1979, the woman who discovered what the universe is made of has not so much as received a memorial plaque. Her newspaper obituaries do not mention her greatest discovery. […] Every high school student knows that Isaac Newton discovered gravity, that Charles Darwin discovered evolution, and that Albert Einstein discovered the relativity of time. But when it comes to the compostion of our universe, the textbooks simply say that the most abundant atom in the universe is hydrogen. And no one ever wonders how we know.”
—
Jeremy Knowles, discusses the complete lack of recognition Cecilia Payne gets, even today, for her revolutionary discovery. (via alliterate)
OH WAIT LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT CECILIA PAYNE.
Cecilia Payne’s mother refusd to spend money on her college education, so she won a scholarship to Cambridge.
Cecilia Payne completed her studies, but Cambridge wouldn’t give her a degree because at that time there was not much exposure for women, so she said to heck with that and moved to the United States to work at Harvard.
Cecilia Payne was the first person ever to earn a Ph.D. in astronomy from Radcliffe College, with what Otto Strauve called “the most brilliant Ph.D. thesis ever written in astronomy.”
Not only did Cecilia Payne discover what the universe is made of, she also discovered what the sun is made of (Henry Norris Russell, a fellow astronomr, is usually given credit for discovering that the sun’s composition is different from the Earth’s, but he came to his conclusions four years later than Payne—after telling her not to publish).
Cecilia Payne is the reason we know basically anything about variable stars (stars whose brightness as seen from earth fluctuates). Literally every other study on variable stars is based on her work.
Cecilia Payne was the first woman to be promoted to full professor from within Harvard, and is often credited with breaking the glass ceiling for women in the Harvard science department and in astronomy, as well as inspiring entire generatons of women to take up science.
Cecilia Payne is awesome and everyone should know her.

07/25/2024

Nice to find posts from your guests on YouTube unexpectedly:

Between 4 Seasons and Aulani resort in Oahu There are beautiful star to see

05/24/2024

Ursa Major may be the most famous constellation that isn’t well known. Most of us know it for a pattern formed by only some of its stars: the Big Dipper. But few know that the dipper’s bowl forms the body of a bear, while its handle is the bear’s tail

03/22/2024

The planet Mercury is in the evening sky the next few days. It will stand farthest from the Sun for its current evening appearance on Sunday. It looks like a bright star, quite low in the west not long after sunset.

02/26/2024

Rigel, the brightest star of Orion, stands due south at nightfall, marking one of the hunter’s feet. Rigel shines blue-white, forming a dramatic contrast to orange Betelgeuse, Orion’s second-brightest light.

02/17/2024

We're sad to share the news of Sandy Wood’s passing on February 15th.

During her time with us, Sandy voiced more than 10,000 episodes of StarDate Radio. For many, her warm and engaging descriptions of the Universe’s countless wonders inspired a life-long love of astronomy and an introduction to McDonald Observatory.

Sandy’s voice carried StarDate programming to millions across the nation for 28 years, starting in 1991. She first began her broadcasting career in the 1960s, serving as a radio DJ, talk show host, and voice talent for local, regional, and national clients, including NASA. She retired from StarDate in 2019, and we continued to share with her the many well wishes received from fans in the following years.

With her passing, we have lost a tremendous talent and wonderful person.