Cosmic Diary Logo

Meet the astronomers. See where they work. Know what they know.


The Project:

The Cosmic Diary is not just about astronomy. It's more about what it is like to be an astronomer.

The Cosmic Diary aims to put a human face on astronomy: professional scientists will blog in text and images about their lives, families, friends, hobbies and interests, as well as their work, their latest research findings and the challenges that face them. The bloggers represent a vibrant cross-section of female and male working astronomers from around the world, coming from five different continents. Outside the observatories, labs and offices they are musicians, mothers, photographers, athletes, amateur astronomers. At work, they are managers, observers, graduate students, grant proposers, instrument builders and data analysts.

Throughout this project, all the bloggers will be asked to explain one particular aspect of their work to the public. In a true exercise of science communication, these scientists will use easy-to-understand language to translate the nuts and bolts of their scientific research into a popular science article. This will be their challenge.

Task Group:

Mariana Barrosa (Portugal, ESO ePOD)
Nuno Marques (Portugal, Web Developer)
Lee Pullen (UK, Freelance Science Communicator)
André Roquette (Portugal, ESO ePOD)

Jack Oughton (UK, Freelance Science Communicator)
Alice Enevoldsen (USA, Pacific Science Center)
Alberto Krone Martins (Brazil, Uni. S. Paulo / Uni. Bordeaux)
Kevin Govender (South Africa, S. A. A. O.)
Avivah Yamani (Indonesia, Rigel Kentaurus)
Henri Boffin (Belgium, ESO ePOD)

A la recherche d’un logement / Searching for a room / Buscando um alojamento

Je suis a la recherche d’un logement pour le mois de Novembre, quand je serai encore une fois a la ville de Bordeaux! En principe, je devais être logé a l’Observatoire, comme toujours, cependant cette fois-ci toutes les chambres de la résidence de l’Obs. sont pleins!


Donc, je suis dans une position délicate: Je peux rester dans un hôtel le mois entier, mais dans ce cas je n’aurai pas d’argent suffisant pour aller a Bordeaux pendant le premier semestre de l’année prochaine. En autre, si je reste en France seulement en Octobre, il ne me sera pas possible résoudre des problèmes que je dois résoudre pendant Novembre!

Bon, en français je n’ai pas besoin de parler sur Brassens, n’est pas?! ;-) Et j’imagine que vous savez déjà que l’Auvergnat a été écrite comme un remerciement pour ceux qui l’ont hébergé et aidé a Paris pendant la deuxième guerre mondiale… quelle façon de dire “merci”!

Bien sûr, mon cas n’arrive même pas loin de celui de Brassens… on dirait même qu’ils sont aussi loin comme la Terre est loin du bord de l’Univers. Néanmoins, comme mon talent est aussi infiniment plus petit, Je n’aurai su jamais remercier un personne tellement bien comme il a déjà fait. Donc, je laisse ce video de l’Auvergnat pour dire “merci” aux amis de l’Observatoire de Bordeaux: pendant que j’écrivais ce texte, j’ai reçu des offres de logement dans leurs maisons! Merci beaucoup, vraiment! Et en hommage à l’amitié, voici un autre video du maître (Les copains d’abord):

Cieux clairs!

Alberto.

———————–

Searching for a room

You see, I am in (an almost) desperate search for a place to stay in Bordeaux during the month of November. I need to go back there, and as usual I should stay at one of the rooms at the Observatory’s residence. Nonetheless, this time all the rooms are already booked!

So I am actually in a delicate  position: I could stay in a hotel during the whole month, but in this case I wouldn’t have enough money (from my research grant) to go back to Bordeaux during the first half of the next year. On the other hand, if I stay in France only during October I wouldn’t be able to solve several problems I need to during November!

It is very likely those of you who knew the world before the internet will remember of this great french musician called Georges Brassens. To those who don’t know, he is one of the greatest names of the french popular music. He wrote lyrics that arrive at a very refined poetical sonority, which I like a lot. One of those songs, the one of the video above, was written to thank those who sheltered him in Paris during the second World War! IMHO, that was a really good way to say “thank you”!

Obviously my case is not even near his… one could say that it is as far from his as the Earth from the border of our Universe. However, as my talent is also infinitely smaller, I would never be able to say “thank you” as well as he did. So, I leave this video here to say “thank you” to my friends from the Bordeaux’s Observatory: while I was writing this text they already sent my some offers with places to stay! Thank you very much! And to pay homage to the friendship, another video from the master Brassens (Les copains d’abord, that literaly means “Mates come first” but also sounds like “shipmates”):

Clear skies!

Alberto.

———————–

Buscando um alojamento

Pois é, estou em busca de um alojamento para o mês de Novembro, quando volto mais uma vez para Bordeaux. A princípio deveria ficar no Observatório como sempre, mas dessa vez todos os quartos já estão reservados, o que me deixa em uma situação um pouco complicada: posso pagar um mês de hotel, mas nesse caso não sobrará dinheiro para que eu volte para lá no primeiro semestre do próximo ano, e se eu ficar apenas nas semanas de Outubro em que há quartos no Observatório, não ficarei em Bordeaux por tempo suficiente para resolver todos os problemas que preciso!

Aqueles dentre vocês que conheceram o mundo antes da invenção da internet devem se lembrar desse grande cantor francês, Georges Brassens. Para quem não conhece, ele é um dos maiores nomes da música popular francesa. Escreveu letras que chegam a uma sonoridade poética bastante refinada, e que particularmente gosto muito. Um dessas músicas, justamente a que está no vídeo aí em cima, foi escrita para agradecer as pessoas que o abrigaram em Paris durante a segunda guerra mundial! Isso que é agradecimento!

Com certeza meu caso está infinitamente longe do dele, tão longe quanto o final do universo, mas visto que meu talento está igualmente longe, nunca seria capaz de agradecer tão bem quando ele já o fez. Desse modo deixo aqui esse vídeo do mestre como um agradecimento antecipado aos meus amigos do Observatório, que enquanto eu escrevia esse texto já me ofereceram mais de um lugar para ficar por lá! Obrigado mesmo pessoal! E como uma  homenagem aos amigos, aqui está mais um video do mestre Brassens (Les copains d’abord, que significa literalmente “amigos em primeiro lugar”, mas cuja sonoridade é a mesma de “amigos de bordo”):

Céus limpos!

Alberto.

Share/Save/Bookmark

Tags: , ,