Astronomy for Everybody and Eyeballs to Advertisers

Back when I was an editor at Sky & Telescope I became very familiar with the astro-products “industry.” One of my jobs was to help select stuff to sell in the S&T catalog and through the online store from among all the astronomy- and space science-related products out there. Of course I expected to see books and posters and telescope-related products (and there are a LOT of them). It was always tough to choose from among the “best” and “most useful” or “most woweeeeee!!” from the wide selection of materials that would make their way to my desk. We had some selection criteria that were specific to our shop, and the merchandisers would try to meet those requirements in order to get their stuff in our catalog. It was often interesting and sometimes downright puzzling what companies would send us that they thought our readers might like.

We had to draw the line somewhere, and so while some products were a natural fit, others never made it into the mix. One of our rules (out of many) was that a product had to appeal to our reader base. And that, of course, meant we had to KNOW our readers and anticipate what they wanted.

I find myself in much the same situation with this website and blog. I’m in the great position of being able to use this space to write about my interests in astronomy, space science, exploration, science fiction, and all the related sciences and political topics. Readers seem to like it (judging from the e-mails I get (and the occasional brave soul who leaves comments)) and so that’s where this site continues to head.

I know that a great many students read my site, as do other astronomers and writers. It’s important to me that this site be a safe and honest forum through which we can explore the sciences of astronomy and space exploration AS SCIENCES with their own unique requirements and culture. I offer astronomy to everybody, but I also know that there’s a huge Web of Astro-Stuff out there that I may not ever get a chance to write about. However, I CAN and DO point you to stuff I think you’d like.

Some of your e-mail feedback messages ask about products, with time-honored questions like, “I want to get something for my honey, and she’s into astronomy” or “My husband just bought a telescope and I want to get him an astronomy book or some software” or “My child is working on a school project in astronomy and what should I get to help him/her learn more about the stars?”

Sure, I’ve written about some products, and will continue to do so. Think of this place as a portal to material and products that are complementary with what I’m writing about here. As you read my pages, you’ll see direct links to other Web pages, organizations, companies, and institutes.

While many of those links are free (meaning not sponsored by an advertiser), some are paid. Lately, I’ve also opened some of my pages (including this blog) to Google Ads and Google search bars, as well as links to products at Amazon.com. Not only does this widen the portal I’ve opened, it also provides support for the upkeep of the site (since I pay for my web space out of my own pocket). If you click on one of the Google ads or search buttons, Google diverts a few cents my way. If you buy any of the products I’ve linked to on Amazon.com, they, too will send a little share my way. If you click on a paid link, you go that site for a more directed message. It doesn’t cost YOU anything, except a little eyeball time with an advertiser who wants to sell you something.

I monitor these ads and links daily to make sure that they’re appropriate for my readers and true to the mission of this site. Fortunately, about 90 percent of the ads are fine. The other 10 percent are not, and so I filter them out.

As usual, with any site, however, things can change. And an advertiser or site which I’ve linked to as “on message” or “safe” today, could be “off target” or “not so safe” in the future. As we all know, there’s a lot of useful information out there in the Information Superstructure. But there’s also the non-useful stuff, and we all have to be discerning and read these things with a critical eye.

(NOTE: This post is part of the archive from my old blog site. As of 2007, GoogleAds are not appearing on this blog. If they do appear in the future, the same critical criteria from above will apply.)

Cosmic Greetings

Happy Valentine's Day From the Folks at Spitzer Space Telescope

Wanna surprise your sweetie with a cosmic valentine? You can’t go wrong with this lovely image of the Ring Nebula (Messier 57), as seen by the Spitzer Space Telescope. It makes a lovely picture to show off, right after you present your loved one with whatever special surprise you have planned for the holiday.
Spitzer Space Telescope is an infrared facility, meaning that it sees wavelengths of light just beyond those we can see with our eyes. The objects that give off infrared light are often dusty and warm, which explains the way the Ring Nebula looks. It’s a planetary nebula, a shell of material ejected from a dying star. The ring is actually a thick cylinder of gas and dust blown off by the dying star early in its death agonies. Radiation from the star heats up the shell of gas, causing it to glow—and that’s what makes the Ring Nebula look so beautiful and ghostly in the infrared.
If you want to look at this ring in greater detail, check here for links to larger, higher-resolution images. It’s an amazing site to behold, and definitely something different to share with your sweetie.

HST and Time’s Passage

Hubble Space Telescope

Hubble Space Telescope is one of those icons of modern civilization that sparks curiosity in all of us about exploring the cosmos. I have always found it pretty interesting that, in a time when many of us who are “into” space cut our teeth watching Star Trek and Star Wars, our imaginations are fired by a telescope that does deep-space exploration for us.

It has been a privilege to watch this telescope do its work, even as public perception of it has changed from “Oh, it’s the great HST!” to “It’s a techno-turkey” (after the discovery of spherical aberration) to “It’s doing science” to “Save the HST!” I did my master’s thesis in science journalism on the media treatment of the Hubble Space Telescope, and so I traced its up and down public perception over the course of five years. It’s amazing to think back to the bad old days, when I was about to start graduate school and had just joined an HST instrument team as a graduate research associate. Right after launch we were elated that it was up and seemed to be functioning. Then came the spherical aberration diagnosis and the dark days when all our hallway conversations focused on the burning question, “How could this happen?”

Gradually, as the technicians figured out how to eke good science from the aberrated data, public perception shifted. Each great new image cemented in people’s minds the fact that with ingenuity, we could get good science. Perhaps that’s a valuable lesson to keep in mind in a “I want mine, NOW” culture — that sometimes you have to work harder and longer and be smarter to achieve the really meaningful bling.

Long time readers of this blog know that I never talk politics here. But there comes a time when all of us should think critically about the choices that face us as a nation, especially when it comes to national and international assets like the Hubble Space Telescope. And, these days we find ourselves faced with a number of problems that demand that we actually ask questions of our governments and do a lot of critical thinking about the answers we get. It’s up to us to be THAT responsible, and that’s a fact of life for any citizen in a democracy. We HAVE to ask questions, even of people we might agree with, and act as citizens should when we get the answers. So, forgive me if I get political here: it’s for a good cause.

These days, the fate of the HST hangs in the balance. It CAN be serviced, but the political will to take the risks to do so is not there. We KNOW what the risks are in a shuttle mission, and we can work around them. We can’t say the same for rushing into a war over what now appear to be nonexistent weapons of mass destruction.

And so, it’s up to citizens to make it known that we value the space telescope and other aspects of our science and space programs. They’re part of the GOOD stuff about our country, an integral piece of the learning and technology assets we jointly own as citizens. So, we have to do what our citizenship requires: we tell our representatives or our president that we don’t want to lose this asset due to political inaction or fear. We ask the tough questions about the decisions being made in our name. It’s not easy, and it is just as simple to sit back and “let somebody else do it.” But it’s not that simple.

HST's view of the Ring Nebula: An HST Gift From Across Space and Time

HST represents the hard work of friends and neighbors, famous folks and not-so-famous folks. When I wrote my first book about HST with Jack Brandt, we spent a lot of time talking with the scientists who helped make it possible. They aren’t eggheads or enemies of the state or people to be wary of—they’re people anyone would be proud to know, to call as friend or neighbor. And collectively, they’ve brought us incredible insights into the universe. I think we owe it to them and their hard work to defend HST against the shortsightedness of budgeteers who can’t see past the next election cycle.

The telescope’s done an incredible job; it still has a useful lifetime ahead of it. And I, for one, will miss it when it’s gone. It’s been a huge part of my life, and whether or not everyone else realizes it, it’s been a large part of yours as well. Please let your representative and president know that we want HST to stay up and working as long as possible, and that a well-managed servicing mission is not impossible; it’s a risk worth taking.