StarStuff
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About Me
Hi, I'm Stuart Gary, I'm a journalist and broadcaster with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. I love science, especially the majesty and wonder of space, so I put together a weekly astronomy show for the ABC called StarStuff.
In my spare time I like to fly planes, practice karate and pistol target shooting and play around with my cars, a twin Turbocharged Falcon GT Interceptor and a DeTomaso Pantera GTS.
I’m vegan, a life member of the RSPCA and a supporter of several animal welfare organisations.
My other great passion is music which is understandable when you realise that I was a radio music jock long before I became a journalist. My record library contains tens of thousands of singles, albums, videos, CD’s and DVDs. These days that’s all stored in an 8 terabyte raid enclosure linked to a desk top PC at home. My tastes range from rock and grunge through to trance and new romantics. At the moment I’m listening to heaps of MGMT, William Control, Hawthorne Heights and Short Shack, but I have lots of time for the classics like Placebo and the early stuff from Silverchair, In fact Neon Ballroom is still my favourite album, and Emotion Sickness is still one of my two favourite songs (the other being William Control’s Death Club).
StarStuff is a great name for the show, but it works on more levels than just astronomy, it’s really cool for any science program because everything in the universe after the quark gluon plasma of the big bang is star stuff even the iron which makes your blood red was manufactured in the supernova explosions of stars. Carl Sagan said it best, we are all star stuff.
This blog is designed to allow me to publish all the things which can’t fit into StarStuff. There’s heaps of really interesting stuff out there and only a half hour window for the show, so each week becomes a battle to try and squeeze it all in. This blog lets me do that.
You can check out the show at the offical ABC StarStuff website:
http://www.abc.net.au/science/starstuff/
There's also an official ABC StarStuff Twitter feed: @abcstarstuff
And an official ABC Science website: http://www.abc.net.au/science/
The legal stuff: This is my personal blog. The views expressed in this blog are those of me only and not the Australian Broadcasting Corporation or its management. I do not claim ownership of any of the media in this blog. where possible credit and or source will always be given. If one of your photos or other media is submitted in this blog and you would like it removed please let me know.
Blogs I follow:
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DISCOVERY CHANNEL TELESCOPE SEES ‘FIRST LIGHT’
Discovery Communications and Lowell Observatory today are proud to officially usher in the beginning of the Discovery Channel Telescope era with “The First Light Gala,” on Saturday, July 21. The event celebrates the successful fruition of a two-decades-long visionary effort by the private, non-profit Lowell Observatory to construct a world-class, state-of-the-art research instrument for the 21st century.
“The Discovery Channel Telescope is emblematic of our mission to ignite curiosity and stir the imagination of audiences here and around the globe,” said John Hendricks, Founder and Chairman of Discovery Communications. “The telescope represents ‘discovery’ in both word and deed and we are thrilled to see the amazing places it will take us with breathtaking images and vital new research.”
The celebration also honors a decade-long commitment from Discovery Communications founder and major Lowell Observatory contributor John Hendricks, and his wife, Maureen, whose generous support was indispensable in constructing the $53 million, 4.3-meter Discovery Channel Telescope, which was completed without any state or federal funding. The collaboration between Lowell Observatory and Discovery Communications will be featured on-air in a one-hour special on Discovery Channel in early September 2012, which will document the planning and construction of the telescope.
“The First Light Gala is a historic event in the annals of Lowell Observatory,” says Dr. Jeffrey Hall, director of Lowell Observatory. “It marks completion of our spectacular new research facility, initiation of superb projects that will bring our research to millions through our partnership with Discovery Communications. We are honored to be part of it and grateful to all who have helped make it a reality.”
Along with remarks from dignitaries such as Dr. Hall, Mr. Hendricks, Lowell Observatory sole trustee William Lowell Putnam III, and a keynote speech from former astronaut and first human to set foot on the Moon, Mr. Neil Armstrong, the First Light Gala is featuring “first light” images taken in May with the Discovery Channel Telescope (DCT).
The images, along with special video presentations by the Observatory, Discovery, and Mr. Armstrong, will be presented to approximately 700 attendees, including representatives from the DCT’s “first light” institutional partners Boston University (which signed an in-perpetuity agreement with a contribution approaching that of Discovery), the University of Maryland, and the University of Toledo. Other dignitaries making remarks include Lowell Observatory director emeritus Dr. Robert Millis and major project contributor Mr. John Giovale. The master of ceremonies is Mr. Charles Wendt, the Observatory’s deputy director for advancement.
Lowell Observatory is pleased to welcome dignitaries from state and local government, project contractors and event sponsors, current and former Observatory employees and volunteers, Friends of Lowell, and all those who have donated to the construction and acquisition of all the elements needed for this unique project. Testing and commissioning of the Discovery Channel Telescope, which is located 45 miles southeast of Flagstaff near Happy Jack, AZ, will continue for at least another 18 months, as is typical with four-meter class telescopes. Structured scientific research is expected to begin in 2013 or 2014.
