3rd International Planetary Caves Conference at SwRI; Lava tubes, pits, rilles and karst caves; Moon Diver; Inside Natural Bridge Caverns and Robber Baron Cave; Remote and passive sensing of subsurfaces

Greetings from Palmia Observatory

Well this week we have been offsite at the 3rd International Planetary Caves Conference held at Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in San Antonio, TX.

Detection of photons and single photon interference and wave-particle duality

Greetings from Palmia Observatory

Well this week we concentrate on the story about how single photons and single photon interference were detected.

What? How can this be the 400th post on this blog?; Upcoming SpaceX Starlink launch; Nanoscale structure and possibility of thermal diodes; Gentle introductions to gauge theory; Maybe jazz is the connection and answer?

Greetings from Palmia Observatory

Well, happy Valentine's Day to all of you star struck wannabes!  In this post we cover the latest news from SpaceX, consider how nanoscale structures lead to the possibility of thermal diodes, delve into the nature of gauge theory and end up with how our night out with jazz might be the secret of understanding physics.

Hooray, blind pointing of camera captured some Starlinks; Upcoming planetary caves conference in San Antonio; Get your dark physics in the paradise of Guadaloupe; Starship launch NET March 16

Greetings from Palmia Observatory

Well we have had some success in blind pointing the camera at the sky and captured some Starlinks satellites.  We will review some upcoming conferences and finish off with some comments and recommendation for Sean Carroll's "Mysteries of Modern Physics."

No sunspots this week; More on EHT imaging of M87 black hole shadow; How big would a black hole with Milky Way mass be?

Greetings from Palmia Observatory

Well with no sunspots  this week we had a chance to sit in on another presentation about the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) and the shadow of the black hole in M87, which called for more homework on how radio interferometer arrays work to produce images.

Looking for another constellation of Starlink satellites; Hmm, saw some flashes, took some photos, but no string of pearls

Greetings from Palmia Observatory


Well, SpaceX launched another constellation of Starlink satellites early Wednesday morning, so let's go out on this Saturday evening and see if we can spot any on their predicted pass over Orange County.