Tag Archives: Bill Higgins

Across the Universe: The best way to travel

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This entry is part 15 of 176 in the series Across the Universe

First published in The Tablet in January, 2007; we first ran it here in 2015.  Dark and dreary, January is a time to take off to new and exotic climes; or at least, to daydream about such trips. My own January voyage was a visit to my old hometown, snow-dusted Detroit, to attend a science fiction convention. But a panel discussion at that meeting, “Travel Destinations of the Solar System,” challenged us to imagine really exotic localities. Where among the planets would we love to go? And what it would be like to be standing there, in person? Panelist Bill Higgins, a radiation physicist at Fermi Lab in Chicago [and occasional blogger here at The Catholic Astronomer!], regularly presents spaceflight results as a NASA “Solar System Ambassador” at events like this. He described how Pluto and its moon Charon orbit each other while locked in a spin state that keeps each body always facing the other. “What if we could … Continue reading →

Across the Universe: Defamiliarization

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This entry is part 55 of 176 in the series Across the Universe

This column first ran in The Tablet in February, 2010. I am back at the Vatican Observatory in Tucson, my official American residence, a place I only see a few times a year. Every time I return, I have to reorient myself to the rhythms of the community, and remind myself where to find the coffee in the morning. Doing my wash, I stumbled over a white plastic clothes basket and suddenly realized that it was mine; I’d left it in the laundry room several months ago, during my last visit. My speaking schedule [of 2010] has been intense… including Ardingly College and Cambridge University, then across to a colleague’s lab in Boston College, followed by talks at John Carroll University (Cleveland), The Scripps Research Institute (San Diego), the University of California at Merced, a science fiction convention in Chicago, lectures at Emory University and Agnes Scott College (Atlanta), and ending up at the University of Michigan and Eastern Michigan … Continue reading →

Another meta-posting…

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This entry is part of 36 in the series Diary

I’ve just come back from a wonderful week at Notre Dame University’s Institute for Church Life, joining an all-star cast to talk about how science and religion can be taught in Catholic high schools. Naturally I spent no small amount of time bragging about this blog to the assembled high school teachers; I think what we have to offer here may well be the kind of content they’d enjoy seeing and sharing. And I’ve seen a nice upturn in our “hits” this week as a result; welcome! At the moment, we typically get 100 – 250 views a day, and I am delighted that these viewers – you – find our blog worth reading. But I would love to raise that number, by a lot. Surely a thousand or more visits a day ought to be possible? Surely on the internet there must be a thousand people who share our enthusiasm for space and our desire to blend together the science … Continue reading →

Turn Left at MuseCon

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The artwork for MuseCon’s Tee-Shirt looks kinda familiar! Almost exactly like the artwork for Turn Left at Orion – which it IS! The image was made from the original artwork provided by Mary Lynn Skirvin. I am SO pre-ordering a couple of these tees! Br. Guy will be the Guest of Honor (GoH) at this convention. Bill Higgins, myself, and my wife Constance L. Martin-Trembley, all three volunteer NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassadors, will be attending and lecturing as well. I will have my telescopes there, and weather-permitting I’ll get to show the Sun and Saturn. MuseCon VOF Calendar Entry … Continue reading →