Mark Marley

Art show flyer

Not sure how many #Tucson followers I have here, but this Friday evening is a free art show called The Art of Planetary Science at University of Arizona. Come say hi if you see me! I’ll give you a sticker 😄

A post card from my collection.

I was telling someone last week that Papago had been proposed as a national park and they were skeptical. Thank you for this wonderful treatment of these.

We need to get Whitaker a lunar crater name. It’s criminal he doesn’t have one yet.

Yes those are our founding legend. “History became legend”

That’s a nice one!

Also our marketing folks are going to fold in a “we mapped the moon” as part of an upcoming retrospective accomplishments campaign. While it is certainly true I’m sure the nuances will be missing. Apologies in advance.

Black and white photo of Gene Shoemaker (left) and Gerard Kuiper looking at a mechanical globe during the Ranger mission.

Another one of Shoemaker and Kuiper during Ranger times. Our archivist has been doing a deep dive on our material and is turning up some gems.

I didn’t recognize this plant growing out of the rock today so used Seek (iNaturalist) to learn it is a “ragged rockflower” which seems appropriate.

It occurs to me that both of them have prizes in the fields they created named after them. A little fun that in this photo they are both just watching the guy in the suit do the actual work.

I was privileged to take a class as an undergraduate from Shoemaker, about 20 years after this photo was taken.

For your Saturday enjoyment, here is Gene Shoemaker leaning in front he left and Kuiper on the right looking at the first Ranger images of the moon at JPL.

At a doctor appointment this morning, after hearing what I do for work, “if I can ask, what belief framework do you rely upon when dealing with the vastness of the universe in your work?”. Wanted to say something like, “I just need some faculty members to serve on a committee, that would be enough”.

Strap a salt shaker on every Starlink.

Yes this. #1 basketball team and #1 in space science. So idea is cross topic marketing. I’m not sure how successful it actually was but everyone had fun. You have to watch the 55sec hype video.

More stars.

Ty Robinson and Kris Klein.

It’s full of stars.

Reporting live from Galaxy Slam. Marcia Rieke has already figured out and deployed the flashing light spirit towels we all got.

Business Insider wins first George Polk Award Business Insider has won the Polk Award for The True Cost of Data Centers, an investigation revealing the hidden costs of the AI boom.

A big package on data centers that I was part of right before getting laid off from Business Insider just won a Polk Award. Nice! Congrats to that whole team—I mostly just did some writing, but they all did a *ton* of investigative and data work. www.businessinsider.com/business-ins...

I just found this pic of me from the Fall 2000 DPS meeting, my first conference. All subsequent posters were printed on a newfangled "wide format printer" but that was not an option for me. This shows work in progress on modeling hot Jupiter "transit spectra."
ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2001ApJ....

Tonight is space themed basketball game against BYU. Watch the hype video if you haven’t. Also will be my lifetime 1st college b-ball game attendance to cheer on our space scientists at halftime. “We will be on the court and people will be dancing around us.” Video at 10. www.arizona.edu/galaxy-slam

I once encountered Jesse Jackson in a crosswalk at Apple HQ in Cupertino of all places. By the time I clocked what had just happened he was long gone. He must have been early 70s at that time, which sounds a lot less old to me now than it did then for some reason.

Nice write up on a very interesting result. The hot start / cold start initial conditions for giant planet evolution depend on how the gas is accreted so I need to think about that in this context as well (maybe the paper does already).

It’s a pale blue dot.🔵

Galaxy Slam trading cards are in. Better stock up on Ty’s for selling on eBay after the HWO life detection discovery in 2041.

That answer exceeded my expectations.

We are visiting in a few weeks. Who do we speak to to arrange an eruption at that time?

Oh they just steal from the hummingbird feeder... They also really like the peanut cakes but they have gotten too pricey lately so I save them for treats when I'm feeling generous.

Gila woodpecker hanging on suet cage.

Ladder backed woodpecker hanging on suet cage.

In quick succession (a minute apart) visited by a ladder backed and then a Gila woodpecker. The former is notably smaller.