Sense and Sensitivity
There is much more to a telescope than the size of its mirror. Instruments are often built and optimized with a particular science goal in mind.
The Moving Bits
With increasingly large data sets and surveys, the problem of moving astronomical data around the world is non-trivial, but how fast and how accurately can this be done?
A Summer Schooling
I went back to school this summer – at 7,000 feet with scorpions and Fourier Transforms.
Wish upon two stars and double check you’re right
Corroboration and confirmation is the name of this game. Making the same measurement twice — using a different technique — is a powerful way not only to confirm the initial result, but also the method used. This paper confirms a recent detection of a binary system using light-travel time techniques.
Watching Dust Stick, Bounce, and Break — from 30,000 ft
Some astrophysicists must work in space – or as close as they can get – to accomplish their research. This paper discusses an experiment studying how dust can stick together and form planetesimals.