It’s pretty outside. I’m sometimes lazy. Together this means I am slapping this post together with no real thought.
1) Carnival of Space time! It’s being hosted at dotastronomy, and in fact they are hosting an astronomy conference this week, in which I am participating. Via Skype. This should end well.
2) Spacecraft use rockets to get from points a to b, and that can be inefficient. To get to Pluto, for example, you need a lot of energy, which rockets just can’t provide. So rocket scientists get the energy by stealing it from planets, swinging by a planet and literally taking a small amount of its energy of motion (which to the spacecraft can mean a boost of many km/sec). But after studying lots of flybys, engineers were baffled that the numbers weren’t adding up, and some were claiming that this is do to a Mysterious Unknown Force. However, as Universe Today points out, it may just be relativity. Which is definitely mysterious, but hardly unknown.
3) As I write this, my book is at 725 overall at Amazon. R0xx0r.
September 20th, 2008 at 12:04 pm
From the UK Amazon.
Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 9,626 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)
Popular in these categories:
#1 in Books > Science & Nature > Physics > Applied Physics > Astrophysics
#2 in Books > Science & Nature > Engineering & Technology > Aeronautics & Aerospace
#15 in Books > Science & Nature > Astronomy & Cosmology > Astronomy
I’m certainly looking forward to getting a copy of your book. Well done Phil.
September 20th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
Oh I forgot to ask, are you having another uStream broadcast session any time soon?
September 20th, 2008 at 12:11 pm
Is there a Mysterious Unknown Force responsible for being at #725?
September 20th, 2008 at 12:11 pm
Why does the caption read “Sep 29″? Today’s still the 20th….
September 20th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
I know it’s still the 20th and not the 29th because I still have 9 days until I turn 30….
September 20th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
Why would we send to a rocket to Pluto? It isn’t even a planet. Sheesh. And what about the Pioneer anomaly? Huh huh?
BTW, it is the 21st where I am so hi from the future you denizens of the 20th but of course I, for one, welcome our 29th living overlords.
September 20th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
I just ordered “Death” for my Smart Boy as a Christmas gift. He’s taking AP Physics this year, and is considering Astrophysics as a career.
Because I have the Nerd Love, I’d like to encourage this, and what better way to encourage a teenage boy to study a subject but to point out the destruction and mayhem related to the field?
Plus, it contributes to the Little Astronomer’s College Fund, so there you go. Everybody wins!
“Death” is at 719 now, BTW…
September 20th, 2008 at 12:43 pm
Janiece, you just put the fear of the FSM into me with this little quote mine “I just ordered “Death” for my Smart Boy”. *Shudder*
September 20th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
September 29? Wow, you can see the future! Mad skillz, man.
September 20th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
Oops! 29 was a typo. I fixed it, thanks!
September 20th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
about the slingshot anomoly CHRIS(swoon)LINTOTT has an ineresting post (as always)
http://chrislintott.net/2008/09/19/an-interesting-test-case/
September 20th, 2008 at 1:23 pm
Looks like somebody’s been messing with the timestreams. Damn you, Large Hadron Collider!
I just got the new issue of Sky & Telescope yesterday, and I don’t even know what month it is.
Is this something new in publishing. not listing the month and year for the issue on the cover? Or is this some typesetting error that means I have an ultra-valuable “Inverted Jenny” edition?
September 20th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
On a totally unrelated note, another thing for Saturday (found from UniverseToday), the first LHC particle collision has been delayed by AT LEAST TWO MONTHS!!! Read here:
http://www.universetoday.com/2008/09/20/helium-leak-forces-lhc-shutdown-for-at-least-two-months/
Lame!
September 20th, 2008 at 4:20 pm
As some noted sage observed, ” Nothing breeds success, like success,,,”. The higher Death,,, goes, the more likely others will take note, buy the book and push it even higher. Now, if you could just get the Colbert Bump,,,
GAry 7
September 20th, 2008 at 4:25 pm
I hate to be a Grammar Nazi, but you used the wrong “due”.
I can’t wait for the book, by the way…
September 20th, 2008 at 5:44 pm
Shane, I didn’t even notice the anomaly, since I had “Death” in quotes.
Oops.
Nothing to see here, officer, nothing to see…move along…these aren’t the ‘droids you’re looking for…
September 20th, 2008 at 6:36 pm
You rank 509 on amazon.ca and 666 on amazon.com.
September 20th, 2008 at 7:00 pm
Yeah, take _that_ , “A Brief History of Time”
September 20th, 2008 at 7:58 pm
#725 on Amazon, huh? Wow. That kind of beats my pitiful #1,364,198.
Maybe I should start a blog. Or, um, write better books.
September 20th, 2008 at 8:04 pm
It’s not Saturday! It’s CATURDAY!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvBiSW5QFKY
September 20th, 2008 at 8:24 pm
582 on .com now
September 20th, 2008 at 8:45 pm
Is there an electronic copy of your book I can buy? Living in the Caribbean makes Amazon shipping quite expensive…
September 21st, 2008 at 1:00 am
kuhnigget Says: “#725 on Amazon, huh? Wow. That kind of beats my pitiful #1,364,198.”
That wailing and gnashing of teeth you heard was the green-eyed monster when seeing that “Spaceship Handbook” is currently #121,081 and this wet-behind-the-ears whipper snapper is down into the triple digits. Thanks. Suddenly I don’t feel quite so bad
It’s even #79 in Books > Science > Astronomy > Astrophysics & Space Science (where Phil is #1 (of course)). Not too bad for a seven year old book.
“Maybe I should start a blog. Or, um, write better books.”
What’s your book about? Title?
- Jack
121,081
September 21st, 2008 at 3:50 am
Sunday…
Eggcellent!
September 21st, 2008 at 6:02 am
So cool about point #2.
It makes sense, as planet Mercury’s orbit required relativity to properly figure it out. I imagine our space probes at least match Mercury’s orbital speed when zooming through the solar system?
September 21st, 2008 at 7:48 am
That may explain the doppler shift, but as Mike McCulloch points out in the comments, AFAIU the consistent ranging (signal timing) anomaly remains to be explained. I have to go through the proposal more, but perhaps this paper only added to the mystery.
But at least the author is right about one thing. If this is a testable model as regards its constraints on distance and vector directions it should be specifically done.
Btw, I was happily surprised by Mbelek coming up with something sensible like that paper. His earlier eclectic interests in everything from the Pioneer anomaly to Kaluza-Klein theory, as well that he mostly writes single author papers, has only made me note his name for some reason or other, but never read him.
September 21st, 2008 at 8:17 am
Mercury’s orbit required general relativity. This is just a special-relativistic effect concerning the Doppler shift in the received signals. Which makes me a little suspicious of the paper, just because it seems unlikely that this kind of thing wouldn’t already have been taken into account. It will be interesting to see the response.
September 21st, 2008 at 8:37 am
@ Jack:
Your “Spaceship Handbook” is sitting on my shelf! It was a useful reference when I was working on the Science Fiction Museum & Hall of Fame in Seattle. (Yes, there is such a place.)
# 1,364,198 was my first novel, a lowly print-on-demand archaeological mystery called Lair of the Jackal.. The second one is currently bouncing around several publishers. Maybe it will reach 1,364,197!
(Sorry Dr. BA, for the shameless plug. If it helps, I’ve already pre-ordered yours!)
September 21st, 2008 at 11:23 am
Shane, Pluto is a planet. Don’t be swayed by the opinion of four percent of the IAU, which has been disputed by many professional astronomers across the world. We’re sending a spacecraft there specifically to learn about its composition and geophysical processes, aspects very likely to confirm it is in fact a planet.
September 21st, 2008 at 6:41 pm
I think the book peaked around #435 from what I saw today. It’s down to #1,078 now.
*preorders it*
September 21st, 2008 at 7:41 pm
@kuhnigget
We should probably take this conversation private, but I don’t have your address. You can contact me at jhagerty@juno.com.
kuhnigget Says: “Your “Spaceship Handbook” is sitting on my shelf! It was a useful reference when I was working on the Science Fiction Museum & Hall of Fame in Seattle. (Yes, there is such a place.)”
Yes, I know there’s such a place. I’m a charter member although I’ve never had a chance to visit. Jon Rogers (the other name on the cover) lives (relatively) close to there in Bow.
I’m curious how you used the book to help set up the exhibits. Now I really have to visit! Maybe you can also tell me why I couldn’t get anyone there interested in carrying it in the bookstore.
“# 1,364,198 was my first novel, a lowly print-on-demand archaeological mystery called Lair of the Jackal.”
I’ll check it out. Thanks!
- Jack
September 21st, 2008 at 8:33 pm
We’re sending a spacecraft there specifically to learn about its composition and geophysical processes, aspects very likely to confirm it is in fact a planet.
Whether or not Pluto is a planet is not a scientific question; it doesn’t have anything to do with composition and geophysical processes. It’s just an argument about words and definitions. I very much doubt that New Horizons will convince anyone to change their mind on the subject.
I have a little daughter who likes books about astronomy, and I somewhat dislike the way that kids’ materials such as beginning books, posters, puzzles, etc. were modified after the IAU decision to just delete Pluto from the solar system. (Often these kiddie solar-system diagrams do depict the asteroid belt, but not the Kuiper Belt.)
I do understand the reasoning that removed its planet status, and I don’t really object to it. But the thing that led to Pluto’s demotion was the discovery of more interesting objects out there, a whole new understanding of the complexity of the outer reaches of the solar system. To me, these discoveries make Pluto more interesting, not less, because it’s not just a miscellaneous oddball–it’s the first known instance of a whole class of objects. If the effect of the IAU decision on these supposed educational materials is that they just claim that the solar system ends at Neptune, that seems pretty perverse.
September 22nd, 2008 at 12:12 am
Damn, I just noticed that ‘DFTS’ has dropped to #3 in Amazon’s Astrophysics section, and #2 is, well, a genuine #2 ifyouknowwhatImean (think “Hoax-land”).
September 22nd, 2008 at 8:28 am
I don’t doubt the interest in your book at Amazon.com but I am wondering why you have 29 September results on your web page a week before they can exist?
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3220/2873079242_6ef29fbd76.jpg?v=0
September 25th, 2008 at 10:44 pm
Matt, I disagree with your statement that whether or not Pluto is a planet has nothing to do with its composition and geophysical processes. This is exactly the problem with the IAU definition. It ignores what an object is and classifies an object solely by where it is. There is a real, significant difference between asteroids and planets, which has to do with planets being in hydrostatic equilibrium, meaning they have enough self gravity to pull themselves into a round shape. When this happens, objects experience geological differentiation and weather, which shapeless, inert asteroids and KBOs do not. There is a big difference between the KBOs in hydrostatic equilibrium and those not in that state. The ones in hydrostatic equilibrium are a new class of objects–the are a new class of planets because their composition and processes are just like those of planets. The only difference is they don’t dominate their neighborhoods. The IAU should have added dwarf planets as a subclass of planets rather than make the senseless statement that dwarf planets are not planets at all.
There are plenty of kids’ materials that have not been changed or modified to comply with the IAU decision. I know because I’ve bought many of them for my now five-year-old nephew. There are also some good books such as National Geographic’s “Eleven Planets,” which includes Ceres, Pluto, and Eris and another book titled “Ten Worlds” that inludes Pluto and Eris. You just have to shop around and look at the items before you buy. I for one would never purchase any educational materials that stop with Neptune, but that’s just my preference. We can and do vote with our dollars.