Blogs / Bad Astronomy

This video from the White House star party held the other night makes me smile. A lot.

Wow, that’s quite a star lineup! I wish I could’ve been there too. Maybe next year…

And the quote of the night from the President, who said this in response to a young girl who was 14 when she discovered a supernova, and a high school sophomore who found a rare type of pulsar:

NASA’s equipment is some pretty powerful stuff. But astronomy also depends on the curiosity and contribution of amateur astronomers. [...] If they can discover something great, so can any of you other students who are here tonight. All you need is a passion for science.

Damn straight. And awesome.

This is pretty cool: tonight, President Obama will have a bunch of professional and amateur astronomers over to the White House to show the First Family and a group of middle schoolers the sky. The event coincides with the International Year of Astronomy and World Space Week.

And may I say? It’s so so cool to finally have a President who respects science. Yay!