christmas ramble
My family always celebrated Christmas, even though we weren't very religious. Christmas eve at one grandparents' house, Christmas morning at home with my parents and siblings, and Christmas day at the other grandparents' house. But I have lived very far away from my whole family for many years now, and Christmas traditions seem weirder and weirder to me (though many times I or my partner have been able to bring my kids to spend Christmas with some part of my family).
I finally got to watch Shifting Baselines! https://www.greenground.ca/shifting-baselines
(Again, huge shout-out to my university library for making it accessible for me and anyone else at my university, yay libraries!)
I am SO completely impressed by how the film came out. WOW WOW WOW. I hope they make it easier to stream somewhere soon!
And especially since I'm now in full goat withdrawal while I'm travelling, it was absolutely delightful to see my goats (and llama) in the film.
Snow and rain and snow and rain for today's drive through a lot of BC mountains. We could theoretically make it to the lower mainland in BC today, but that's totally not going to happen given the likely road conditions! Shout-out to all the snowplow drivers and maintenance workers keeping the roads as safe as possible, even on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
#ProfSamLectureTour
Damn, looks like the freaking huge AST satellite launched successfully. I guess we'll find out soon how incredibly fucking bright and radio-loud it is 😭
https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:vqtp5dj2o6rqnge56sz2db5a/post/3mapcxxetwk2o
...and how hardy it is to debris hits. That's a big cross-section: 2,400 square feet, a bit bigger than a basketball half-court. This paper https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S027311772030644X suggests 1 hit energetic enough to penetrate 1 mm of aluminum per m^2/yr from debris and 1 from micrometeorites at AST's altitude, so about 1 hit per day. Good luck...
(Especially given a much smaller Starlink satellite and the similar cross-section Chinese space station both likely got hit by debris in the last few days)
Are direct-to-cell satellite connections useful? Yes. Are the benefits for a small handful of people who can afford access to those satellites worth the increased collision risks in orbit, the atmospheric pollution from launching and reentering all of them, the ground casualty risks from reentering them, and the light/radio pollution they cause? I would argue, no. Invest in better remote ground-based infrastructure! This scramble for direct-to-cell sats is NOT going to work.
Damn, looks like the freaking huge AST satellite launched successfully. I guess we'll find out soon how incredibly fucking bright and radio-loud it is 😭
https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:vqtp5dj2o6rqnge56sz2db5a/post/3mapcxxetwk2o
RE: https://mastodon.social/@sundogplanets/115748537218476769
Here's a nice, angry op-ed I got invited to write for Nature about AST SpaceMobile's first stupidly bright satellite a couple years ago: https://rdcu.be/drQOU
And just a reminder, if you're half as pissed off about stupidly bright satellites as I am, DarkSky International has an open letter to Reflect Orbital and their investors that you can sign here:
Are direct-to-cell satellite connections useful? Yes. Are the benefits for a small handful of people who can afford access to those satellites worth the increased collision risks in orbit, the atmospheric pollution from launching and reentering all of them, the ground casualty risks from reentering them, and the light/radio pollution they cause? I would argue, no. Invest in better remote ground-based infrastructure! This scramble for direct-to-cell sats is NOT going to work.
Here's a (messy, quick, not peer-reviewed) animation I threw together* using one of AST SpaceMobile's requested orbital configurations. These AST satellites are so bright that if you were standing in downtown Toronto on the summer solstice, in the night sky you'd be able to see the moon, Venus, and a handful of AST SpaceMobile satellites all night long.
*the code was part of a peer-reviewed paper: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-3881/ac341b
RE: https://mastodon.social/@sundogplanets/115748537218476769
Here's a nice, angry op-ed I got invited to write for Nature about AST SpaceMobile's first stupidly bright satellite a couple years ago: https://rdcu.be/drQOU
And just a reminder, if you're half as pissed off about stupidly bright satellites as I am, DarkSky International has an open letter to Reflect Orbital and their investors that you can sign here:
DarkSky International just posted their position letter on Reflect Orbital. It is direct and to the point:
"Based on current scientific evidence, DarkSky does not see a viable pathway for such systems to align with responsible lighting principles or with our mission to protect natural darkness. These systems would introduce significant ecological, human health, safety, and astronomical risks at a global scale."
Read their letter and add your name here:
https://darksky.org/news/organizational-statement-reflect-orbital/
Heaviest (and probably brightest, until Reflect Orbital's awful mirror) satellite ever is supposed to launch sometime tonight. I hate AST SpaceMobile only slightly less than I hate Reflect Orbital.
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/launches-spacecraft/indian-rocket-launch-bluebird-6-satellite-ast-spacemobile
One news article suggested that there was a chance of a collision during the launch window so they had to shift it?! Need a CRASH Clock for launches now too, apparently.
Here's a (messy, quick, not peer-reviewed) animation I threw together* using one of AST SpaceMobile's requested orbital configurations. These AST satellites are so bright that if you were standing in downtown Toronto on the summer solstice, in the night sky you'd be able to see the moon, Venus, and a handful of AST SpaceMobile satellites all night long.
*the code was part of a peer-reviewed paper: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-3881/ac341b
Heaviest (and probably brightest, until Reflect Orbital's awful mirror) satellite ever is supposed to launch sometime tonight. I hate AST SpaceMobile only slightly less than I hate Reflect Orbital.
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/launches-spacecraft/indian-rocket-launch-bluebird-6-satellite-ast-spacemobile
One news article suggested that there was a chance of a collision during the launch window so they had to shift it?! Need a CRASH Clock for launches now too, apparently.
After bouncing between several coffee shops, which were tasty but far to loud and crowded for my liking, I FOUND THE LIBRARY! And it's quiet and there are very few people here and there are lovely comfortable spaces to work!!
Libraries are the best!!!
Prof. Sam Lawler