Astronomy Q&A Live Stream Announcement
After getting your feedback, I've scheduled my first Astronomy Q&A live stream for Monday, April 9, at 6:45 pm Pacific Time via Facebook Live. I'll start out by answering questions about the planets that middle- and high-schoolers of Summit Academy in Cottonwood...
Why Does Spring Start March 20?
The first day of spring and the first day of fall happen on equinoxes, when the plane of Earth's equator passes through the Sun's center. Day and night are appoximately (but not exactly) of equal length. Before Julius Caesar introduced his calendar in 45 BC in order...
Self-Damaging Hostility toward Religion
"Maintaining the view that science and religion are in conflict does no one any favors and is hurting science," writes Tom McLeish in his article "Thinking differently about science and religion," published in the latest (February 2018) edition of Physics Today....
The “We’re Not Special” Ideology
"We're not special" is not a scientific statement. It's an opinion. It's a simple way of expressing what has become known as the Copernican principle. Copernicus himself did not explicitly hold this when he realized Earth was likely not the physical center of the...
Comments on Ethan Siegel’s Forbes Article, “Yes, Science Is For the Religious, Too”
"There's a public perception that's harmful to everyone: that science is hostile to faith, and that religious people aren't interested in science." So writes Ethan Siegel, an astrophysicist and science writer. (Read his full article here.) Although Siegel calls...
Total Lunar Eclipse on 1/31/2018
Interested in seeing the Earth's shadow fall on the Moon on the 31st of this month? Here's a simple and elegant representation by timeanddate.com showing where on Earth it will be visible from. This is a lunar eclipse. It will be total roughly 5-6am Pacific Time....
The Origin of the Universe
The origin of the Universe is one of my favorite topics at the interface between science and faith. I've spoken on this several times (which I've kept track of on my Talks and Presentations page). The most recent occasion was the first time it was recorded. You can...
The Church’s Role in Science
Last month I spoke at the Vandal Catholic Encounter on the topic of the Church's role in science. Here is a link to the video recording. I apologize for how much you'll have to strain to listen and see. In the future I hope to write an article to revisit the topic in...
Presenting My Research Poster at the DPS Meeting
For the past week, I've been in Provo, Utah, for the 49th meeting of the Division of Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society. For the occasion, I put together a poster to give attendees a taste of a research project I've been working on: "Using...
Upcoming Events and Site Updates
Although this blog site had a slow and quiet start almost three years ago, my recent eclipse blog series has drawn a surge of attention, and it now has over 1,000 subscribers. Thanks to all who have subscribed and who read my blog! Not only do I want to keep this...
Cassini’s End
This Friday, the Cassini spacecraft, which has orbited Saturn since 2004, will end its mission by crashing into Saturn. It happens to be the Catholic memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows. It is indeed a sad day to see Cassini go. This spacecraft has transmitted 635 GB of...
Solar Eclipse in Retrospect
The two minutes and six seconds of totality I experienced were otherworldly. Time had paused and I was submerged into an ethereal reality. I had spent so much time preparing for this, and yet it passed by so quickly. As the Moon's shadow had approached from the...