Comments on: Physicists at Work and Play http://cosmicvariance.com/2006/03/25/physicists-at-work-and-play/ Random samplings from a universe of ideas Sun, 07 Sep 2008 14:00:17 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Clifford http://cosmicvariance.com/2006/03/25/physicists-at-work-and-play/#comment-16081 Clifford Tue, 28 Mar 2006 15:52:43 +0000 http://cosmicvariance.com/?p=719#comment-16081 Katie.... Brilliant! -cvj Katie…. Brilliant!

-cvj

]]> By: Katie http://cosmicvariance.com/2006/03/25/physicists-at-work-and-play/#comment-16010 Katie Mon, 27 Mar 2006 21:07:17 +0000 http://cosmicvariance.com/?p=719#comment-16010 Clifford, you haven't been going to the wrong physicist parties; you've just had the wrong people writing your captions. The trick is to have even more fun with the pictures than you did at the party. Clifford, you haven’t been going to the wrong physicist parties; you’ve just had the wrong people writing your captions. The trick is to have even more fun with the pictures than you did at the party.

]]> By: Harv http://cosmicvariance.com/2006/03/25/physicists-at-work-and-play/#comment-15995 Harv Mon, 27 Mar 2006 19:00:49 +0000 http://cosmicvariance.com/?p=719#comment-15995 Though there is more of a gender balance in astronomy than in physics, it's not as good as fields like biology or chemistry. And while there is historical precedence for women in astronomy, some large observatories barred women from using them even into the mid-20th century. Also, while the numbers of women at undergrad and grad student level is gaining, the number of women in faculty positions (particularly entry level positions) is still not what it should be given the demographics of the pool of applicants. And when departments hiring faculty say, "There are no good women candidates." (huh? Have they been to any conferences lately?) Yes, things are getting better, but there's still work to be done. Though there is more of a gender balance in astronomy than in physics, it’s not as good as fields like biology or chemistry. And while there is historical precedence for women in astronomy, some large observatories barred women from using them even into the mid-20th century.

Also, while the numbers of women at undergrad and grad student level is gaining, the number of women in faculty positions (particularly entry level positions) is still not what it should be given the demographics of the pool of applicants. And when departments hiring faculty say, “There are no good women candidates.” (huh? Have they been to any conferences lately?)

Yes, things are getting better, but there’s still work to be done.

]]> By: Frumious B. http://cosmicvariance.com/2006/03/25/physicists-at-work-and-play/#comment-15941 Frumious B. Mon, 27 Mar 2006 03:29:46 +0000 http://cosmicvariance.com/?p=719#comment-15941 <blockquote>notice how more balanced the demographic is in this subfield.</blockquote> Historically, women have had a much larger presence in astronomy than in physics. It was one of those fields that respectable, upperclass, married ladies could partake in with their husbands (!!) back in the Renaissance. That's the story in the West, anyway. Dunno how things are in non-European derived societies.

notice how more balanced the demographic is in this subfield.

Historically, women have had a much larger presence in astronomy than in physics. It was one of those fields that respectable, upperclass, married ladies could partake in with their husbands (!!) back in the Renaissance.

That’s the story in the West, anyway. Dunno how things are in non-European derived societies.

]]> By: Brad Holden http://cosmicvariance.com/2006/03/25/physicists-at-work-and-play/#comment-15929 Brad Holden Sun, 26 Mar 2006 22:15:50 +0000 http://cosmicvariance.com/?p=719#comment-15929 Ah, the Keck II control room. For those not in the know, Keck I and II are controled from Waimea at about 2000 feet. The telescope operator is at the summit, but the observers run the instrument from below. This has many advantages like more oxygen (and fewer sick astronomers), easy communication with the headquarter's staff and much, much better food. As someone who has used the Official Alice Shapely NIRSPEC Observing Strategy, I am amazed that she found time to nap. I was just too busy. I am sure that the three double espressos had nothing to do with it.... Ah, the Keck II control room. For those not in the know, Keck I and II are controled from Waimea at about 2000 feet. The telescope operator is at the summit, but the observers run the instrument from below. This has many advantages like more oxygen (and fewer sick astronomers), easy communication with the headquarter’s staff and much, much better food.

As someone who has used the Official Alice Shapely NIRSPEC Observing Strategy, I am amazed that she found time to nap. I was just too busy. I am sure that the three double espressos had nothing to do with it….

]]> By: Phil Plait http://cosmicvariance.com/2006/03/25/physicists-at-work-and-play/#comment-15919 Phil Plait Sun, 26 Mar 2006 18:38:24 +0000 http://cosmicvariance.com/?p=719#comment-15919 If I were observing at Keck with that partial pressure of O2, I'd probably nap a lot too. :) If I were observing at Keck with that partial pressure of O2, I’d probably nap a lot too. :)

]]> By: Clifford http://cosmicvariance.com/2006/03/25/physicists-at-work-and-play/#comment-15911 Clifford Sun, 26 Mar 2006 16:59:52 +0000 http://cosmicvariance.com/?p=719#comment-15911 Alice....thanks! and Welcome to blog-land. Glad you don't mind that I picked up those links, but they were on your website and so legitimately public domain. Cheers, -cvj Alice….thanks! and Welcome to blog-land. Glad you don’t mind that I picked up those links, but they were on your website and so legitimately public domain.

Cheers,

-cvj

]]> By: Alice http://cosmicvariance.com/2006/03/25/physicists-at-work-and-play/#comment-15910 Alice Sun, 26 Mar 2006 16:52:43 +0000 http://cosmicvariance.com/?p=719#comment-15910 Thanks for linking our pictures, Clifford! I should mention that in addition to wearing such "fashionable" observing clothes and napping on the sofa in the Keck Observatory Remote Operations room, we were trying to learn about the physical conditions in star-forming regions in galaxies 8-9 billion light years away. The galaxies we targeted were drawn from the DEEP2 redshift survey (a project led by University of California astronomers), which has mapped out a chunk of the Universe at z~1 and is telling us about galaxy properties at that earlier epoch. We were attempting to measure the relative strengths of rest-frame optical emission lines from Hydrogen, Oxygen, and Nitrogen, which are produced in the regions of ionized gas in which stars form. In such high-redshift galaxies, the lines which have been targeted by traditional optical astronomy for decades get shifted to the near-IR region of the spectrum, and we then use the KeckII near-IR spectrograph (NIRSPEC) to measure them. The relative strengths of these lines can be used to infer the degree of chemical enrichment in the gas from which the stars are forming. But, in turns out that the line strengths we measure actually follow a significantly different pattern from those of galaxies in the nearby universe, which may tell us something very interesting about star formation in the early universe (we're still working on exactly what...) I have to say, though, there is nothing like a good nap on the sofa in Keck Remote Ops....(though it looks like Rob had a picture of some pretty good observing naps as well...) Thanks for linking our pictures, Clifford! I should mention that in addition to wearing such “fashionable” observing clothes and napping on the sofa in the Keck Observatory Remote Operations room, we were trying to learn about the physical conditions in star-forming regions in galaxies 8-9 billion light years away. The galaxies we targeted were drawn from the DEEP2 redshift survey (a project led by University of California astronomers), which has mapped out a chunk of the Universe at z~1 and is telling us about galaxy properties at that earlier epoch. We were attempting to measure the relative strengths of rest-frame optical emission lines from Hydrogen, Oxygen, and Nitrogen, which are produced in the regions of ionized gas in which stars form. In such high-redshift galaxies, the lines which have been targeted by traditional optical astronomy for decades get shifted to the near-IR region of the spectrum, and we then use the KeckII near-IR spectrograph (NIRSPEC) to measure them. The relative strengths of these lines can be used to infer the degree of chemical enrichment in the gas from which the stars are forming. But, in turns out that the line strengths we measure actually follow a significantly different pattern from those of galaxies in the nearby universe, which may tell us something very interesting about star formation in the early universe (we’re still working on exactly what…) I have to say, though, there is nothing like a good nap on the sofa in Keck Remote Ops….(though it looks like Rob had a picture of some pretty good observing naps as well…)

]]> By: Rob Knop http://cosmicvariance.com/2006/03/25/physicists-at-work-and-play/#comment-15908 Rob Knop Sun, 26 Mar 2006 15:49:50 +0000 http://cosmicvariance.com/?p=719#comment-15908 That reminds me of this picture I took in October 2004 when I was observing at the 1.5m telescope at Chile; the people are an undergraduate student and a post-doc who were there observing with me: <a href="http://www.pobox.com/~rknop/links/sleepingobservers.jpg" rel="nofollow">Photo</a> -Rob That reminds me of this picture I took in October 2004 when I was observing at the 1.5m telescope at Chile; the people are an undergraduate student and a post-doc who were there observing with me:

Photo

-Rob

]]> By: Helge http://cosmicvariance.com/2006/03/25/physicists-at-work-and-play/#comment-15900 Helge Sun, 26 Mar 2006 11:23:57 +0000 http://cosmicvariance.com/?p=719#comment-15900 The other guys party always looks better :-) The other guys party always looks better :-)

]]> By: Pyracantha http://cosmicvariance.com/2006/03/25/physicists-at-work-and-play/#comment-15892 Pyracantha Sun, 26 Mar 2006 05:30:07 +0000 http://cosmicvariance.com/?p=719#comment-15892 Trader Joe's....Where the physicists shop! The TJ's I work at has a somewhat different clientele, since it is only a few miles from Langley, VA, home of....(secrets) Trader Joe’s….Where the physicists shop!
The TJ’s I work at has a somewhat different clientele, since it is only a few miles from Langley, VA, home of….(secrets)

]]> By: Clifford http://cosmicvariance.com/2006/03/25/physicists-at-work-and-play/#comment-15891 Clifford Sun, 26 Mar 2006 04:28:20 +0000 http://cosmicvariance.com/?p=719#comment-15891 Nice pictures, by the way. Let me know when the meeting's held in LA, and I'm <em> there.</em> ;-) -cvj Nice pictures, by the way. Let me know when the meeting’s held in LA, and I’m there. ;-)

-cvj

]]> By: Clifford http://cosmicvariance.com/2006/03/25/physicists-at-work-and-play/#comment-15890 Clifford Sun, 26 Mar 2006 04:20:03 +0000 http://cosmicvariance.com/?p=719#comment-15890 Gosh, I've not been going to the wrong parties in general, it's just that a lot of the physicist ones look like less fun than the astronomy or astrophysics ones, I admit. However, I've plenty of other professions' parties to choose from! (See for example my upcoming post on hanging out with the English teachers. No, really.) Cheers, -cvj Gosh, I’ve not been going to the wrong parties in general, it’s just that a lot of the physicist ones look like less fun than the astronomy or astrophysics ones, I admit. However, I’ve plenty of other professions’ parties to choose from! (See for example my upcoming post on hanging out with the English teachers. No, really.)

Cheers,

-cvj

]]> By: Phil Plait http://cosmicvariance.com/2006/03/25/physicists-at-work-and-play/#comment-15889 Phil Plait Sun, 26 Mar 2006 04:04:00 +0000 http://cosmicvariance.com/?p=719#comment-15889 You have been going to the wrong parties. <a href="http://www.badastronomy.com/bablog/2006/02/11/some-astronomer-stuff/" rel="nofollow">You need to hang with astronomers</a>. You have been going to the wrong parties. You need to hang with astronomers.

]]>