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We did it, we made it to the end of another year. Once again it’s time to wonder what gifts to get your beloved space nerds. We’ve got some suggestions. Some are brand new this year, others are classics that we just can’t help but continue to suggest. Let’s get into it.
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* Donate! (Streamlabs link) https://streamlabs.com/cosmoquestx
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If you’d like to join Dr. Paul Sutter and Dr. Pamela Gay on their Cosmic Stories in the SouthWest Tour in August 2019, you can find the information at astrotours.co/southwest.
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Show Notes
Red Bubble – visit the whole site, and you can also go to our CosmoQuestx Store here –
https://www.redbubble.com/people/cosmoquestx
National Geographic Space Atlas – https://shop.nationalgeographic.com/products/space-atlas-second-edition
The Chart of Cosmic Exploration https://shop.nationalgeographic.com/products/space-atlas-second-edition
Movaglobe https://www.movaglobes.com/
RASC Sky Atlas https://myscienceshop.com/product/book/81210
Astronomical Binoculors 15 x 75
Dobsonian Telescope
Software, such as Stellarium, phone apps
The Skeptics Guide to the Universe: https://www.theskepticsguide.org/the-skeptics-guide-to-the-universe-how-to-know-whats-really-real-in-a-world-increasingly-full-of-fake
Celestron Next Image Web Cam https://www.celestron.com/collections/neximage-astroimaging-cameras
Telescope Clip for your Cell Phone
Foot Warmers
Lego Sets Saturn V https://shop.lego.com/en-US/LEGO-NASA-Apollo-Saturn-V-21309
Go to the Movies
RimWorld Video Game https://store.steampowered.com/app/294100/RimWorld/
Evo Video Game
Oceanside Photo and Telescope https://optcorp.com/
Lost in Math https://www.amazon.com/Lost-Math-Beauty-Physics-Astray/dp/0465094252
Your Place in the Universe http://www.pmsutter.com/book/
The Universe Today Ultimate Guide to Viewing The Cosmos https://www.amazon.com/Universe-Today-Ultimate-Viewing-Cosmos/dp/1624145442/
FROM VIEWERS
From Tony Gadwa: book Ignition: https://www.amazon.com/Ignition-informal-history-liquid-propellants/dp/0813507251
From Tony Gadwa: Link to ZWO ASI120 MC i , great planetary / guide camera: https://astronomy-imaging-camera.com/product/asi120mc-color
Jim Meeker
Low light camera apps for phones are kind of cool. NightCap lets you do star trails, long exposure, etc.
From bknesheim: Sid Meiers – Alpha Centauri video game https://www.gog.com/game/sid_meiers_alpha_centauri
From Tim Heyes: icom pcr1000 (https://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/widerxvr/3628.html) or funcube dongle (http://www.funcubedongle.com/) for meteor detection
From Nancy G.:
Metal Earth 3-D models: https://www.metalearth.com/
UGears Mechanical Models: https://ugears.us/
Transcript
Transcription services provided by: GMR Transcription
Fraser Cain: Astronomy Cast, Episode 508, our 2018 Holiday Gift Guide. Welcome to Astronomy Cast, your weekly facts-based journey through the cosmos, where we help you understand not only what we know, but how we know what we know. I’m Fraser Cain, Publisher of Universe Today. With me, as always, Dr. Pamela Gay, a Senior Scientist for the Planetary Science Institute, and the Director of CosmoQuest. Hey, Pamela. How are you doing?
Dr. Pamela Gay: I’m doing well. How are you doing, Fraser?
Fraser Cain: Doing great. I’m trying to think if there’s any, sort of, shameless self-promotion before we get into what is also going to contain a certain amount of shameless self-promotion, but also other stuff. Just one more reminder, I think, is that we’re still taking reservations for our Costa Rica trip. If you’re still staying Costa Rica, that’s incorrect. It’s Costa Rica – with Dr. Paul Sutter, and myself. Which one is it? Costa Rica. There we go. Costa Rica. Not Costa Rica. Costa Rica. Anyway, and with Dr. Paul Sutter. And, we’re able to take reservations until the end of December.
So, you’ve got about a month left if you want to join us, and experience the volcanoes, and the wildlife, and the forests, and the night sky. It’s going to be a lot of fun. So, you should come with us.
Dr. Pamela Gay: And, if you’d like to explore the southwest, instead, with me, in the fall –
Fraser Cain: Don’t make them choose.
Dr. Pamela Gay: Ha-ha. – AstroTours.co/starstryder, and we can go look at dark skies, and desert landscapes with completely different critters, and a whole lot less water.
Fraser Cain: Awesome. But, in either case, go to AstroTours.co, and then choose the tour of your choosing. All right. So, let’s move on. So, we did it. We made it to the end of another year. Once again, it’s time to wonder what gifts to get your beloved space nerds. We’ve got some suggestions. Some are brand new this year. Others are classics that we just can’t help but continue to suggest. So, let’s get into it.
Now, should we – I mean, obviously, spoiler alert. And, if you are the space nerd who is listening to this show, then maybe what you want to do is hand over the headphones to your significant other – your gift-giver – and, let them listen to this show, and you miss this one, and wait until after the fact, and then that way they’ve got some good suggestions for what to get you. Or, you can, of course, just, say, provide a bunch of hints, and add these things to your Amazon wish list – whatever the case. But, just fair warning: We’re about to spoil whatever holiday gift-giving plans you have already figured out.
Dr. Pamela Gay: Well, maybe not spoil. I’m hoping more we’re going to inspire whatever gift-giving plans they may have.
Fraser Cain: Sure. Yeah. We’re going to suggest a bunch of stuff. You’re going to hand those things over to your friends, significant others, and they’re going to purchase those gifts, and then give them back to you –
Dr. Pamela Gay: Yes.
Fraser Cain: – and, you’re going to pretend to be surprised. I think that’s the deal that we have to strike here. So, where do you want to start? Why don’t we just go back and forth, recommending things, until we run out of time.
Dr. Pamela Gay: That – I think that sounds good. So, for me, the place to start is actually over on Redbubble. There are a ton of independent artists that can make space gear every which way you’ve ever dreamed of. I’ve been working really hard to try to buy stuff from the artists every Christmas, for a long time, and I fell in love with Red Bubble so much that I got the artists I loved to actually contribute to a shop we have for CosmoQuestX. So, this is where the shameless self-promotion part comes in.
So, if you go over to Redbubble.com/people/CosmoQuestX. – there’s a search on CosmoQuestX – we have a whole series of Space So Sweet sweatshirts, t-shirts – all the different stuff that you might want to print things on – and, it’s stuff like an ice cream cone where your dripping ice cream is Saturn. It’s a group of shooting stars that happen to actually be cookies, including an animal cracker of a flying pig. And, they’re just super creative. And, it’s fun to have spacy things that make even non-spacy people smile, and grin. So, yeah, snuggle up in a warm hoodie. That’s what I’m doing today. And, fly your geek flag with a little bit of space.
Fraser Cain: All right. So, what I’m going to recommend is – and, this came in the mail for me from National Geographic, so thanks National Geographic. And, this is the second edition Space Atlas, mapping the universe and beyond. So, it’s a book, and it is a big book. You know – big coffee table book – 350-ish pages – that has, really, the nicest photography for both the solar system through to the universe, the sun, the Milkyway. It’s an atlas, really, of the entire universe. It makes me think of back to the Our Universe book that I loved as a child, and actually bought a copy used that’s on its way to me now. So, I’m going to actually get one, and then I’ll be lost in nostalgia.
But, this is, sort of, an exactly the same feel, which is really this really gigantic, hefty book, with a ton of amazing pictures that you can just pour over every page. It pretty much is a full-page image of the moon – all of the craters on the moon. And, then something similar for Mercury. And, a lot of these images are brand new, just created. Although, some of the underlying photographs you’ve seen before, a lot of it is actually, really, brand new imagery that [inaudible] [00:06:15] on the ground for this. But, it’s just a beautiful book. So, if you’re looking for one big book to give a space nerd, that’s my recommendation.
Dr. Pamela Gay: Okay. So, the next thing that I want to mention is something that I already shot you the link for, and I’m going to try to share it to those folks watching over on Slack – and, we love all of you over at the weekly space hangout, wshcrew.space. This item is the Chart of Cosmic Exploration. This is one of the many amazing info-graphics that comes from the good people at Pop Chart Lab. I found them over on Etsy. They have their own website, as well. And, Pop Chart Lab does info-graphics of all sorts of different things. They have Birds of North America. They have – If you could do an Instagram of it, they’ve probably done it.
The Chart of Cosmic Exploration is a chart that has all the different planets, and Pluto – whether you call it a planet or not – and, it shows all the the spacecraft that, through the fullness of history, have made it out, and what was their path between these worlds – between their moons – as they did the exploration. We actually have this hanging up in our CosmoQuest office here in Edwardsville. I love it. It’s gorgeous. It’s fabulous. It’s framed, for me. And, so, go get it on Etsy. Again, buying directly from the artist.
Fraser Cain: That is awesome. I really love those – those ones that are comparisons of different kinds of rockets, and they’re all drawn in the exact same style, but you can really see the different sizes. And, that’s really great.
So, the next thing I’m going to recommend is a thing called a MOVA Globe. And, I don’t know if you have one, so I’m holding this up to the audience. For those of you who are listening on the podcast, you’re just going to have to imagine it. But, what it is is it’s like a sphere of hard plastic, and then inside the sphere is another sphere that contains something. A globe. They sell a bunch of them. The one that I have is of the night sky. And, they sent it to me. Just to let you know, I didn’t purchase it. But, they sent it to me. But, they’re beautiful.
And, they sort of slowly rotate, and you can see all of the constellations. They’ve got one of Mars. They’ve got one of Pluto. They’ve got all these different objects that – of the universe – and, you can just have one kicking around. And, I love it. And, I actually keep it on my desk. And, a lot of the times when I’m trying to figure out, sort of, what constellation is going to be up for the night, when I’m getting prepped for a star party. I just sort of keep the thing around, and look at what region of the sky I’m going to be able to see.
They downside of these things is that there’s no way to control the inside sphere.
Dr. Pamela Gay: Yeah.
Fraser Cain: And, so, I can’t actually turn the thing around to see the part of the sky that I want to see.
Dr. Pamela Gay: If you want to look at the bottom, you’re just kind of stuck.
Fraser Cain: Yeah. You’re stuck. You can’t flip the thing over because by flipping it over – it’s really hard to explain, but the sphere just keeps turning in your hands, and there’s no way to. So, anyway, it’s a wonderful thing to look at, and it’s great, but it is really tough to be able to see a specific part of it without just waiting for it to slowly turn around. You can kind of give it a jiggle to get it spinning, but then it’s just spinning too quickly. So, they’re great. I really like them. Thanks to MOVA Globe for sending me one. And, you know, if you’re looking for something that’s sort of a nice way to show off your love of the night sky, check these out.
Dr. Pamela Gay: And, then the next thing for me is the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, every year, puts out a Sky Atlas. And, it’s this little book that has listed in it when are all the meteor showers; when are the planets going to be up, and beyond that, it also has information that you’re going to want pretty much forever. Double stars; globular clusters – lists, upon lists, upon lists. This is the go-to guide to have sitting next to your telescope.
Fraser Cain: Yeah.
Dr. Pamela Gay: And, you know, you don’t have to update it every year, but if you have someone in your life who uses a telescope, go ahead and get them one. They’re going to love it.
Fraser Cain: Yeah. To go along with that guide of – You know, I mean, that’s really like what’s happening over the course of the year, and for the upcoming years – all of the stuff that we can predict, that are special to go out and watch. And, yeah, absolutely we rely on that. I know Dave Dickinson depends on that book, and it’s great that it’s a Canadian publication.
Dr. Pamela Gay: Yes.
Fraser Cain: To go along with that, I’m going to recommend two pieces of observing gear. And, you know, we make these recommendations every year, but I want to just lay it down in stone here. First, if a person is really into seeing the night sky, and wants to get into astronomy, start with a pair of astronomical binoculars. I recommend the 15x75s, which is a good balance between the aperture and the magnification that you’re going to get with the sort of weight of carrying these things around. They make a bigger one – a 25×100, but they’re just too big. So, go with the 15x75s. It’s a great way to learn the night sky.
And, then the second thing is to go with a Dobsonian telescope. I’m now convinced. We had the star party at Astronomy Cast 500. I got a chance to play with every single different kind of telescope, and the Dobsonians were just – I just kept going back to these Dobsonians –
Dr. Pamela Gay: Yeah.
Fraser Cain: – because, you grab the front of the telescope, wrench it around to a new target. It’s very robust; very quick to be able to do it. And, if anyone’s got one of the fancier telescopes – if you’ve gone and gotten a nice Meade, or a Celestron with a great little motor drive, and you spend all night. You’re like, “Oh, Saturn’s up. Okay. Let’s go take a look at it.” And, then an hour later you’re still trying to polar align the telescope, and make it track Saturn, just don’t do it. Just go to – just go with a nice Dobsonian. They’re inexpensive for a – maybe a – for an 8” telescope, you’re going to spend, maybe, $300.00, $350.00 dollars, and it is just the greatest way to start – a great time. I don’t know what you call them. It’s like a target. Like a telerad?
Dr. Pamela Gay: Telerad, yeah.
Fraser Cain: Yeah. It’s a telerad, yeah. It looks like a bulls-eye. It’s like a –
Dr. Pamela Gay: They’re fabulous.
Fraser Cain: So, great. So, fast. And, so, if you know the sky, then you just go with that, and you could – Oh, it’s the greatest. So, that’s my recommendation if you want to get someone their first way to see the night sky. Get them the binoculars, and if you just want to go with – You know you’re going to want to look at them moon, and Saturn, and Jupiter, and some of the brighter objects, then go with that Dobsonian telescope. And, it’s just the fastest way.
Dr. Pamela Gay: And, really, everyone wants a good pair of binoculars, no matter what you’re doing. And, I personally like my binoculars to have a slightly bigger field of view, so I go with a pair of 10x42s, and that makes it easy to star-hop; to go find the big, faint, fuzzies that are out there sprawling across the sky. But, you need a dark location if you’re doing this. But, the thing that you get to do with binoculars that you don’t get to do really any other way is just star-hop. And, for star-hopping, this is where it starts to get cool to have some of the cool software that’s out there. And, this is where you just take your friend’s advice, and you’re like, “Let me help you.” And, you install Stellarium for them. It’s completely free.
Fraser Cain: Yes.
Dr. Pamela Gay: And, give them the binoculars; show them Stellarium; put in the night sky settings, and you’re off, and you can find things. And, for your phone, there are all sorts of different apps. Find the one you like best. Try all of them. Most of them are free. – That allow you to move your phone around, and figure out exactly what it is that you’re looking at. So, don’t forget software while you’re in the process of spending beaucoup bucks to find things. You have to have the software to find the things, too.
Fraser Cain: Yeah. All right. Time for another book. So, this is not space, but it’s space adjacent. And, this is the new Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe book by Steve Novella, and the rest of the team, at Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe. And, if you listen to the Skeptic’s Guide, you know how smart they are. I mean, Steve Novella knows everything about everything, and has finally taken the time to write the comprehensive book on being a skeptic. You know, the book that got me into skepticism originally was Demon-Haunted World, by Carl Sagan.
Dr. Pamela Gay: Really?
Fraser Cain: That book just blew my mind. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I was definitely not a skeptic until I read Demon-Haunted World, and then upon reading it, I was like, “Okay. Yup. I get it. This is – of course.” You know, people believe in nonsense, and they shouldn’t believe in nonsense. And, this is the way to do it. And, from that point forward, I’ve sort of perceived the world with entirely new eyes, and the same thing goes, you know, is the modern version of that, is the Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe’s new book.
I mean, if you listen to the podcast – I hope you already know about it, but if you didn’t realize – if you used to listen to the podcast, and you didn’t realize they had come out with a book, it’s out, and it’s wonderful. So, definitely go with that.
Dr. Pamela Gay: Well, I’m going to go back to equipment because that’s kind of the thing that I apparently know better, because I read fiction, mostly. So, the thing that I’d recommend there is Celestron Next Image. There’s a whole series of these little web cams that are designed for you eye piece. And, sometimes, you just want to share what you’re looking at with the world, or at least some who’s inside where it’s warm. And, these Next Images will let you do that.
They’ll let you show, up on a big screen, what it is that someone would see if they look through your little eye piece. This makes it easier for people like little kids, who don’t necessarily know how to look through eye pieces. And, they’re not that expensive. I’d get the most expensive one you can afford because what you can see does get better the more expensive. But, the low end one, for $140.00, while still not cheap, it’s a web cam for your telescope. And, it will give you shiny, happy views.
Fraser Cain: And, connected to that, one thing that’s really amazing in this modern age is, of course, you’ve got a pretty powerful CCD camera that’s sitting in your pocket with your phone.
Dr. Pamela Gay: Yes.
Fraser Cain: And, now there are a lot of really great clips that are made for telescopes that will allow you to attach your phone, and have it be the camera that you’re using to take pictures. And, I’ve seen some great shots of the entire solar system. People have done a collage of the sun, and the moon, and all of the planets, where all of the pictures were done taken with their phone camera, because, the great thing about the phones is, because these objects are very bright, you don’t need to have a big, long exposure. That’s what the phones are not great for yet, although, apparently there is some astronomy software that people are developing for phones, but for very quick exposures, your phone camera is actually really good.
It’s about holding it still, and keeping it at the right distance, and being able to focus it into the – and, have it act as the eye piece. So, if you’re looking for some kind of stocking stuffer gadget for someone who has got a new telescope, or wants to, maybe, start taking some pictures, this is the great first way to get into astrophotography. And, they’re not that expensive. You can buy them for $10.00, $20.00 dollars. Most of the manufacturers now will offer these. And, I highly recommend. Just add a phone – a quick phone clip for your telescope.
Dr. Pamela Gay: And, yeah, I really can’t say anything better than that other than if you start to know someone who’s getting into astrophotography, I still find the Canon cameras are the best ones for doing astrophotography, and once you have someone who’s willing to be outside that long, they now make bluetooth foot warmers. So, when you’re thinking about what to get your astronomy pal, don’t forget it’s cold out there. And, you don’t always have a friend who wants to go with you. But, foot warmers, sometimes, are better than a friend. So, consider, at least, chemical packs, or something like that, to help them keep warm out there – and, never touch your eyeball to an eye piece.
Fraser Cain: So, the next thing I’m going to recommend is Lego. There’s a ton of really great space-related Lego sets that have come out over the last couple of years. The Mars Rover has been immortalized in Lego. And, the big one that came out, I think over the last year, was the Saturn 5 Apollo 11 set – which is the entire Saturn 5 stack; the Apollo – the entire command module, and the lunar module, and even the astronauts. And, it’s all there, and it’s thousands of pieces. I’ve seen some people taking a long time to build them, but having a lot of fun. They had a ridiculously good price over the Black Friday sales. I think you could get the whole set for, like, $99.00.
So, I don’t know if it’s going to come out again shortly, but the price was really inexpensive for what is an enormous amount of Lego. It will keep you busy for a while. And, a SpaceX set has just been approved. I don’t know if it’s going to be available yet, before the holidays. And, there was a great set of female astronauts that came out, as well. So, Lego has been doing a great job of providing scientifically accurate-ish Lego sets that match some of the really great epochs of space exploration. So, if you’re looking for something, check out all the different Lego space exploration Lego sets.
Dr. Pamela Gay: And, the knockoffs are actually not terrible. So, I’m going to admit to having the Chinese knockoff Saturn 5, and the pieces fit together just fine.
Fraser Cain: Oh, really?
Dr. Pamela Gay: Yeah. Yeah. It’s just the instructions aren’t all in English.
Fraser Cain: Had the patten expired? Are they allowed to do that now?
Dr. Pamela Gay: What was that?
Fraser Cain: Has the patent expired? Are they allowed to do that now?
Dr. Pamela Gay: I’m not sure anyone’s really worried about catching them right now.
Fraser Cain: Okay. What have we got?
Dr. Pamela Gay: So, you totally stole mine, and so now I’m like desperately hunting for the thing that I didn’t have in front of me, which was I was going to recommend, at that point over the holidays where you are no longer capable of thinking, speaking, or just generally being extroverted. And, we all hit that point. Go to the movies. There is an excellent new movie out about the first man on the moon, and this is your chance to go see space portrayed in a way that may allow you to inflict your hobby on those around you, with those you love.
Fraser Cain: All right. Let’s talk video games. You know, you’re more of the board game person. I’m the video game person here.
Dr. Pamela Gay: Yes.
Fraser Cain: And, the game that I have been playing obsessively for the last, literally years now, is this game called RimWorld. But, the game just released its 1.0 version, so now it is – it’s fully complete, and they’re going to be making updates. But, the game is largely done, and it is just the greatest video game that I have ever played, and I can’t stop playing it, and I can’t image there will ever be room in my heart for any other video game. They’re all unnecessary.
But, the cool thing about this game, RimWorld – so, you essentially run a colony of crashed survivors on some distant planet, and you try to keep them alive while all kinds of horrible things are happening – raids from pirates, and other local factions in the area. They’re building up their technology. They’re stockpiling resources, but they’re all kind of becoming friends, and getting along with each other, and people fall in love, and out of love, and have horrible wounds, which people have to take care of them. And, you go on caravans to nearby colonies and towns to trade.
And, in the end, if you are able to pull it off, you build a spaceship that allows you to escape the planet, and fly off into space. But, I find it’s way more fun to just keep playing on the world until you just get overwhelmed by the forces that raid against you. So, everyone I have recommended this game to, from my daughter, my best friends – they’re all deeply addicted. So, I highly recommend this game. It’s called RimWorld, and it’s now – It’s more expensive now that it’s version 1.0, but still much cheaper than any other of the AAA games, and will keep you busy for decades.
Dr. Pamela Gay: That is impressive. So, I was going to recommend a fairly new game called Evo. It’s – think Minecraft. You need to spin up your own server, and things like that, but where Minecraft doesn’t necessarily have a plot, and a story, with Evo, you’re on a world where you have to go from essentially stone age to sufficient technology, to not die by the incoming asteroid you see coming. And, they take into account that if you do x, it causes pollution, and this is bad. So, you have to build containment vessels.
And, so it really forces you to think through the ramifications of your action on your planet. And, it’s one of these things where you can either screw up by dying violently by asteroid, or by just killing yourself with too much pollution. And, I love the diversity of ways to both live and die in this sim where you’re creating your own fate.
Fraser Cain: So, if you the person in your life – or, if you have yearly unlimited resources, and you want to get something really cool, I just want to make an overall general recommendation of a supplier, which is Oceanside Photo and Telescope, which is a telescope company. They are out of San Diego, and they’ve been immensely supportive to some of the cool stuff that we’ve been doing, and they sell, really, like introductory stuff –
Dr. Pamela Gay: Everything.
Fraser Cain: But, they also sell all the really high end, amazing telescopes. So, if you want to build your own backyard observatory with your own pier mount, and an amazing telescope and camera system, definitely give them a call, and they will set you up with whatever is the top – Go ahead.
Dr. Pamela Gay: I’ve told this story before, and it is still the reason why they have my business forever. When I worked at Harvard, I called them up thinking I knew exactly what I wanted to buy. And, when you call up from Harvard, you kind of expect people to try to sell you extra stuff, and they stopped me from buying things I didn’t need; got me exactly what I needed for less money. And, I was super happy.
And, over the years I’ve called them up after, like, “I know it’s last minute. Can you help me get solar filters for my binoculars for the Venus transit?” And, they couldn’t, but they had no qualms recommending I call up their buddies at some other place. I really did wait until the last moment. They’re good people. They’re going to be honest, and they’re going to do right by you. And, that, to me, matters more than almost anything. And, they have all the stuff, and they have it all at good prices.
Fraser Cain: Yeah. And, if it’s a really complicated thing, it’s important to have some be able to make those decisions, and help you figure that out. And, Oceanside has always been up for every mad-cap scheme that I’ve had so far, and – so, highly recommended. And, just, again, they haven’t provided us any money. They’re not, you know, some of the – nobody who we’re talking to has given us any money, so in some cases they’ve sent us samples to review, but that’s about it.
Dr. Pamela Gay: Yeah.
Fraser Cain: And, I have a couple more quick, last minute things I want to make some recommendations, as well. A couple more books: One is Lost in Mass, by Sabina Hasenfelder, who – her book is killing it on – out there, right now. And, she is just taking the state of modern physics to task – how a lot of people are chasing – what she calls “beauty,” as opposed to more practical physics.
Dr. Pamela Gay: If you love String Theory, I require you to read this book.
Fraser Cain: Right. Exactly. And, I think you’ll find that she’s ruffled a lot of feathers, but at the same time has given a lot of people some things to think about. The other thing, of course, is the new Paul Sutter book, Your Place in the Universe, just came out. I’m half way through it, and really enjoying it. Paul –
Dr. Pamela Gay: And, your book?
Fraser Cain: And, we’ll get there, yeah. And, then, of course, the Universe Today Ultimate Guide to Viewing the Cosmos. Everything you need to know to become an amateur astronomer, and that one, if you buy copies of this, I absolutely make money. So, just make sure that you’re aware – for that shameless self-promotion. And, your planets?
Dr. Pamela Gay: I have one final thing to recommend, and that is: I have an Etsy store, along with my husband. 739 studios, and I paint planets. I do this on Saturdays, live, over on Twitch.tv/starstryder. And, I’m going to have a whole bunch of new worlds going up in the next several days, just in time for the holidays, and I do take consignment.
Fraser Cain: Perfect. All right. Well, thanks, everyone. Thanks, Pamela. And, we’ll see you next week.
Dr. Pamela Gay: Sounds great, Fraser.
Female Speaker: Thank you for listening to Astronomy Cast, a non-profit resource, provided by the Planetary Science Institute, Fraser Cain, and Dr. Pamela Gay. You can find show notes and transcripts for every episode at AstronomyCast. You can email us at info@AstronomyCast.com. Tweet us @AstronomyCast. Like us on Facebook, and watch us on YouTube. We record our show live on YouTube every Friday at 3:00 p.m. Eastern, 12:00 p.m. Pacific, or 1900 UTC. Our intro music was provided by David Joseph Wesley. The outro music is by Travis Searle, and the show was edited by Susie Murph.
[End of Audio]
Duration: 31 minutes
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