I Was Away At PodCon This Weekend! It Was A Lovely Time. Listening To People For 8 Hours A Day Was Exhausting,
I was away at PodCon this weekend! It was a lovely time. Listening to people for 8 hours a day was exhausting, which I should have expected but I fully did not anticipate. I slept on a friend’s floor and passed out homemade business cards shaped like business bookmarks. It was a fun opportunity to use my typewriter! I reused some old cardstock that an office where I temped was going to throw away and I gave out 35 of 36, which is extremely successful in my book. I have some new podcasts to listen to and one or two that I want to contact about guesting on (I could go OFF about Tycho Brahe on Historical Hotties, if no one has already).
It was interesting trying to network and seeing what’s out there right now. It really is anyone’s game, podcasting. You just need time, motivation, and an idea. I shouldn’t be surprised, it was easy enough for me to do it. The hard part, of course, is getting folks to listen. There were tips I overheard about advertising yourselves and such but it still seems like it just depends on what market you tap into? I don’t know, I think the big thing is content and just persisting. I’ve seen it with podcasts I found that have a season or two and they’re gone. Sometimes it’s because they wrapped up and that’s great! Other times I wish there’d been more.
It was more fun than it was work, though! And it was so small for a con, I was relieved. The only other con I’ve gone to was Emerald City, which was also in the Washington State Convention Center, and that was Too Much. This one was a decent size. I hope it happens again! It was kind of inspiring to realize I’m part of a much, much, much larger movement of people who want to talk and made it happen.
More Posts from Fillthevoid-with-space and Others
I’m a Northern Hemisphere dweller, so I thought it would be fun to cover Southern Hemisphere stars and constellations in this episode! I also coulsnt’ resist talking about Aurora Australis and Steve, the hot new atmospheric phenomenon all the young people are talking about.
Below the cut, I have the glossary, transcript, sources, and music credits. I take topic suggestions from Tumblr messages, or you can tweet at me on Twitter at @HDandtheVoid, or you can ask me to my face if you know me. Please subscribe on iTunes, rate my podcast and maybe review it, and tell friends if you think they’d like to hear it!
(My thoughts on the next episode are Chuck Yeager, Stephen Hawking and his theories, the opposition of Mars, or famous comets. The next episode will go up May 14th or 21st!)
Glossary
Bayer designation - a way to classify stars based on their relative brightness within a constellation. A specific star is identified by a Greek letter, followed by the genitive form of the constellation's Latin name.
circumpolar - appearing to orbit one of the Earth’s poles. For stars and constellations, this means they are above the horizon at all times in certain latitudes.
irregular galaxy - an asymmetrical galaxy shape, where the galaxy lacks a central supermassive black hole.
Script/Transcript
Sources
Orion from the Southern Hemisphere via EarthSky (Mar 2017)
How to Spot Sky Landmarks: Big Dipper and Southern Cross via Space.com (Apr 2012)
Locate Cassiopeia the Queen via EarthSky (February 2018)
Small Magellanic Cloud orbits Milky Way via EarthSky (Oct 2017)
Nubecula via LatDict
Early star catalogues of the southern sky via Astronomy and Astrophysics (2011)
Catalog of Southern Stars via the University of Oklahoma
Edmond Halley via Royal Museums Greenwich
Finding south using the Southern Cross via Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences (Jan 2013)
List of 88 official constellations via the Astronomical Society of Southern Africa
Alpha Centauri system, closest to sun via EarthSky (May 2017)
Hadar is a southern pointer star via EarthSky (April 2017)
Aurora Australis forecast service
Video of aurora australis via Global News Canada (April 2018)
Aurora Steve via Global News Canada (March 2018)
Bagnall, Philip M. “Crux.” In The Star Atlas Companion: What You Need to Know About the Constellations. Springer Science+Business Media: New York, 2012 (183-7). Located in Google Books Preview [accessed May 1, 2018].
Intro Music: ‘Better Times Will Come’ by No Luck Club off their album Prosperity
Filler Music: ‘Mace Spray’ by The Jezabels off their EP Dark Storm.
Outro Music: ‘Fields of Russia’ by Mutefish off their album On Draught
Just a reminder that the first NASA astronauts were supposed to be women because generally they are smaller, lighter (less weight in the cockpit means less fuel required) and eat less than men and so would be easier to accommodate in space.
I just watched the 4 clearly visible planets march across the sky with the moon in the center, so here’s a short guide to the night sky as the last 3 move across.
mammenxTime lapse of the milky way rolling across the night sky, flanked by the planets Jupiter, Saturn & Mars. Taken from Diskit Ladakh, this place truly has some fantastic unobstructed views of the night sky
Soviet Cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev stuck in space during the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991
Unable to return home, he ended up having to stay in space until further notice.
The cosmonaut eventually returned back to earth on March 25, 1992, after 10 months in orbit - to a nation that was very different to what it was when he had left. The Soviet Union had fractured into 15 nations, presidents had changed, and even his hometown of Leningrad had become St. Petersburg.
Interestingly, at the time, Krikalev was supposed to serve in the military reserves, and was almost issued a warrant for desertion – before the army realised that their reserve soldier was not even on the planet.
When I was in Ireland in 2013, I kept seeing signs for ‘quasar.’ I finally learned that it’s the European way of saying laser tag. It has nothing to do with quasars, which are a specific type of a specific type of galaxy. Listen to this week’s (pretty short) podcast on two types of active galaxies: quasars and blazars.
Below the cut, I have the transcript, sources, music credits, and timeline of people I talked about! If you have suggestions for topics I could cover, please send me a Tumblr message or tweet at me on Twitter at @HDandtheVoid, or you can ask me to my face if you know me. Please subscribe on iTunes, rate my podcast and maybe review it, and tell friends if you think they’d like to hear it!
(My thoughts on the next episode are the SOFIA observatory, Chuck Yaeger, or the great Stephen Hawking. The next episode will go up April 2nd.)
Glossary
active galaxy or active galactic nucleus- a galaxy with a small core of emission embedded at the center. This core is typically very variable and very bright compared to the rest of the galaxy. These galaxies emit much more energy than they should; this excess energy is found in the infrared, radio, UV, and X-ray regions of the electromagnetic spectrum.
blazar - a subcategory of active galaxy, it is an extremely bright, distant object, powered by a black hole, which emits massive amounts of energy. It is distinct from a quasar because it is even brighter.
extragalactic objects - objects outside our Milky Way galaxy.
interferometry - a group of techniques to extract information from superimposing electromagnetic waves to create interference. In radio astronomy, this is done by using a wide spread of receivers to look at the same distant object, then bringing that data together with a correlator that can create a larger, clearer picture than an individual radio telescope alone could.
lunar occultations - when stars pass behind the Moon. This is the basis for a method of determining and mapping star positions.
quasar - a subcategory of active galaxy, it is an extremely bright, distant object, powered by a black hole, which emits massive amounts of energy. It is distinct from a blazar because it is less-bright. The name is a contraction of “quasi-stellar radio source” (which is not necessarily true of all quasars—90% are radio-quiet).
torus - a donut shape.
Script/Transcript
Timeline
Walter Baade, German (1893-1960)
Rudolph Minkowski, German-American (1895-1976)
Fritz Zwicky, Swiss (1898-1974)
Gordon Stanley, New Zealander (1921-2001)
John Bolton, English-Australian (1922-1993)
Owen Bruce Slee, Australian (1924-2016)
Allan Rex Sandage, American (1926-2010)
Cyril Hazard, English (1928- )
Maartin Schmidt, Dutch (1929- )
Hong-Yee Chiu, American (1932- )
Stephen Hawking, English (1942 -2018)
Jedidah Isler
Sources
Active Galaxies via NASA (Dec 2016)
Galaxy shapes via Cornell University (April 2000)
Galaxies and Black Holes by David Merritt, published on NED by Caltech and NASA
Cyril Hazard via University of Pittsburgh
The Discovery of Quasars and its Aftermath via Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage (2014)
“Characteristically, Fritz Zwicky (1898–1974; Figure 11) immediately pointed out that ‘All of the five quasi-stellar galaxies described individually by Sandage (1965) evidently belong to the subclass of compact galaxies with pure emission spectra previously discovered and described by the present writer. (Zwicky, 1965: 1293).’ A few years later, Zwicky was less circumspect and wrote: ‘In spite of all these facts being known to him in 1964, Sandage attempted one of the most astounding feats of plagiarism by announcing the existence of a major new component of the Universe: the quasi-stellar galaxies ... Sandage‘s earthshaking discovery consisted in nothing more than renaming compact galaxies, calling them ‘interlopers‘ and quasistellar galaxies, thus playing the interloper himself. (Zwicky and Zwicky, 1971: xix)’”
Lunar occultations via Sky and Telescope
Quasars and Blazars by Matthew Whiting (a chapter in his thesis, What made the quasar blush? Emission mechanisms in optically-red quasars) via the Australia Telescope National Facility (2000)
Jedidah Isler on quasars and blazars via TED Talks (March 2015)
Quasar definition via Space.com (Feb 2018)
Intro Music: ‘Better Times Will Come’ by No Luck Club off their album Prosperity
Filler Music: ‘Into The White’ by Pixies off their album Wave of Mutilation.
Outro Music: ‘Fields of Russia’ by Mutefish off their album On Draught
Aboard the International Space Station, astronaut Thomas Pesquet of the European Space Agency snapped this photo and wrote, ‘The view at night recently has been simply magnificent: few clouds, intense #aurora. I can’t look away from the windows.'
The dancing lights of the aurora provide stunning views, but also capture the imagination of scientists who study incoming energy and particles from the sun. Aurora are one effect of such energetic particles, which can speed out from the sun both in a steady stream called the solar wind and due to giant eruptions known as coronal mass ejections or CMEs. Credit: NASA/ESA
Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com
I love this comic a lot! You can read it all online to make sure you want to buy it, and then you should buy it because it’s extremely excellent. It’s about preservation in space and also love and found families! And it’s absolutely beautiful. I met Tillie while she was in my town signing her comic Spinning (also excellent) and she drew one of the fish spaceships for me and she was so kind even though I am terrible at smalltalk. Check her comic out!
OH MY! Here’s the cover for ON A SUNBEAM the graphic novel. Coming out this fall!!!!
Gretchen: On the International Space Station, you have astronauts from the US and from other English speaking countries and you have cosmonauts from Russia. And obviously it’s very important to get your communication right if you’re on a tiny metal box circling the Earth or going somewhere. You don’t want to have a miscommunication there because you could end up floating in space in the wrong way. And so one of the things that they do on the ISS – so first of all every astronaut and cosmonaut needs to be bilingual in English and Russian because those are the languages of space. Lauren: Yep. Wait, the language of space are English and Russian? I’m sorry, I just said ‘yep’ and I didn’t really think about it, so that’s a fact is it? Gretchen: I mean, pretty much, yeah, if you go on astronaut training recruitment forums, which I have gone on to research this episode… Lauren: You’re got to have a backup job, Gretchen. Gretchen: I don’t think I’m going to become an astronaut, but I would like to do astronaut linguistics. And one of the things these forums say, is, you need to know stuff about math and engineering and, like, how to fly planes and so on. But they also say, you either have to arrive knowing English and Russian or they put you through an intensive language training course. But then when they’re up in space, one of the things that they do is have the English native speakers speak Russian and the Russian speakers speak English. Because the idea is, if you speak your native language, maybe you’re speaking too fast or maybe you’re not sure if the other person’s really understanding you. Whereas if you both speak the language you’re not as fluent in, then you arrive at a level where where people can be sure that the other person’s understanding. And by now, there’s kind of this hybrid English-Russian language that’s developed. Not a full-fledged language but kind of a- Lauren: Space Creole! Gretchen: Yeah, a Space Pidgin that the astronauts use to speak with each other! I don’t know if anyone’s written a grammar of it, but I really want to see a grammar of Space Pidgin.
Excerpt from Episode 1 of Lingthusiasm: Speaking a single language won’t bring about world peace. Listen to the full episode, read the transcript, or check out the show notes. (via lingthusiasm)
I wish I’d found this before Episode 19, dang it! Such good gifs of astronauts, though.
Coffee in Space: Keeping Crew Members Grounded in Flight
Happy National Coffee Day, coffee lovers!
On Earth, a double shot mocha latte with soymilk, low-fat whip and a caramel drizzle is just about as complicated as a cup of coffee gets. Aboard the International Space Station, however, even just a simple cup of black coffee presents obstacles for crew members.
Understanding how fluids behave in microgravity is crucial to bringing the joys of the coffee bean to the orbiting laboratory. Astronaut Don Pettit crafted a DIY space cup using a folded piece of overhead transparency film. Surface tension keeps the scalding liquid inside the cup, and the shape wicks the liquid up the sides of the device into the drinker’s mouth.
The Capillary Beverage investigation explored the process of drinking from specially designed containers that use fluid dynamics to mimic the effect of gravity. While fun, this study could provide information useful to engineers who design fuel tanks for commercial satellites!
The capillary beverage cup allows astronauts to drink much like they would on Earth. Rather than drinking from a shiny bag and straw, the cup allows the crew member to enjoy the aroma of the beverage they’re consuming.
On Earth, liquid is held in the cup by gravity. In microgravity, surface tension keeps the liquid stable in the container.
The ISSpresso machine brought the comforts of freshly-brewed coffees and teas to the space station. European astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti enjoyed the first cup of espresso brewed using the ISSpresso machine during Expedition 43.
Now, during Expedition 53, European astronaut Paolo Nespoli enjoys the same comforts.
Astronaut Kjell Lindgren celebrated National Coffee Day during Expedition 45 by brewing the first cup of hand brewed coffee in space.
We have a latte going on over on our Snapchat account, so give us a follow to stay up to date! Also be sure to follow @ISS_Research on Twitter for your daily dose of space station science.
Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com.
A podcast project to fill the space in my heart and my time that used to be filled with academic research. In 2018, that space gets filled with... MORE SPACE! Cheerfully researched, painstakingly edited, informal as hell, definitely worth everyone's time.
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