Last night in Pupin, the Astronomy Department opened its doors to both the Columbia community and the public for its regular Stargazing and Lecture series event. Bwog has sent writers to cover the last few starry Friday night programs, and this week staffer and Friday Night Lights fan Amara Banks was lucky enough to check […]

Stargazing, astronomy, science, math, dark matter, and ghost galaxies, all on Friday, November the 13th? Sounds almost too spooky for life. Bwog sent junior staffer and budding astrophysicist Phoebe Newton to last evening’s edition of Columbia Astronomy’s monthly “Stargazing and Lecture Series.” Here’s her overview. Droves of locals and Columbia students gathered last night for […]

Black holes seem fake, but they’re actually real, visible, and somewhat understandable, thanks to scientists, large telescopes, and lots of math. Bwogger Nadra Rahman attended a biweekly “Stargazing and Lecture series” given by graduate student Shuo Zhang last night in Pupin, titled “Our Monster Black Hole.” Nadra lived to tell the tale (and dish some […]

Columbia alumnus Alvin Roth (SEAS ’71) is one of the two winners of this year’s Nobel Prize in Economics along with Lloyd S. Shapley. They won the award for their work in matching theory, which supposedly enables better college admissions and better organ donation systems. Congratulations! (Washington Post) A new study says that pot is […]

Bwog’s resident Star Gazer Zach Kagan writes in with tidbits of information from Hugh Crowl‘s lecture, “When Bad Things Happen to Good Galaxies,” on doom and gloom for major galaxies. Behold the cosmic drama! The Audience at the most recent Public Lecture and Stargazing, held in the bowels of Pupin (correctly pronounced “pew-PEEN”) Hall, spanned […]

Update, 2:25am: Cowabunga, you can start to see it now! Send in any photos you take of the eclipse, people gazing skywards, eclipse parties… or whatever you crazy kids do during a lunar eclipse to tips@bwog.com! You should definitely go out tonight! In an educational way duh! Take a break from napping studying in Butler […]

Astronomers, gather ’round! Although you may not be able to view the stars from Pupin anymore,  you can do the next best thing at the “From Earth to the Universe” exhibit on the Butler lawns, running for a week starting this Monday. Besides a showcase of celestial pictures that lines the lawns, the exhibit features […]

  The May issue of the Blue and White is imminent! For the last issue of the year, Lydia DePillis investigates the skies with Columbia’s Rutherford Conservatory. Or tries to. In Venice in 1609, Galileo created the first known telescope. It was a great leap outward in man’s expanding sphere of knowledge. Four hundred years […]

God knows its finals season. This afternoon from around 2 PM to 6 PM, the juxtaposition of the moon, Venus and Jupiter will form a frowny face in the south-south-western sky. Bwogger and astronomy-tipster Hans Hyttinen believes that optimal viewing time will be after the sun sets at 4:20 PM. Fiddle around with the stars […]

Last night’s eclipse was widely watched around campus. Bwog was there, too, tucked in Pupin Hall’s cozy rooftop telescope, along with half the Columbia staff and their children. Bwog took the time to interview two eight-year olds on their opinions of the eclipse. Eight year old #1 (lisping audibly and shrieking): Oh my gosh!

Tipster Rick Betita directed Bwog’s attention to Gothamist, whose attention was focused on The New Yorker‘s Letters to the Editor section. Specifically the letter in which Michael Allison, adjunct professor of astronomy at Columbia, had written about January 28th’s cover (see right).  Allison insists that due to the certain conditions (namely,”the angle of the long […]