Diffraction Spikes

Diffraction Spikes

@diffractionspikes.bsky.social

Astronomer, but I would rather be playing (or maybe watching) volleyball. Love teaching astronomy to anyone, anywhere, at anytime, but can mostly be found doing so at Penn State University.

176 followers308 following127 posts

Diffraction Spikes
@diffractionspikes.bsky.social

I used to post frequently on the old site, but haven't done as much here. So bluesky still feels to me like putting words out into the void. Regardless, just wanted to say I went to see Weird Al last night with my son, and the show was amazing. Totally recommend seeing one of his shows if you can!

Diffraction Spikes
@diffractionspikes.bsky.social

What's the over / under on how many times one should expect to do their University two-factor authentication on the first day of classes? It's 10:30 am, I have taught one class so far today, and I think I'm at 5 entries of 2FA already.

Diffraction Spikes
@diffractionspikes.bsky.social

Seeing these stories about college graduates booing commencement speakers about AI, I realized (1) our speech was about AI, too - what a coincidence!, but (2) our students didn't boo our speaker, and I thought his take was approachable and honest.

Diffraction Spikes
@diffractionspikes.bsky.social

So here's my question on this lovely day. Do large cybercrime attackers like the folks behind shinyhunters ever get arrested and experience any repercussions for crimes like holding for ransom during our final exam week the system we all use to administer our exams and manage our gradebooks?

Diffraction Spikes
@diffractionspikes.bsky.social

Beautiful, clear skies are a rarity in Happy Valley, PA. We have been trying to get a group of students to a location just outside of town into some darker skies for about a year, and last night we finally had our opportunity.

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Diffraction Spikes
@diffractionspikes.bsky.social

Well, last night, we measured the darkness in Moshannon State Forest -- the SQM gave us 21.2 magnitudes per square arcsecond! So in a short drive from the center of campus, you go from moderately light polluted skies to real darkness.

Diffraction Spikes
@diffractionspikes.bsky.social

We started observing at twilight, and we stayed until about 10pm. The Milky Way was fairly low, and I wasn't really looking for it carefully. But I was amazed at how bright the Orion nebula looked with averted vision, and it was fun to see the Beehive cluster with the naked eye.

Diffraction Spikes
@diffractionspikes.bsky.social

Beautiful, clear skies are a rarity in Happy Valley, PA. We have been trying to get a group of students to a location just outside of town into some darker skies for about a year, and last night we finally had our opportunity.

Diffraction Spikes
@diffractionspikes.bsky.social

We went to the site of Penn State's old, abandoned observatory (a story in itself) which is in Moshannon State Forest. It is about 10 miles from campus as the crow flies, or about 20 miles by car. It is close enough that you can see the lights from the football stadium from the ridge in the forest.

Diffraction Spikes
@diffractionspikes.bsky.social

Right near that stadium, the skies are very bright - it is one of the most light polluted places on campus. But overall, it is still fairly dark around the University Park campus. We get measurements of about 18.6 - 18.8 magnitudes per square arcsec on a sky quality meter around campus.

Diffraction Spikes
@diffractionspikes.bsky.social

As long as I'm in "not biting my tongue" today mode -- Anyone seen the Flock cameras that have popped up around campus? I love the fact that I am driving by a license plate reader / facial recognition camera installed by my employer on my way into work every morning.

Diffraction Spikes
@diffractionspikes.bsky.social

I love how the weekly email from the Provost's office that was started in 2020 to share pandemic-related news that needed to get out quickly now includes the weekly FAQ question and answer about the faculty unionization vote. Very thoughtful of them to share their helpful insight!

Diffraction Spikes
@diffractionspikes.bsky.social

"... Given that tenure‑line, non-tenure-line and part-time faculty often have different priorities, a single bargaining unit may not represent the varied needs of different faculty groups. Some faculty may feel their interests will be diluted or overridden by majority voting within the union."

Diffraction Spikes
@diffractionspikes.bsky.social

I was in the class of 1994 for these positions in Socorro. As a first gen college student who hadn't traveled a lot, it was my first extended trip west of the Mississippi. I still keep in touch with several of my classmates from that summer. Highly recommend -- please apply!

Dr. Jessie Christiansen@aussiastronomer.bsky.social

NRAO has summer research opportunities for undergrads! science.nrao.edu/opportunitie...

science.nrao.eduSummer Student Research Assistantships
Diffraction Spikes
@diffractionspikes.bsky.social

I'm new to the high school kid dropoff line, but is it normal for the parent behind you to freak out and road rage at you through their windshield? My apparent crime was waiting for the crossing guard and all the kids to finish crossing in front of me. I guess running over students is encouraged?

Diffraction Spikes reposted

Ben Mullin
@benmullin.bsky.social

This is the first NPR/PBS station I've seen that's going out of business as a result of the federal rescission: radio.wpsu.org/2025-09-11/p...

radio.wpsu.orgPenn State plans to 'wind down' WPSU after board committee rejects plan to transfer it to WHYYWPSU, which recently celebrated its 60th anniversary of bringing public media to Pennsylvania, is slated to close soon, after a Penn State board of trustees committee voted Thursday against a proposal...
Diffraction Spikes
@diffractionspikes.bsky.social

Not sure how Blue Sky decided to serve me up stories about this besides mindreading. Anyway, if anyone wants to hear a fun story about our local 2024 and 2025 civics bee, I'm happy to oblige. Turns out this guy isn't the only 60+ year old PA legislator who thinks the Civics Bee is a hit on Fox News.

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Diffraction Spikes
@diffractionspikes.bsky.social

Have to use this account the same way I used my now defunct Twitter account. State College, it has been a long run of dreary, grey skies, and tonight it is clear as a bell and the Moon looks beautiful next to Jupiter. Go outside, take some deep breaths of the night air, and look up. It is wonderful.

Diffraction Spikes
@diffractionspikes.bsky.social

Soo... I created this, found a bunch of folks, posted a bit, and then got distracted by life, the universe, and everything. But folks keep telling me this is the place to be, so I'm back. Going to do some more follows / follow backs, and try to reengage with everyone here.

Diffraction Spikes reposted

Space Telescope Science Institute
@stsci.edu

Sing it with us 🎤: “Total Eclipse of April 2024!” 🧪 🔭 Join us on Tuesday as NASA’s Michael Kirk will describe how this eclipse is more than just an awe-inspiring celestial occurrence: youtube.com/live/MafbgwR...

youtube.comThe Total Solar Eclipse of April 2024Speakers: Michael Kirk (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center) and John Maple (Space Telescope Science Institute)On Monday, April 8, 2024, a total solar eclipse w...
Diffraction Spikes
@diffractionspikes.bsky.social

I'm not a huge basketball fan, but way back when, my roommate was a walk-on for the team, and I used to go watch him (mostly) sit on the bench. He got me tickets when PSU played Glenn Robinson and Purdue in the year Robinson won national player of the year.

Diffraction Spikes
@diffractionspikes.bsky.social

That game is sometimes called Penn State's best basketball game ever, but I can tell you, it was the loudest place I have ever been in my life, rock concerts included. My ears were ringing for hours afterwards, and during the game it was so loud I just heard it as a non-stop whistling sound.

Diffraction Spikes
@diffractionspikes.bsky.social

Want to relate a fun story of students going above and beyond that relates to one of my favorite things to spend time on -- PSU astronomy history. First off, in many pictures of Old Main, the armillary sphere that was the class gift of 1966 is featured.

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Diffraction Spikes
@diffractionspikes.bsky.social

Well, I posed this question to my class of first year undergrads this spring semester, and two of them came back having found a second error! They pointed out that the constellations of the Zodiac are not aligned with the proper dates (e.g., this shows Pisces on the winter Solstice).

Diffraction Spikes
@diffractionspikes.bsky.social

So my conclusion is, one, it is always a treat to get to work with students who like to geek out over the same things I do, and two, sorry class of 1966, but you got sold a pretty badly designed armillary sphere that gets its astronomy all wrong.

Diffraction Spikes
@diffractionspikes.bsky.social

Want to relate a fun story of students going above and beyond that relates to one of my favorite things to spend time on -- PSU astronomy history. First off, in many pictures of Old Main, the armillary sphere that was the class gift of 1966 is featured.

View full thread
Diffraction Spikes
@diffractionspikes.bsky.social

Years ago, one of my (now retired) colleagues posed the question, "What's wrong with this armillary sphere?". It took me a while to notice the error, but the one he and I talked about way back when was that the constellations of the Zodiac are shown on the equator, not the Ecliptic.

Diffraction Spikes
@diffractionspikes.bsky.social

Want to relate a fun story of students going above and beyond that relates to one of my favorite things to spend time on -- PSU astronomy history. First off, in many pictures of Old Main, the armillary sphere that was the class gift of 1966 is featured.

Diffraction Spikes
@diffractionspikes.bsky.social

I have a question for #astronomy folks - Hubble's website had a wonderful resource (made in Flash) called "Telescopes from the Ground Up". I never wrote my own notes on telescopes because I just used that resource. Now it is gone like all Flash content. Anyone know of something as good?