We’re running a membership drive this month – our goal is 150 new members, and we’re nearly 10% of the way there so far, thanks! – and as a part of it we’re including this blatant clickbait series… Besides, it’s a chance to tell some of the funny stories that come up during cloudy nights at the VATT! The old astronomer tells the tale… As we know, most astronomy runs on coffee. (Except, of course, for the excellent astronomy department at Brigham Young University, the LDS equivalent of the Vatican Observatory; Mormons don’t drink coffee!) So you can picture the scene… A senior professor, a theorist needless to say, came into the Admin Assistant’s office with a can opener in hand, and a puzzled look on his face. “We’re out of coffee,” he said. Before the Admin could growl at him, he hastened to add, “I know, your job is not to make coffee for us; and I am willing to make … Continue reading →