The Author – Bart Busschots
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Feb
4
Bart’s Planet Challenge 2007 – The Beginning
Filed Under Science & Astronomy on February 4, 2007 | 3 Comments
One of the things that occoured to me when Pluto got re-classified was that it is now possible to see all the planets in our solar system with nothing more expensive than a 19 Euro pair of binoculars from Lidel. So, this year my challenge to myself is to do just that, observe all the planets with nothing more than my 10×50 binoculars. Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn will be very easy, the others will be more tricy. Mercury, because it spends so much time so close to the Sun that you are dependent on a clear western horision some time you can actually get out to see it within a few short windows each year, and Uranus and Neptune because they’ll require the binoculars to see. If you’re a beginner this is a very good challenge to help you get to know the sky and to become adept with your binoculars and/or telescope. I’d strongly advice you give this a go.
Nov
9
The Science Delusion
Filed Under Science & Astronomy, Polemics & Politics on November 9, 2006 | 26 Comments
No, I haven’t gone all anti-science or become a creationist, I just needed to grab your attention to highlight a serious issue I have with supposed scientists like Richard Dawkins. This article has been brewing in the back of my mind for months now. For most of its gestation period it went under the working title ‘absence of evidence is not evidence of absence’, but it was missing a focus to build around, Dawkins provided that focus, and the ten year anniversary of the death of Carl Sagan provided the spark to get this out of my brain and onto ‘paper’ as it were.
I consider myself a scientist, I chose to do a science degree, then chose to go back and try for a PhD in science, and took the time to get myself elected a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society. As such I have a very personal interest and involvement in science, scientists, and the public perception of science. I’ve shared some of my reflections on the nature of science on this blog before (see links below) but those reflections didn’t really get to what I now realize is at the very core of science, knowing that there is a lot that we don’t know, and a need to be open to the possibility that we’re wrong. Science does not move forward by digging its heals in and refusing to accept changes in our understanding of the universe, and science is most certainly not served by speaking in absolutes and making unsupported and indeed unsupportable statements in the name of science.
[tags]Science, Creationism, Dawkins, God[/tags]
Nov
1
Comet SWAN Appears to be Dimming
Filed Under Science & Astronomy on November 1, 2006 | Leave a Comment
I got my first good look at the comet SWAN in a few days today and it was far from impressive. Matters were not helped by the fact that a 60-70% full moon was high in the sky but seeing was perfect so I was still expecting a good show. SWAN has moved quite a distance away from M13 at this stage so comparisons are getting harder but the comet is definitely dimmer than it was on October 27th. Then the comet was significantly brighter than M13 (mag 5.9) whereas today SWAN appeared to be somewhat dimmer than the cluster. To try get a more accurate estimate of the magnitude I jotted down the star field and then looked for a star that was about the same brightness as the comet when de-focused to the same size as the comet. There were two bright (in binoculars) stars near the comet, SAO 85028 (mag 6.3) and SAO 85001 (mag 5.6). The comet was definitely dimmer than SAO 85001 and looked to be very very similar in brightness to SAO 85028. This leads me to estimate the magnitude at between 6.0 and 6.5 with 6.3 being my best estimate.
[tags]SWAN, Comet, Astronomy[/tags]
Oct
27
Comet SWAN Brightens Significantly
Filed Under Science & Astronomy on October 27, 2006 | Leave a Comment
Until today I hadn’t been able to observe the comet SWAN since the 12th of October because of the Irish weather. The last time I observed it the comet was rather low in the sky and easily visible in binoculars but definitely not a naked-eye object. Today I managed to observe the comet again twice, once before the sky was fully dark and then again when it was properly dark. The comet has moved significantly and is now a lot higher in the sky in the constellation of Hercules but what really struck me was how much it had brightened.
[tags]Comet, SWAN[/tags]
Oct
12
Comet SWAN Observed
Filed Under Science & Astronomy on October 12, 2006 | 1 Comment
That’s two clear nights in a row! I’m just in the door after another very successful observing session but unlike yesterday this one was not form the darkness of rural Ireland but from the light-polluted suburbs of Dublin (Maynooth to be precise). My target for today was the comet SWAN and also to try to track down M92 which I’d missed yesterday.
[tags]SWAN, Comet[/tags]
Oct
11
Uranus and Neptune Observed
Filed Under Science & Astronomy on October 11, 2006 | Leave a Comment
I’m just in from a very productive observing session. Tonight was the first time in a long time that I’ve been in the country side (at my parent’s place in Cavan) on a clear moon-free night. I’ve just come in now because the moon is starting to rise but before the sky started to brighten too much I was able to get some good observing in. I had set myself the challenge of finding Uranus since I said it would be easy on the IFAS Podcast and then, if I had time, I was going to try to find Neptune as well.
[tags]Uranus, Neptune[/tags]
Sep
10
Free Astronomy Software on Mac OS X – Installing KStars
Filed Under Science & Astronomy, Computers & Tech on September 10, 2006 | 19 Comments
If you run Windows the question as to which free sky mapping software to install is trivial, install Cartes du Ciel. If you run Linux, the question is equally as trivial, use KStars. However, if you run Mac OS X things have traditionally not been so good. I have not found a single good free sky mapping program for OS X. So, instead I have switched my attention to getting either the Linux option or the Windows option working on the Mac.
I had hopped that CrossOver Mac would run Cartes du Ciel but it does not. I tried both V2.7 and the version 3.0 beta but, although both installed, neither worked. 2.7 did run better than 3.0 but failed to render the actual maps so it was still useless! That leaves us with just KStars. This does work on OS X but installing it is not as straightforward as one would hope.
[tags]Astronomy, OS X, Mac, KStars[/tags] Read more
Aug
25
And Then There Were Eight
Filed Under Science & Astronomy on August 25, 2006 | Leave a Comment
It's time to update our text books and websites etc. as we now have eight planets rather than nine. No, aliens didn't torpedo one out of the skies, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) have finally decided on a definition for a planet within our solar system and Pluto doesn't meet the criteria so it's been demoted to being a Dwarf Planet. Since the first time I ever gave it any real thought I've always felt that it was a mistake to call Pluto a planet. In fact I've blogged about this before: What exactly is a planet? At first I wasn't sure about the wording of this new definition but on reflection I think it was the best we could have hopped for and I'm now going to try convince you of that too!
[tags]Pluto, Planet, IAU[/tags] Read more
Aug
23
Steorn – Where’s the Science?
Filed Under Science & Astronomy on August 23, 2006 | 5 Comments
So apparently a small Irish company that specialises in computer security has turned the entire world of science on it's head. Wow …. I hear you say, that sounds great. Free energy for all and an end to the conservation of energy and most of thermodynamics. They must have provided some exceptionally compelling evidence for this dramatic claim. A demo for all the world to see. Lots of facts and figures and a big long detailed article in Nature or some other journal of that ilk. No. Not even a conference paper from a small conference no one has heard of or a sketch on the back of an envelope. In terms of science we got NOTHING. We are expected to believe that there will be free energy for all and that science has been wrong for centuries on foot of an expensive add in a financial news paper and a flashy web site. Go on … pull the other one!
[tags]Steorn, Science[/tags]
Related links:
- The Steorn Website
- Steorn, I'm all out of faith – An article by Des Traynor outlining the evidence for and against and his theories on what's going on
- Steorn Watch
- Steorn's free energy seems curiously expensive – Article by Rupert Goodwins, thechnology editor of ZDNet UK
Jun
25
The Problem With The Word Theory
Filed Under Science & Astronomy on June 25, 2006 | 1 Comment
You will regularly hear religious fundamentalists and Inteligent Design supporters abusing the word ‘theory’ for their own ends. They say things like “Evolution is only a theory” to imply that it is a half-baked idea that we’re not really sure of. This invariably really annoys scientists and gets them all agitated because in science, a theory is actually something very strong, well developed, consistent with reality, and well supported by a lot of observational evidence. The weak wishy-washy stuff should be described as conjectures and hypotheses, only the solid well supported stuff should get the honour of being a theory. However, in the public’s mind that distinction is just not there. The average person on the street refers to things that are really conjectures and hypotheses as theories and things that should be theories as accepted facts. Who is to blame for this? Believe it or not, I think the scientists have to take a large share of the blame. Read more