A photographer and appearances
Our photographer draws our attention to how differently the same objects appear in different light. It’s a lesson easily generalized.
The angle of the light
Articles Tagged with astronomy
If it’s worth doing. . .
Why bother with tentative research?
Our astronomer ponders the state of the science in the middle of the last century, when things were so different and difficult.
It doesn’t look like that
The universe is photoshopped
Our astronomer points out that that pictures of outer space don’t actually show what you’d see if you went there.
The distance to the stars
A matter of small and big numbers
Having mentioned the difficulty of finding the distances to stars last week, our astronomer tries to put some unfamiliar numbers within your grasp.
A plausible assumption
It’s reasonable and makes sense, but it’s wrong
Our astronomer describes how an assumption widely made in his science in past years turned out to be completely erroneous.
Why an f-stop?
It’s all the astronomers’ fault
Our photographic consultant is reminded how complicated things are for beginners, no matter how straightforward it all seems to the professionals.
Applied numerology
Why astronomers are natural translators
Our astronomer offers an apology and an explanation.
A star by moonlight
How can the Moon affect a star?
As things go in the universe, the Moon is a small thing, insignificant compared to a distant star. Yet our astronomer found that it can have a definite influence on measures of the latter.
How cold is space?
It’s more difficult than reading a thermometer
Our astronomer answers a question of interest to science-fiction writers.
Thinking in stories
The limits of doing your science in metaphors
It’s vital not to confuse an illuminating explanation of science with the science itself.