A Message from Antarctica
I created a Pathtag for last year’s Astronomy students. In an attempt to get at least one tag logged on every continent on Earth I sent tags to research institutions around the world. Our project was a success when my students and I received this greetings from McMurdo Station Antarctica. “Greetings St. Anselm 6th Grade […]
The Totally Stupendous Solar Eclipse of 2017
Mark your calendar, August 21, 2017 is the date of The Totally Stupendous Solar Eclipse. In case you haven’t guessed the name was my idea. Let’s hope it sticks. When asked most people will mistakenly claim that they’ve witnesses a Total Solar Eclipse. What they’ve most likely seen is a Partial Solar Eclipse or a […]
Moon Landing Conspiracists are Dangerous
So many time while standing beside my telescope at a public star party I’ve heard these unwelcome words, “But I heard that NASA faked the moon landings.” What’s even worse is when some poor child looks at me and says, “But my dad says that we never went to the moon.” I don’t want to […]
Einstein vs. Oppenheimer Chess
I was surprised to discover that Albert Einstein and J. Robert Oppenheimer once played a game of chess. Not only that but the game was recorded for posterity. Einstein was clearly the stronger player although neither physicist was anything other than a talented amateur. It’s odd to think that any master could have beaten […]
A Night at the Opera
On friday I sat down with a chess tutor at Happy Donuts. Frank is a no-nonsense retired District Attorney with an encyclopedic knowledge of chess. I very much enjoyed his company. He was curious about my desire to become a tournament player at my advanced age. I explained that when I was younger my […]
Ken Ham, Bill Nye Creation Debate
While perusing the Answers in Genesis (AIG) website I happened across this rather fanciful cartoon of Silicon Valley luminary Steve Jobs. It shows his conversion to christianity. In case you’re wondering the events depicted in the comic never happened. However it reminded me of the infamous Ken Ham, Bill Nye creation debate. I’m sorry […]
Back to School
Last week I had my first session with the St. Anselm 6th Grades for the new school year. Our first meeting went quite well as I had a special surprise for the young astronomers. I brought each student an October 2015 issue of Sky & Telescope Magazine. On page 6 in the Letters to the […]
Lick Observatory
From Mt. Hamilton’s 4,216 ft. summit the sweep of the Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area is visible to the west and north. On crystal clear days you can look to the east and, all the way across the central valley, see Yosemite’s majestic Half Dome. That alone would justify the trip. […]