Allen is an amateur astronomer, an IT professional, a podcaster, a father of five growing kids, a barely competent chess player, and the owner and publisher of the Urban Astronomer podcast and website. He has formerly served as Director of the Astrophotography and Citizen Science sections of the Astronomical Society of South Africa. You can find his personal social media feed on Mastodon!
A few weeks ago, I did a terrible thing to my camera. I made things worse by trying to fix it, to the point where the guy at the repair shop look visibly shocked and advised me to buy a replacement. This is the story of what I did, and how I fixed it at no cost. I own an entry-level DSLR camera that I use for family photos, forgettable landscapes of the hills outside my home, and astrophotography. It … Continue reading →
Welcome, everybody, to the second Carnival of Space for the year 2015. The carnival has been running for over six years now, and we continue to find new and amazing stories and contributors, so if you have any interest at all in space science or astronomy, this is the place to be! And if you’d like to join our stable of writers, just contact us via the link at the end to see if you qualify (spoiler: you do!) We … Continue reading →
Another week, another Carnival of Space. We’ve been quiet here at Urban Astronomer while I work on a new project and (on a personal note) prepare for the birth of another child. But there’s always time to curate a Carnival of Space so let’s get started. First up is the ever-reliable Universe Today, with an article on material salvaged from a meteorite that originated on the planet Mars, which may have had a biological origin and could be proof of … Continue reading →
Late last year, word started spreading through the local astronomical community that an exciting event was coming up: An Oort cloud comet named C/2013 A1 (Siding Spring) would be passing so close by Mars that there was a chance it might hit. If it did, we on Earth would be treated to a spectacularly rare astronomical display of a comet slamming into a rocky planet. The planetary science community were simultaneously excited about what they could learn from the resulting … Continue reading →
What a weekend… I’ve had family visiting, a fire on the farm, and a once-in-a-lifetime encounter between a comet and Mars to photograph. Oh, and a Carnival of Space to publish. Something had to give, and unfortunately it was the Carnival. Sorry about that! But you didn’t come here to read my excuses, you came for the latest and best writing on space science and astronomy, so if you just keep reading, I’ll make sure that that’s what you get. First … Continue reading →
