Happy Fourth to my fellow countryhumans.
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Go out and be your own fireworks today.
About Bad Astronomy
If you went to BadAstronomy.com and found yourself here, never fear: the BA Blog has moved to its new home at Discover Blogs. The original BA site (with the Moon Hoax debunking and all that) is still online, too.
Phil Plait, the creator of Bad Astronomy, is an astronomer, lecturer, and author. After ten years working on Hubble Space Telescope and six more working on astronomy education, he struck out on his own as a writer. He has written two books, dozens of magazine articles, and 12 bazillion blog articles. He is a skeptic, and fights misuses of science as well as praising the wonder of real science.
Contact me: The Bad Astronomer "at" gmail "dot" com
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July 4th, 2009 at 6:35 am
Does this count as data towards the Phil-Plait-is-really-the-evil-twin-not-Richard-Wiseman hypothesis?
July 4th, 2009 at 6:51 am
Yeah, loser! Haven’t you posted this before some time ago!
July 4th, 2009 at 7:01 am
Ah!!! The stupid! It burns!!!
Oh, wait. You’re not asking for clever captions, then?
July 4th, 2009 at 7:16 am
Must’ve been a great curry.
July 4th, 2009 at 7:21 am
That’s what happens when you eat the spicy jalapeño burger *shakes head sadly*.
July 4th, 2009 at 7:22 am
Now if only we could get a supernova to blow up today … Now that’d be fireworks! Maybe Deneb near the North America nebulae?
July 4th, 2009 at 7:24 am
Ahhh pyromania!
@ 3 Naked Bunny with a Whip :
Must’ve been a great curry.
Wrong end.
July 4th, 2009 at 7:25 am
Lovely tie.
And I rather like the texture of that suit.
July 4th, 2009 at 7:29 am
Ah, NOW I see why you don’t grow a full, real, beard,,,
,,,never mind,,,
I’ve walked on fire but never tried eating it. I prefer my fire safely packaged,,,in Habenero peppers,,
,,,ever notice how fire walkers have really short beards??? Just an aside…
GAry 7
July 4th, 2009 at 8:08 am
Mom!!! Philip’s playing with fire again!!!!!!
July 4th, 2009 at 8:08 am
[...] Fire works | Bad Astronomy | Discover Magazine By Phil Plait Pretty pictures | Happy Fourth to my fellow countryhumans.Go out and be your own fireworks today. Bad Astronomy – http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/ [...]
July 4th, 2009 at 8:36 am
You think our new alien overlords from the planet Zorkon will like our fireworks?
July 4th, 2009 at 8:51 am
Wow, Phil, you’re on fire today! Absolutely smokin’!
July 4th, 2009 at 8:53 am
Is Phil attempting to make us believe he is from the underworld?
July 4th, 2009 at 9:34 am
Happy Independence Day to you and your family!
July 4th, 2009 at 10:02 am
“Go out and be your own fireworks today.”
But only if you know how, I hope.
July 4th, 2009 at 10:55 am
The Patriotism, It Burns.
I’m not sure this is what Sagan had in mind when he wrote, “Science as a candle in the dark.”
July 4th, 2009 at 11:14 am
“I’m not sure this is what Sagan had in mind when he wrote, “Science as a candle in the dark.”
Hey, light is light.
July 4th, 2009 at 12:51 pm
18. Romeo Vitelli Says:
“I’m not sure this is what Sagan had in mind when he wrote, “Science as a candle in the dark.”
Hey, light is light.
Only within a certain range of frequencies/wavelengths… otherwise it’s EM.
(anti-EM? there’s no place like home)
J/P=?
July 4th, 2009 at 2:03 pm
Hawt!
July 4th, 2009 at 3:15 pm
To Flying Fish: I think we’d have to wait a while before we’d see it. Nice sentiment, though.
I like Phil’s idea in his next post. Whatever country you live in, our Declaration of Independence is a moving document. Give it a read. It’s short.
July 4th, 2009 at 6:17 pm
space cadet @ #21.
I like Phil’s idea in his next post. Whatever country you live in, our Declaration of Independence is a moving document. Give it a read. It’s short.
Yes, this was undoubtedly the reason why the T.G.I. Friday’s here was packed with revellers yesterday; not only Americans/Caucasians, but also a much greater portion of Asians as well.
July 4th, 2009 at 6:25 pm
Besides the copies of the Declaration and Constitution I have on my handheld (Palm TM), I have pseudo-parchment copies on the living room wall. Plus copies of the Federalist Letters and a book about the creation of the FL’s… and the writing of Thomas Jefferson, including the ‘director’s cut’ of the Declaration.
J/P=?
Happy 4th!
July 4th, 2009 at 8:53 pm
Reminds me of something I saw on HBO recently.
July 4th, 2009 at 10:02 pm
@ 6. Flying sardines :
Now if only we could get a supernova to blow up today … Now that’d be fireworks! Maybe Deneb near the North America nebulae?
Unfortunately, while it would indeed be apt for the 4th of July, Deneb is an A2 Ia type white supergiant and thus the wrong kind of star to go supernova. *
As far as we know only red supergiants, blue supergiants, Luminous Blue Variables like Eta Carinae, Wolf-Rayet stars and white dwarfs are candidates for supernovae.
Mind you, we didn’t think blue supergiants could blow up until one did as supernova SN 1987 A so ..
I guess too we could always hope that there’s a white dwarf just at the critical limit behind or near the North America nebula that’s just about to get that one little splash of matter too much and explode tonight…Preferably before midnight and even more preferably, well, now!
———————————————————————–
* Besides it’d be a bit of a shame to lose the “Summer Triangle” of Deneb, Vega and Altair and ruin Cygnus and the “Northern Cross” asterism into the bargain. P Cygni, which is an Eta Carinae like LBV going off tonight, OTOH, now that I’d like to see!
July 5th, 2009 at 3:11 am
To Flying Sardines @ #6,
Is this what you’re looking for?
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/090703-helix-nebula-fireworks.html
July 5th, 2009 at 12:15 pm
@ Stone Age Scientist
I really hope you aren’t implying that Asians cannot be Americans too. It’s a bit unclear.
My girlfriend and her family are Vietnamese. Considering that they lost everything back home risked their lives to come to the US to escape a totalitarian regime, they have much more respect for the Bill of Rights than most Caucasians I know. I’m often remind of just how much I take for granted being a white male born in the US. I’ve definitely lived a privileged and sheltered life.
Happy belated 4th to all in the US!
July 5th, 2009 at 12:15 pm
@ 26 Stone Age Scientist :
Well I was thinking a little more something brightly unaided eye visible, a nice big minus magnitude supernova, nova or comet but that’s pretty neat too!
Surprised the BA hasn’t yet posted about that here .. Mind you, having said that I’ll probably find he just has!
@ 27 RTFM! : Huh? I think you might have the wrong thread ..
July 5th, 2009 at 12:19 pm
Am I the only one who thought the picture was of George Hrab on a “bad hair day”?
July 5th, 2009 at 2:00 pm
So THIS is what your doing for the TAM talent show. Hmmmmmmmmmmm, everyone else better bring their A game.
July 5th, 2009 at 7:21 pm
Phil,
You’re supposed to blow out the marshmallow BEFORE eating it!
July 6th, 2009 at 3:48 am
Sadly, Phil discovered the worst case scenario of when the lighting of farts goes horribly wrong.
July 6th, 2009 at 8:40 am
To RTFM! @ #27,
I really hope you aren’t implying that Asians cannot be Americans too.
Please rest assured that I imply no such thing. The “greater portion of Asians” I referred to (who were also in on the revelry) were not American citizens at all. I am writing outside the U.S..
July 6th, 2009 at 9:39 am
Flying sardines @ #28,
Yes, such an event would be a boon to astronomers. Hmmm, how about a meteor shower?
July 6th, 2009 at 9:42 am
I tried that once, and just about threw up from swallowing some of the fuel… Blech!
I spent the evening of the 4th sending up several home made “sky lanterns” (.5 mil can bags with a bit of floral wire, and heated with a cardboard wedge smeared with hand sanitizer set afire… UFO reports in the Sunday morning paper:
“Strange Lights Attracted to Municipal Display”
July 6th, 2009 at 10:23 am
Well for the 4th July the solar system did sorta oblige – not with fireworks exactly but rather with something much bigger and cooler (quite literally – earth sized or so & a mere 3000 degrees kelvin temperature~wise as opposed to the blue hot firework flames! )
See :
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/090706-sunspot-activity.html
for the rest of the story …
No supernova, novae or comet tho’ .. Sigh.
July 9th, 2009 at 8:02 pm
eeeehh body happy fourth phil, be cool burning