If you missed the spectacular musical/digital concert in the DVT at Notre Dame last week, I can honestly say that it was a unique and overwhelmingly enjoyable experience.
Axiom Brass (If you have ears, you should experience their music) performed in collaboration with Keith Davis in the DVT for a musical event which was accompanied by digital astronomical pieces also performed live on the dome of the DVT.

While Axiom Brass performed pieces named after the great astronomers (Copernicus, Galileo, Newton, Hubble, & Hawking), Keith would display different astronomically related imagery, such as galaxies, the planetary orbits, and asteroids, on the dome that were created to go along with the music.  It was a beautiful experience and the visuals were a hauntingly impressive connection to the movements in the music.

They were great guys, both musically and in person.  I hope we get to have them back again before the next transit of Venus.

TRANSIT OF VENUS IS IN 2 DAYS!

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The Transit of Venus will be here in 6 days!
Wahoo! I’m EXCITED to see the solar system move before my very eyes!

If you’re sitting around thinking:

“Man, I don’t know what all the fuss is about…“

GOOD NEWS! There’s a YouTube page to help!
Everyone loves watching videos, especially awesome ones…

Transit of Venus has it’s ownYouTubeSite!

My personal recommendation is to check out this 4-minute video ALL about the transit.

Predict a Transit of Venus: 2-minute explanation…

Transit of Venus: 2-Minute Explanation to predict it.

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How are YOU planning to view the Transit of Venus on June 5th ?

One thing’s for sure, you BETTER NOT TRYwith sunglasses, binoculars,
or a telescope without a proper solar filter.

Do YOU need and/or want SOLAR SHADES!?!?

There’s a Treasure Hunt in Michiana that YOU can do to get you and your WHOLE Family FREE Solar Shades!

The TROVE ADVENTURE Treasure Hunt!

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Slashdot. If you don’t know what that is you may not be a nerd…
Its tag line is honest in its purpose: “News for Nerds.  Stuff that Matters.”

+ = awesome!

Transit of Venus was featured today on the /. Science page: science.slashdot.org

Not ONLY was it about Transit of Venus (nicknamed TROVE), but Chuck Bueter‘s website transitofvenus.org was highlighted in THIS post!

Specifically transitofvenus.org was linked as the place to find out about the safety of watching the transit!

/. is a fun place  to peruse for random info, geeky news stories, and in general a better way to spend down time than checking out the unintelligent garble filling other social sites.

Way to go /. , thanks for keeping the science good, the facts fun, and the nerds cool!

34 DAYS UNTIL THE TRANSIT OF VENUS!!!!!

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Ruth Craft invited me to give the guest talk for the Michiana Astronomical Society April Meeting

It was a real pleasure to present my research for the Michana Astro Society (MAS).  Two other astrophysics graduate students joined me and we were able to meet the members of the society as well as hear their schedule for some opportunities for the ND astrophysics students to do outreach and get involved in the upcoming astronomy events.

I was really impressed and surpirsed by how tough the MAS questions were.  Some questions about the star forming regions I have yet to fully study, some about the nature of the galaxies, and some about the connections of this work to dark matter, cosmology, and galactic evolution.  I couldn’t have enjoyed presenting more and am so thankful for the invitation.

As we’re all gearing up for the Transit of Venus in June, it’s exciting to hear the plans that the local astronomers and groups are preparing.  I know we’ll be collaborating and working with them again soon!

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Transit of Venus had its own table presentation during the 5th annual Forum titled:  Collaborating for Education and Research

Local South Bend teacher and astronomer, Ruth Craft, visited the table to make paper plate activities for students.

The stained glass transparency art I made to commemorate the Forum in the theme of the Transit of Venus.

Chuck Bueter led the table with information and ways for teachers and schools to get involved for the June 5th transit!

Only 3 Months until the Transit of Venus!!!!

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Where will YOU be on June 5th/6th of 2012?

(Above: Map of transit of Venus visibility)

If you answered “Watching Venus transit across the Sun’s sphere with all of your friends, family, teachers, and pets!” then you are already WAY ahead of the rest of the world!

As the date draws closer, more buzz will be building about this incredible, LAST CHANCE IN YOUR LIFETIME, astronomical event.

Why is it so special?

(Above: Timeline for past and future transits of Venus)

I’m pretty sure I’m not living until 2117 to the ripe old age of 132, unless modern medicine really takes some strides this century.  So on June 5th, I’ll be somewhere in South Bend, Indiana (Notre Dame) watching the transit LIVE with local students, parents, teachers, and other members of the Michiana community.

I’ll be dedicating the majority of THIS blog to the Transit of Venus (TROVE) for the next few months…. So stay tuned!

If you’ve ever wanted to stare at the Sun, HERE’s your chance!
There are TONS of SAFE ways to watch the transit!
TransitofVenus.org is a great place to find any of the info you’re probably wondering about!

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Ever needed to plot a function,
…….let’s say y=(x^3 * sqrt(cos(x^2+pi)) + 6/sqrt(cos(x^2 +pi))?…..

Don’t have your graphing calculator laying around and you’re too tired to open Mathematica or some other program?

GOOGLE it!

HOW AWESOME IS THAT!?!

You’ve got to be careful though, I wouldn’t just start using this to do my trig homework…

TRY IT OUT TODAY and TELL all your math/science/computer/nerdy friends!

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On November 18th, this article was posted:
“New test finds neutrinos still faster than light”

On November 20th, (yesterday) this article was posted:
“Study rejects faster than light particle finding”

So far, I’m still inclined to keep Einstein in his relativistic place, so I’m hoping this flip-flopping will get resolved soon.  I personally don’t believe neutrinos are special enough to be so awesomely speedy…

*Thanks to Prof. Spagna @ Randolph-Macon College for keeping up on these highly energized physics topics!

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WOW! How COOL is THIS!

“Notre Dame astrophysicist Peter Garnavich has been invited to the Nobel Prize Award Ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden on Dec. 10 when Nobel Laureates Brian Schmidt, Adam Riess and Saul Perlmutter will receive the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics for the discovery of the accelerating expansion of the universe through observations of distant supernovae… ” (http://newsinfo.nd.edu/news/26882-notre-dame-astrophysicist-invited-to-nobel-prize-award-ceremony/)

Read the Full Article HERE!

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