SkyNotes
March 25, 2011
The GOP-controlled Congress took steps to eliminate $700 million in funding for NOAA’s satellite program--at what cost?
March 17, 2011
Tonight, at 7:45 p.m. central, NASA’s MESSENGER* spacecraft will perform a 15-minute maneuver that will (hopefully) put it into orbit around the nearest planet to the Sun – Mercury! This will be the first spacecraft ever to orbit this small, innermost planet and only the second ever to encounter it. Keep your fingers crossed tonight and your eyes open tomorrow for images!
For more information, check out:
March 15, 2011
The tragedy in Japan is also a reminder of how important it is to keep up our defenses against the powerful forces of nature—whether in the sky or in the earth
February 23, 2011
WSU students get published on the website of the Cloud Appreciation Society which takes an aesthetic approach to meteorology
Two of my Advanced Poetry Writing students, Dana Serum and Danielle Wick, have published poems on the website of the Cloud Appreciation Society:
http://cloudappreciationsociety.org/category/cloud-poetry
This is a wonderful organization and a wonderful website—it takes an aesthetic approach to meteorology. Those who went to the Frozen River Film Festival may remember the movie “Cloudspotting,” which profiled the website...
February 17, 2011
But I wondered, as I walked through these vast galleries hung with the technological triumphs of the 20th century, what it must be like to be young now and to see the once ambitious goals of our nation disintegrating into partisan squabbling and ideological gridlock
I recently visited the National Air and Space Museum on the national mall.
February 15, 2011
Brother Guy has a rich history in astronomy and cast an official vote on whether Pluto is a planet or not
Brother Guy Consolmagno is a Jesuit Brother, Planetary Geologist, and Astronomer at the Vatican Observatory in Vatican City, Italy. Brother Guy has a rich history in astronomy and cast an official vote on whether Pluto is a planet or not. He visited Winona in mid-February and presented in multiple classrooms and lectures to students and the community.
January 24, 2011
Day or night, above land or sea or even above solid overcast, pilot and avid plane rider Drake Hokanson always find ample reward for his eyes
November 3, 2010
So, with all this sustainability related activity occurring, is WSU making progress toward the 2050 goal of carbon neutrality? The answer is seemingly yes, but slowly.
November 2, 2010
I see the sky these days as the ancients did: as a place of sublime order, as opposed to the disorder and strife here on earth
Ever since Jennifer Anderson’s CLASP lecture I have found myself becoming a lot more aware of the moon’s phases. I mean, I have always tried to notice the moon, because I am a poet and that is one of my jobs—that and watching the leaves turn gold and listening to the rain patter on the roof (nice work if you can get it!). But I’ve become more observant of the moon’s phases on a regular basis. This...
October 28, 2010
If we are to address the issue of climate change, we need to move beyond debating the debate
It shocks and disturbs me how often the press reports on the “debate” surrounding climate change. Much has been made of this and the fact that the media often conflates the opinion of sketchy opponents to equal weight (as determined by their prevalence in the story or the article) with the scientific community that studies climate change. As this is the height of election season, the issue is also cropping up as various...
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