Astronomers Gifts

'No, I'm afraid that's not a new constellation. It's just a cluster of satellites.'

'Our sensors indicate that this planet's surface is 78% water and the remainder is landfill containing mostly plastics.'

Interdisciplinary studies.

Ned and Bobby Tilson discover a dwarf planet in their attic.

'We just received a radio signal from Tau-Upsilon that was utter drivel. Do you suppose it was one of their TV shows?'

'The aurora borealis. Which is why you should never name something with your mouth full.'

'I think we have picked a bad day for first contact.'

Dr. McWit contemplates The Big Bank Theory

Field Trip!

'Kids, today, Xerf brought in a planet that he found. Now if we look at it closely under the microscope, you can still see it's inhabitants scrambling around.'

"They don't suspect a thing down there - They think Obama was born on Earth."

Honeyhuman Suite

"I think that I've discovered the first comet with a pony tail."

"Be careful, otherwise the Earthlings will find us and terrorize us with spam mails, advertising calls and cat pictures!"

Atlas swats the moon.

"It seems telescope sales are looking up."

"This picture from the Earthlings is upside down."

'I wish they'd named all the planets after Disney characters. They'd be a lot easier to remember.'

Is someone trying to tell us something..?

A return to Mars.

Alien Painting Moon

'Sir, it's those monkeys we sent into space in 1959... They're back!'

"We found three sort-of Earthlike planets around a nearby star." "Do you think any of them have video games?" "I've been trying to work out the odds of an intelligent species arising and evolving thumbs capable of holding an X-box controller." "Proof of video games would change everything." "I wonder what the aliens on those planets consider sexy." "Living beings creating simulated beings they can smash is the hallmark of an intelligent species."

They just discovered an earthlike planet, and it's close. "Earthlike"? It's in Proxima Centauri's habitable zone. Does it have oceans and beaches and sensual ladies who like to gaze at sunsets? It may have liquid water. And it's orbiting a red dwarf, so it'll always look like sunset. HOJ. But is there anyone there to whisper sweet nothings to? I know a guy at NASA. If they send a probe, maybe he could add your dating profile.

Ernie is a documentary filmmaker who tells stories of folks in their professional lives -- I think he should wonk on his film titles more. One film looked at the surprisingly competitive cutthroat world of the dry cleaning business. "The Hanger Games." In another, we see astronomers traveling to remote locations to escape light pollution. "The Dark Night." Ernie showed us the bond among young butchers in an increasingly vegan world. "Stand by Meat"! And he told us the story of a man who i

Occu-Pie Mars

There Goes the Sun

"Have you been on the moon again, young man?"

"I'm grounded. I forgot to delete the car's computer history after we did those crop circles on Earth."

'Houston, I'm prepared to land...'

Rocket Launch Control Centre Back in 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1

"It's clear to me that you want to go far with this company."

'Well, there's something you don't see every day'

"We can see through the troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere and into all those distant stars up there in outer space... truly remarkable, huh, girl?"

International Women's Day.