4 Nov 2009

The letters of Beatrice Hill Tinsley: 1974

From The Stars are Comforting, 7:00 pm on 4 November 2009

Annie Cannon Prize in Astronomy, visit to sister in Huancayo, research at Cambridge, end of marriage, job offers, farewells.

“Now that it’s time to leave Texas, I feel suddenly aware again of the vast change in my life. There was a little farewell ceremony when I finally left Austin last week, and the students were sorry. Here at Dallas, my friends are mostly away in San Francisco (where Brian is) so I’ll get out without nostalgic farewells. Meanwhile I’m enjoying four days with Alan and Terry. They are so full of energy and love. It hurts. But I can tell that they are O.K., and lots of people love them.”

Multiwavelength M
Bode's Galaxy M81: This galaxy is tilted at an oblique angle on to our line of sight, giving a "birds-eye view" of the spiral structure. The galaxy is similar to our Milky Way, but our favourable view provides a better picture of the typical architecture of spiral galaxies. M81 may be undergoing a surge of star formation along the spiral arms due to a close encounter it may have had with its nearby spiral galaxy NGC 3077 and a nearby starburst galaxy (M82) about 300 million years ago. M81 is one of the brightest galaxies that can be seen from the Earth. It is high in the northern sky in the circumpolar constellation Ursa Major, the Great Bear. www.nasaimages.org

Music details

DEBUSSY String Quartet DG 427 320

TRAD Sol del Peru Compilation CD

COPLAND Our Town RCA 09026 61699

WOOD Hail Gladdening Light CFP 37943

BACH arr Labadie Goldberg Variations, Aria DORIAN 90281

BACH arr Labadie Goldberg Variations, Var 13 DORIAN 90281