Fraser Cain, Author at Universe Today

December 21, 2011March 24, 2012 by Fraser Cain

Here’s How to Get the Most out of Google+

As you probably know, I’m extremely active on Google+, and I think you’ll really enjoy it too. But I think people don’t realize how much the service really has to offer. People set up a Google+ account, don’t see any of their friends there, and then abandon it. The trick is that you need to circle really interesting people. Suddenly, your stream will fill with amazing content and compelling conversations – you’ll be hooked… like me.

Don’t worry that your friends aren’t on Google+. We’re there, and we’re more interesting.

And just to sweeten the deal, remember that we record every episode Astronomy Cast as a live Google+ Hangout. And now I’ve got access to Google+ Hangouts on Air, so we’ll be doing more live space and astronomy discussions, like the one we did yesterday with Phil Plait, Alan Boyle, Nancy Atkinson, and Emily Lakdawalla.

So let me help make this really easy for you with 3 simple steps:

Set up a free profile on Google+. Already done that? Skip this step.
Import my science circle, filled with 200+ active science journalists, bloggers and enthusiasts
Import my space circle, filled with 100+ bloggers, space agencies, and even an astronaut

At this point you should have 300+ amazing people to follow with very interesting conversations, you’ll be notified when we’re recording new Hangouts, and you can chat with me, Phil and most of the Universe Today team.

Here’s a great video that explains more about how to do this.

P.S. I know what you’re thinking, but I’m not getting compensated by Google+. 🙂

December 21, 2011December 24, 2015 by Fraser Cain

Timelapse of Comet Lovejoy Rising by Colin Legg

Comet Lovejoy (2011 W3) rising over Western Australia from Colin Legg on Vimeo.

When Comet Lovejoy was approaching the Sun, many astronomers thought that it wouldn’t survive the journey when it reached the closest point of its orbit. And so everyone was surprised when it appeared on the far side of the Sun, battered, but still intact. Again, many astronomers predicted that it would now fade away as it traveled away from the Sun.

Well, guess what, Comet Lovejoy is now visible with the unaided eye… if you live in Australia, and you’re willing to get up at the crack of dawn.

Here’s a cool timelapse video of Comet Lovejoy rising in the morning captured by Colin Legg. You can see both the comet’s dust tail as well as its secondary plasma tail. Want to see more of Colin’s videos, check out his Vimeo page.

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A big thanks to Mike Salway at IceinSpace for bringing this picture to our attention. And to Rod Brock on Google+ for opening my eyes to Comet’s Lovejoy’s potential as a bright comet.

December 21, 2011January 24, 2021 by Fraser Cain

Discovery of Earth-Sized Worlds – Google+ Hangout

This is the live Google+ Hangout we did to discuss today’s announcement of Earth-sized worlds orbiting another star. A big thanks to Nancy Atkinson, Bad Astronomer Phil Plait, MSNBC’s Alan Boyle and the Planetary Society’s Emily Lakdawalla.

I apologize at low resolution and other issues. This is a work in progress and we’ll have things more organized in the future.

If you’d like to find out about and watch future Google+ Hangouts, head to Google+ and circle me. Then you’ll be notified with the Hangout is about to start.

December 20, 2011December 24, 2015 by Fraser Cain

Live Broadcast, Tuesday, Dec. 20th 12:00pm PST: Kepler Planet Discovery

Artist's Concept of Kepler-20f. Credit: NASA/Ames/JPL-Caltech

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Want more information about the recent discovery of Earth-sized planets by NASA’s Kepler Mission? I’ve gathered together a team of scientists and astronomy journalists to talk about the announcement. We’ll explain the discovery in detail, give you some context, and then answer questions from the viewers.

We’re doing this as a Google+ Hangout on Air, which is in a beta state right now, so there could be all kinds of technical issues, but we’ve tested this out and it’s really cool.

Our current team will be me (Fraser Cain, Publisher of Universe Today), Nancy Atkinson – Senior Editor of Universe Today, Bad Astronomer Phil Plait, the Planetary Society’s Emily Lakdawalla and MSNBC Science Editor Alan Boyle. I suspect we’ll have a few more joining us too.

I’ll post a link to the Hangout once we’ve gone live, just after Noon, so check back then.

If you want to get notified, head over to Google+ and circle me, Nancy, Phil, Emily or Alan and you’ll see the broadcast in your stream once we get started.

The broadcast is over. I’ll post the video once I get my hands on it.

December 3, 2011April 26, 2016 by Fraser Cain

Any Graphics Folks Able to Fix the UT Header?

Hi readers, I scraped together that terrible header image with my terrible photoshop skills and hate it more and more every day. The logo is pixelated, the font is cruddy, the background nebula thingy is blurry.

Does anyone want to take a crack at making something better?

I’ve got a nice high-res version of the logo available here. Thanks to Sam Cashion for cleaning it up.

The header needs to be 1060 pixels wide, and approximately 100 pixels tall. Just email me at [email protected] and I’ll post different versions to see how they fit on the blog.

Thanks!

Update: Thanks to everyone sending in new designs, I’m going to start trying them on for size. 🙂

December 1, 2011April 26, 2016 by Fraser Cain

Astrophoto: The Moon by Brian Brushwood

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Here’s a beautiful photograph of the Moon captured by Brian Brushwood. If that name sounds a little familiar, Brian is the pointy-haired host of Scam School, NSFW, and many other podcasts and web shows. I was totally shocked and surprised to learn that Brian is actually an amateur astronomer, with a sweet 8″ dobsonian telescope. Amazingly, he captured this image by just holding up his iPhone camera to the telescope eyepiece and snapped the image.

You can see Brian’s original post over at Google+, with the complete collection of images he captured that night.

Nice work Brian! Welcome to the hobby of astrophotography – bid farewell to whatever free time you thought you had.

December 1, 2011January 24, 2021 by Fraser Cain

5,000,000 Pageviews in November!

Universe Today stats (always lower in the summer)

[/caption]I know I rarely share the business side of Universe Today, but here’s a very interesting metric: visitors to Universe Today viewed a total of 5 million pages in November, 2011. That’s up about 100% from this time last year.

So, if you think that interest in science and astronomy is declining, allow me to offer this retort. You’re totally wrong. Millions of people every month are subscribed to, or seeking out, the material we’re offering here on Universe Today. People are choosing to read a website that’s only about space and astronomy. You can see the demand for shows like Mythbusters, podcasts like the Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe, or blogs like Bad Astronomy.

I’ll put most of the kudos on Nancy Atkinson’s leadership and the amazing writing team we’ve got here: 15 contributors at last count, growing every month. But the real heroes (to steal a line from Stephen Colbert) are you, the science enthusiasts. It’s your interest in science news that keeps the whole engine going; it’s thrilling to be a part of it, and I guarantee you haven’t seen anything yet.

Thank you for reading, sharing and participating in Universe Today.

Fraser Cain
Publisher

P.S. And for those of you wondering if you can actually make a living as a “blogger”. The answer is yes, and it’s getting easier every day.

October 19, 2011January 14, 2016 by Fraser Cain

Google+ Space Bloggers

I’ve decided I’m going to be the official curator for the list of space bloggers/reporters/researchers on Google+. My current list only contains about 35 people, so it’s missing lots of people. Tyson? Cox? If you’re not on Google+, I can’t get you on the list. And Google+ is free for anyone to join.

So, if you’re a space blogger, and you’re not on Google+, take a second, register and then email me or somehow communicate that you’re on Google+.

If you’re a writer for Universe Today and you’re not on Google+. I’m at a loss for words. 😉

I’m sharing this list every week or so with the people who have me circled, and people are reporting hundreds of new followers every time I share it.

Here’s my Google+ profile. And here’s a link to my recent share of space bloggers.

Did I mention we record every episode of Astronomy Cast as a Google+ hangout? so you can watch us record, ask us questions, and even correct our stupid mistakes, live as we record.

September 27, 2011April 26, 2016 by Fraser Cain

Giveaway: Ankylosaur Attack by Daniel Loxton

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Daniel Loxton, the editor of Junior Skeptic magazine, has released a brand new children’s book called Ankylosaur Attack. This is Daniel’s second book, after his excellent Evolution: How We and All Living Things Came to Be (I’ve got this book and read it to my own kids).

To celebrate the release of Ankylosaur Attack, Daniel’s publisher has agreed to give away 5 copies of the book.

You know how this works, send an email to [email protected] with the subject “Loxton Book” before Friday, September 30th, 2011 at 12:00pm. We’ll choose 5 emails that we receive, totally at random, and the lucky winners a copy of the book.

While you’re at it, you should follow Daniel on twitter.

Author: Fraser Cain