A high for geeks

Ok, these days all the astronomers and astrophysicists I know - and, with me being a geek, this is a substantial fraction of the people I know and hang out with - have been overly excited with the launch of Planck and Herschel, the two satellites I mentioned in the previous post.

Will they launch them?
When?
Why is the launch being constantly delayed later and later?
Will they be launched eventually?
Today?
Tomorrow?
In two weeks?

Please, shoot the freaking rocket!
And indeed, they did. :-)


And, although I would have never expected neither me nor some of my friends exhibit a similar reaction, we were in fact all somehow high, and strangely happy for the two big thermometers finally flying in the sky.

They say Planck is super-cool.
The coolest thing in the universe.
Literally.
Well, almost.
Well, only for a year.

Well, whatever. Once a geek, always a geek.

In the previous post, I promised to write more about Planck and what it's going to probe, the CMB. Which is great, and cool, yay! However, I'm also *pretty* busy with something else, just this little thing, you know... my phd defense... so sorry, Planck high or not, I'm clearly busy. Busy freaking out.

But don't despair! I delegated the explanation of the mysteries of the universe that will be unravelled by Planck to my friend and colleague Bjoern, who happens to be a much more respected authority than myself, mainly about everything, and in the specific case, about the CMB, of course --> see next post.

Image: abridged from Andy Riley, The Book of Bunny Suicides.
Credits: well, my friends :-)

Disclaimer: the US flag is not supposed to be there!!! Planck is not a US mission, but mostly European (ESA)!!!

We decline responsabilities.
It's a poetic licence.
Please, forgive us.
Turns out, we're not that geek, after all.