Not signed in (Sign In)
 
 
October 2008 Extra

General: [Sticky] Introduce Yourself

Bottom of Page

51 to 75 of 75

  1. <
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. >
    • CommentAuthorStarbug
    • CommentTimeApr 22nd 2009
     
    Hi Megan,
    Yes will do, thanks for the suggestion. Will try and get to one of the Jodrell events in the near future too.
    • CommentAuthorJen Gupta
    • CommentTimeApr 28th 2009
     
    I guess I should probably do this...

    I'm Jen Gupta, a first year PhD student at the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics and one of the new Jodcast Juniors. For my PhD I'm studying blazars, a subgroup of active galactic nuclei that are among the most energetic sources found in the universe. When not pretending to be an astrophysicist I spend most of my time training in ju jitsu and going to ska gigs. Last week I was harassing various astronomers at the Joint European and National Astronomy Meeting and as long as I get the interviews edited in time, should be making my Jodcast debut in the May episode. I grew up in Winchester so apologise for the posh southern accent in advance!
    •  
      CommentAuthorMegan Argo
    • CommentTimeApr 29th 2009
     
    Welcome to the team Jen!
  4.  
    Jen , don't worry about southern accent.....I always did think there was a bit of north west bias (!) Here down in the south there is no real accent-tends to be anyone north of err-Bristol (?) where it gets difficult. Looking forward to the NAM epsiode and hope the kit stood up to the rigours.

    Nick
  5.  
    Hello,

    Big fan of your podcast keep up the good work! I do have a bit of a query, are there any online (free) sources on how to collimate a telescope? I'm going to blow the dust off my old telescope...

    Ernie
    • CommentAuthorRapidEye
    • CommentTimeMay 6th 2009
     
    This flash video is probably the best resource out there for collimating a newtonian:
    http://www.andysshotglass.com/Collimating.html

    If you are working on a SCT, then this is pretty good here:
    http://www.backyardastronomy.com/Backyard_Astronomy/Downloads.html
    Click on the Cleaning and Collimation link (the others are good too, just not germain)

    G'Luck!
    • CommentAuthorsuitti
    • CommentTimeMay 7th 2009
     
    I've been listening to the jodcast for years. I belong to two astronomy clubs in the Detroit, Michigan area. They each have 100+ active members. In the US, Detroit is second only to Seattle for cloudy days. We often make it through February without a single clear night. Not sure how Seattle is worse. My driveway is my primary observing location. I call it The Mercury Vapor Observatory. Think of it as downtown Detroit, but across the street from a grocery store parking lot with flood lights. I have a 254 mm dob with push-to computer. The computer and the aperture nearly completely save this location from uselessness. One summer night, i decided to look at m16. I did my 2 star alignment, and asked for m16. It was low in the South. The South is where the flood lights are. I pushed the scope where the computer told me. I looked through the finder to see that the cross hairs were directly between two flood lights. I screwed my oxygen 3 filter onto my 25 mm eyepiece (48x), and there it was. Cluster stars and nebulosity of green over a pitch black background. It doesn't get better than that under dark skies.

    I don't bring a flashlight (torch) observing, as i can easily find a contact lens dropped in the grass without one. There's no waiting for eyes to dark adapt. And if it's cold, or if i forgot something, i can always go back into the house.
    • CommentAuthorsuitti
    • CommentTimeMay 7th 2009
     
    I like to give talks at the local clubs. Last month i talked about the Holographic Principal, which comes from thinking about black holes. Seriously Disturbingly weird.

    I like to do outreach. I organize 3 or 4 outreach events a year. I get 2 or 3 club members to volunteer and go out and talk to 20-40 at a local park or school. But imagine you're at church. Instead of calling it outreach, you'd call it evangelism. And i'd rather pull my own fingernails out with pliers than do that. So it is more than a little bit of a surprise that i like to do outreach.

    Of late, 5 or 6 of us are scheming to use a local town's studio to produce half hour astronomy videos to air over local cable TV. Should produce the first show this month. We have zero budget, and appear to need zero (!). Publishing on the web might cost us something. We'll see.
  9.  
    Hi I'm a big fan for the show and have been for folowing for over a year now. and have been menchend on the show a cupple of times now :) i also got the chance to viset Jodrell bank during the summer with a grupe of Air cadets and had a verey intresting time and got to meat Ian Morroson. thanks Ian they all had a grat time.
    • CommentAuthorAndrew
    • CommentTimeNov 20th 2009
     
    Hello,

    I'm Andrew, from Manchester, and I had a slightly strange route to Astronomy. Essentially, L Ron Hubbard wrote some fiction books and then decided to make money out of gullibility. Many years later, Tom Cruise made a video promoting this nonsense. I saw this video and thought, "do people really believe this nonsense?"

    I found the whole thing rather hilarious and read up on it. During my research into people believing nonsense instead of the beauty of reality, I found Carl Sagan. The rest is history, the present and the future.
    • CommentAuthorjr_edge
    • CommentTimeDec 5th 2009 edited
     
    Better do this entry...

    I had a very casual interest in Astronomy until I went to a couple of inspiring lectures organised at my work place. One was by Robert Dijkgraaf of Amsterdam University talking about particle physics, but who introduced cosmological issues such as the finding that 95% of Universe is "Dark". Another talk was on pulsar timing, glitches etc. So I started searching the Internet for more info - and discovered the Jodcast amongst other sites.

    I think the Jodcast has managed to keep things fresh, current and interesting. A key factor is that while they have dealt with basic stuff well, they have not been afraid to tackle more complex and obscure topics. The quality and care is impressive - see how well News items are explained in a few well chosen sentences. Target market - the "well informed amateur"?? Congratulations to the whole team on their excellent work (and particularly the founders who set up a sustainable spirit and enterprise).

    I work in IT for a major corporation, and live in Netherlands near The Hague. I attended the Jodcast Live event in November 2009 with my 8 year old son (who had a great time).

    While I may not be able to match David Ault's knowledge of cult science fiction, I do have (by virtue of being a bit older) bragging rights about how long I have been watching Dr Who - I saw the first episode (and it was scary).

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robbert_Dijkgraaf
    • CommentAuthorsusan
    • CommentTimeFeb 5th 2010
     
    Hi Everyone,

    I've been following the Jodcast for about 18 months now and love it. I've also been lucky enough to contribute some music to the project, which has been a blast.

    To the Jodcast Team: thanks for what you do and the really, really cool way in which you do it.

    Jod On!

    Susan
  13.  
    Welcome to the forum Susan. As well as providing some great music for our video episodes, Susan gets the credit for coining the phrase "Jod on"!
  14.  
    Hello all,

    I am a PhD student at Jodrell (finishing in a few months), and have done a bit of editing and video-filming for the Jodcast. Previously happy in my obscurity, I was drawn from hiding after helping to edit the recent 'China in Space' video when Stuart inserted a tiny error into the show comments, forcing me to correct it. I'm sure he did it on purpose.

    Since I am now in the open, I will endeavour to contribute to the forum!
    • CommentAuthorAndy
    • CommentTimeApr 17th 2010
     
    Hi everyone,

    I'm Andy a Medical Doctor from the Midlands. Always had a keen interest in physics and astronomy but other studies took over. I only downloaded the Jodcast a few weeks ago getting as much of the back issues as I could. My interest was sarted up again after watching the 'Wonders' programmes with Prof. Brian Cox.

    What I have heard so far is fantastic and I look forward to getting up-to-date on the casts and downloading more.
    • CommentAuthorAndy
    • CommentTimeApr 19th 2010
     
    Forgot to add my Twitter name is Andy_Castle don't Twitter too much but if you want to follow me, that's me.
  17.  
    Welcome to the forum and good to have you as a listener Andy. Brian is in our department at Manchester (School of Physics and Astronomy) and has somehow escaped from our microphones for years. I'm glad you enjoyed his programmes.
    • CommentAuthorUnosay
    • CommentTimeApr 29th 2010
     
    Hello everyone, big fan of your work. I have recently got into astronomy/science ,unfortunatley i was one of those "back of the class " kids so have a very limited education but often found myself looking at the night sky and thinking Wow (and still do). I try to make a living Dj`ing / music production. I have listened to all of your archive shows so am up now to date. I love the fact that its a sooo made in Britian "feel" and we all love that warm analoge sound . Thanks also for some cool links to other astronomy shows.
    Once i perfect my anti -grav hover board you can all exspect a visit . Sorry for my bad spelling/grammer.
    Once again big thanks and keep up the good work .
    • CommentAuthorAlison
    • CommentTimeJun 20th 2010
     
    Hi I studied astrophysics at Leeds and love everything about it. I wasn't able to finish the main course and would love a position at Jodrell Bank but am not sure how to get in the door without a full degree?
    Any suggestions?
  20.  
    I just deleted a couple of comments from chocochoco and annabie as they both share the same IP address and just seem to be trying to advertise. They may not even be real people.
    • CommentAuthorS4UFO
    • CommentTimeJun 26th 2010
     
    Hi Everyone, Alan here , briefly i am aircrew for British Airways and i have been jetting round the globe for over 30 years and have seen some amazing sights in the night sky, i am so privileged to have travelled so much, i am also a member of the Macclesfield Astronomical Society and i enjoy there meetings and workshops when i am in the country.
    I would like to say a big hello to Megan Argo who is now in Perth , Australia, i get to Sydney only , wish i could still get to Perth, it would be nice to see you again aqnd i hope your doing ok.

    best Wishes to you all

    Alan
    •  
      CommentAuthorMegan Argo
    • CommentTimeJun 28th 2010
     
    Hi Alan! Good to see you here on the forum. With any luck, I'll be back in the UK for a week or so later in the year, so I'll drop by the Society if there's a meeting on.
  23.  
    Hi

    I'm Russ, I've been a listener to the Jodcast for a few months now.
    I'm interested in astronomy ,always keen to learn more and I own a very cheap
    telescope which I don't get round to using nearly enough.
    • CommentAuthorryanastron
    • CommentTimeAug 21st 2010
     
    Hi everyone , my names Ryan and I've only more recently started listening to the Jodcast which I have to say I find extremely interesting.

    I'm from sunny Scotland (lol) and when I have any free time I pursue amateur astronomy. I also love to outreach a little to those locally who will listen :)
    Astronomy for me excites the mind , and fills me with a tremendous sense of wonder. Simply looking to the sky and realising there is more to us and our little patch in space, does it for me.
    • CommentAuthorMsc1969
    • CommentTime5 days ago
     
    Given the threat to science budgets is it worth including something about previous students and how they have made a difference outside astronomy because of what they learned?
    My year 1969/70 included people who joined Jodrell staff, or became physics teachers, microwave engineers and computer industry people and many other interesting jobs. In my case I went into the supercomputer industry but unfortunately that wasn't British. There must be stories to sell to politicians that esoteric research brings in money in the long term, remember the question at a Royal Society meeting which was roughly 'what is the use of your research' and the reply 'one day you will tax it' the experiment demonstrated was electricity.

51 to 75 of 75

  1. <
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. >