iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Interesting historical plaques were set into the Charlotte sidewalks. No details on the loser traitor’s reaction on this one.

Spot where Jefferson Davis learned of Lincoln’s assassination

010

Dan Burns @the-physics-well.net · 14h

Spent the day walking around downtown Charlotte and taking in the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art. The Queen City lived up to her name!

Aura rooftop bar with Wells Fargo building

140

Dan Burns @the-physics-well.net · 22h

Visited the birthplace of President James K Polk, a distant cousin of mine. Also learned that a distant cousin of mine was an enslaver.

Sign describing the hard life of some of polk’s enslaved workers

010

Dan Burns @the-physics-well.net · 04/10/2026

Toured the Charlotte Motor Speedway including a van ride around the track that has 24 degree banked turns. When we stopped on the turn it felt like we would tip over!

View from inside the van showing a large tilt

Me near the winners circle with stands in back

110

Dan Burns @the-physics-well.net · 30/09/2026

I reprocessed my image of the Milky Way at Saguaro National Park to take advantage of 2 years of improving software and processing skills. I still wish I would have left the trail to walk closer to the cacti, but I was alone in the desert and it was dark and scary! #astrophotography

the milky way hovers over the horizon that is dotted with desert brush and large saguaro cacti

1277

Dan Burns @the-physics-well.net · 29/09/2026

I am looking forward to my workshop but I am not sure I will reach the fantastic level!

Physics with Phones

Organizer: Dan Burns

Using advanced sensors integrated into smartphones, participants will be guided through dozens of experiments and activities with emphasis on fluids, waves, sound, electromagnetism, and magnetism. These experiments will showcase the wide range of applications made possible by the technology in their phones. The experiments are suitable for both high school and introductory university physics courses. Participants will receive a kit with materials for the experiments. The Physics with Phones curriculum can be accessed at this website: https://st.llnl.gov/sci-ed/Physics-with-Phones.

What to Bring: A laptop and a smartphone.

101

Dan Burns @the-physics-well.net · 28/09/2026

Aviation Week and Space Technology published my letter about working on the Iridium project!

NAMING CONVENTION
Executive Editor for Defense and Space Robert Wall's article "Spectrum
Battle Heats Up With Rocket Lab's Iridium Deal" (July 13-26, p. 36) brought back memories of my days at the Lockheed Missiles and Space Co. in Sunny-vale, California.
My department did some analysis for Motorola in the late 1980s. We were asked to use our expertise in satellite network coverage analysis to confirm some of the initial work on Iridium. We were told that the name came from the initial assessment that 77 satellites would be needed—77 is also the atomic number of the element iridium. Our job was to confirm this number and reduce it, if possible.
My colleagues would let us know how the analysis was going by renaming the constellation for the new number of satellites. It went from iridium to tungsten, then hafnium, ytterbium and finally to dysprosium, element number 66. Motorola wisely decided to keep the original name.
Another rumor about the name
Iridium had to do with a long-term ambition of Motorola. Iridium is found in the layer of rock that contains evidence of the asteroid impact that cauld the extinction of the dinosaurs.
Motorola was hoping their Iridium system would mark the extinction of
AT&T. That was not to be, but it is amazing to still see the name Iridium in the pages of AW&ST!
Daniel J. Burns, Auburn, California

AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY/SEPTEMBER 14-27, 2026

020

Dan Burns @the-physics-well.net · 28/09/2026

Full moon rising over Lake of the Pines. #astrophotography

0133

Dan Burns @the-physics-well.net · 27/09/2026

That is a neat result! My AP Physics Mech C students solved for two stars orbiting their center of mass in circular orbits. They enjoyed seeing it work after doing the calculations in the @phetsims.bsky.social My Solar System sim. I set up your trinary system and it is even cooler! #ITeachPhysics

110

Dan Burns @the-physics-well.net · 27/09/2026

A brilliant sundog was reflected in the lake this morning.

062

Dan Burns @the-physics-well.net · 26/09/2026

Amazing show in Grass Valley last night. No video was allowed so I made this clip from a Live Photo. The tour continues with a couple of California dates, Portland and Seattle, then on to Portugal.

000

Dan Burns @the-physics-well.net · 24/09/2026

Sporting my new Aviators gear including a Hunter Bigge autographed cap at last night’s game.

010

Dan Burns @the-physics-well.net · 24/09/2026

Got to see my former student Hunter Bigge shut down the Oklahoma City Comets in the ninth last night. Unfortunately the Aviators were down by 6. Pacific Coast League championship game tonight. Hunter may be the only MLB player with a Harvard physics degree.

040

Dan Burns @the-physics-well.net · 23/09/2026

Give me your tacky, your boorish, Your befuddled asses yearning to eat free buffet.

000

Dan Burns @the-physics-well.net · 23/09/2026

First time I have seen challenges to check swing calls. It seemed to work well and was quick. I guess this is coming to MLB next season, whenever that will be! 😢

000

Dan Burns @the-physics-well.net · 23/09/2026

The Las Vegas Ballpark is a great place to see a game. Spacious, comfortable seats, variety of food, and Ballast Point Sculpin on tap! They even have a pool in centerfield.

101

Dan Burns @the-physics-well.net · 23/09/2026

I walked from the Statue of Liberty to the Eiffel Tower, and back today! Also walked by the future home of the Athletics. The construction site had some serious security.

Stadium under construction with MGM lion watching over it

000

Dan Burns @the-physics-well.net · 22/09/2026

On a flight to Las Vegas to watch a former student pitch for the AAA Aviators. This solar power plant was almost too bright to look at. Zooming in shows the mirrors glinting.

060

Dan Burns @the-physics-well.net · 21/09/2026

Here is some data from a retracting measuring tape attached to a box with my phone in it. I measured 5.13 m and @phyphox.org with this add-on integrated it to be 5.12 m! #ITeachPhysics

graphs of acceleration, velocity, and position

030

Dan Burns @the-physics-well.net · 21/09/2026

Fulbright scholar Dr. Praveen Pathak conducted a physics with phones session at Saturday's PTSOS workshop. He shared his add-on experiment to @phyphox.org that calibrates the acceleration and integrates to find velocity and position. You can install it using the QR code below. #ITeachPhysics

teachers learning about physics with phones

screenshot showing new experiment add-on with acceleration, velocity, and position graph

184

Dan Burns @the-physics-well.net · 21/09/2026

The projectile launchers were thanks to the Scott Chan Memorial Fund. Scott and his daughter perished in the Channel Islands dive boat fire 7 years ago. Scott was a popular physics teacher in the SF Bay Area and attended PTSOS many times. He is in the viral video, Gravity Visualized #ITeachPhysics

010

Dan Burns @the-physics-well.net · 21/09/2026

Lots of happy teachers at Saturday's PTSOS workshop for new physics teachers. In addition to our normal assortment of equipment handouts we call goodies, each participant got a mini projectile launcher with a built-in photogate! www.arborsci.com/products/min... #ITeachPhysics

a classroom full of teachers holding up the projectile launcher

120

Dan Burns @the-physics-well.net · 21/09/2026

The colorful naked eye Double Cluster in Perseus. They are "only" 14 million years old so they still contain many short-lived blue-white supergiants. They are approaching Earth at about 39 km/s and are 7500 light years away. How long until they reach us? Details in ALT. #astrophotography

A dense field of colorful stars with two noticeable concentrations of stars with many large blue and a few yellow and orange stars. A large field of glowing magenta hydrogen gas and stars with 3 small bright blue nebula in the middle. Taken with a Takahashi TSA 120 with a 0.7x reducer and ZWO ASI 2600MM camera. The best 530, 30s exposures out of 699 taken through LRGB filters were stacked and processed with Astro Pixel Processor, Starnet++, and Photoshop.

1147

Dan Burns @the-physics-well.net · 20/09/2026

The reflection nebula NGC 6914 is surrounded by a web of glowing hydrogen gas. Reflection is a misnomer, it is more accurately described as a scatter nebula. Blue light is scattered more than longer wavelengths and the illuminating stars emit a lot of blue light. Details in ALT #astrophotography

A large field of glowing magenta hydrogen gas and stars with 3 small bright blue nebula in the middle. Taken with a Takahashi TSA 120 with a 0.7x reducer and ZWO ASI 2600MM camera. The best 512 60s exposures out of 527 taken through LHaRGB filters were stacked and processed with Astro Pixel Processor, Starnet++, and Photoshop. RGB stars added using 180, 15s exposures

06418

Dan Burns @the-physics-well.net · 18/09/2026

Michelson's boyhood home in Murphys California is a wine tasting room. They honor him with their C² wine.

plaque with image of michelson that says Welcome to 350 Main Street
The Historic Home of Albert Michelson
The house you're standing in was the original home of Albert Michelson, built in
1850. The floor you're standing on and the windows you see in the front of the tasting room are original. The back section of the tasting room and the rest of the house were added in the early 1900s.
Albert Michelson, an active Murphys resident of the 1850s and 1860s, became the first to accurately measure the speed of light and in 1907 was the first American to win a Nobel Prize for Science. He even inspired Albert Einstein, who told Michelson in 1931: "It was you who led the physicists into new paths and through your marvelous experimental work, paved the way for the development of the Theory of Relativity."
Was it the light filtering through the windows or the sunlight winding through the giant sequoias when the family went on Sunday picnics that inspired Albert's first sense of wonder that turned into a lifelong passion?
Michelson lived in the house from age 4 to 12, and returned many years later to
show his family the roots of his youthful inspiration.
"The rough life of the camp made a vivid impression on Albert," wrote his daughter, Dorothy Michelson Livingston in her book, "The Master of Light." "He acquired some of the tenacity and toughness of mind that he brought to his mature life as a scientist. The atmosphere was rough and exciting. Arguments were usually settled with fists, knives or bullets...women and children were safer behind locked doors after sundown because some townsmen became gun-happy from gambling and whiskey."
And today, the elementary school in Murphys is named Albert Michelson
Elementary School in honor of this brilliant, but not-so-well known scientist.
The renovation work to transform the house into the Hovey Winery Tasting Room
took close to five months, completed in May 2012 and is a testament to the talents of all local contractors.
Hovey Winery is…

010

Dan Burns @the-physics-well.net · 18/09/2026

I saw an unlabeled smudge in Stellarium while looking for a new target. I imaged it without researching and named it the "Mystery Nebula". Later I found it was Sh2-124, some named it the "Unknown Nebula" the "Almost Nothing Nebula" and even the "Mysterious Nebula" Details in ALT. #astrophotography

A crimson, orange, and violet emission nebula set in a field of colorful stars. Taken with a Takahashi TSA 120 with 0.7x reducer, ZWO ASI2600MM camera. The best 690, 60s exposures out of 911 taken through HSO filters were stacked and processed with Astro Pixel Processor, Starnet++, and Photoshop. RGB stars added using 10s exposures. HSO palette works better for me when there is a much stronger h-alpha signal.

0288

Dan Burns @the-physics-well.net · 17/09/2026

He is amazing. This makes me want to try reprocessing my image of the NGC 7331 supernova, I think I need to add some h-alpha! #astrophotography

A spiral galaxy is tilted toward us showing its blue spiral arms and yellow center with some pink emission nebula visible. There is a bright dot in the core that is an exploded star. Then field is peppered with distant galaxies and stars in our own galaxy. The image was created using the best 303 out of 322 90 second exposures taken with a 8" Meade SCT and ZWO ASI2600MC color camera. Processed with Astro Pixel Processor, Starnet++, and Photoshop.

061

Dan Burns @the-physics-well.net · 17/09/2026

Another great image from @ajamesmccarthy.bsky.social He was working this image of NGC 7331 when a supernova happened! cosmicbackground.io/pages/ea-civ... #astrophotography

A 100 hour exposure of the Deer Lick Group reveals not just a stunning arrangement of prominent galaxies- but thanks to it's position roughly 20° off of the plane of the Milky Way and very little interstellar dust blocking the view, you can see a smattering of distant objects, with some galaxies over a BILLION Light years distant.

At first glance you may see a couple galaxies in this crop below- but then, the longer you look, the more you see.

Stars have a very consistent "point spread function" that determines their shape, so they're all essentially identical in structure, just with slightly different colors and luminosities. Everything that doesn't fit that pattern, is an ENTIRE GALAXY.

1368

Dan Burns @the-physics-well.net · 16/09/2026

My supernova in NGC 7331 prediction has paid off twice in just over a year!

000

Dan Burns @the-physics-well.net · 16/09/2026

Carl Sagan made a similar point about the importance of undirected basic research in his book The Demon Haunted World.

If Queen Victoria had ever called an urgent meeting of her counsellors, and ordered them to invent the equivalent of radio and television, it is unlikely that any of them would have imagined the path to lead through the experiments of Ampere, Biot, Oersted and Faraday, four equations of vector calculus, and the judgement to preserve the displacement current in a vacuum. They would, I think, have gotten nowhere. Meanwhile, on his own, driven only by curiosity, costing the government almost nothing, himself unaware that he was laying the ground for the Westminster Project, 'Dafty' was scribbling away. It's doubtful whether the self-effacing, unsociable Mr Maxwell would even have been thought of to perform such a study. If he had, probably the government would have been telling him what to think about and what not, impeding rather than inducing his great discovery.

021

Dan Burns @the-physics-well.net · 16/09/2026

This is the most Chicago thing I own, it is a little faded because it is 44 years old

jeff MacNelly drawing of cubs fans in the stands in warm coats except for one guy in a Hawaiian shirt. caption reads "hope springs eternal"

010

Dan Burns @the-physics-well.net · 14/09/2026

GBNP Astronomy Festival public viewing was clouded out Thursday night. Friday we were annoyed by a few patchy clouds but overall it was good. Saturday, a stubborn orographic cloud (upper left) blocked the NE quadrant. There was still a lot of great sky to show! Details in ALT #astrophotography

a colorful section of the milky way with the top blocked by a cloud. Modified Sony Alpha 7 III, Sony FE 14mm f/1.8 lens, 6s exposure at ISO 3200. Processed with Astro Pixel Processor and Photoshop

1195

Dan Burns @the-physics-well.net · 14/09/2026

I took a selfie with my telescope after things had died down at the Great Basin National Park Astronomy Festival early Sunday morning. I got photo-bombed by the Milky Way! #astrophotography

me with my telescope, in the background is a starry sky and the milky way, mountains and trees

0295

Dan Burns @the-physics-well.net · 14/09/2026

They should have done a film together

000

Dan Burns @the-physics-well.net · 14/09/2026

Great night under the Bortle 1 skies of Great Basin National Park last night. The rangers might go a little overboard with the red lights for the Astronomy Festival, but safety first! Modified Sony Alpha 7 III, Sony FE 14mm f/1.8 lens, 6s exposure at ISO 1600. #astrophotography

people and telescopes illuminated by red light with the milky way stretching overhead, perpendicular to a mountain ridge.

1161

Dan Burns @the-physics-well.net · 13/09/2026

Live stacking M101, the Pinwheel Galaxy, at the GBNP Astronomy Festival. #astrophotography

0100

Dan Burns @the-physics-well.net · 13/09/2026

All set for the last night of the GBNP Astronomy Festival. That is my telescope pointing straight up to take flats. #astrophotography

0190

Dan Burns @the-physics-well.net · 13/09/2026

Attended a talk by Great Basin Observatory Director Jerry Hilburn and toured the facility. It is the only research observatory in a national park. They offer free online classes for students wanting to learn how to do astronomy research. HS, college, anyone!science.greatbasinobservatory.org

Image of observatory dome and control building with people touring them

070

Dan Burns @the-physics-well.net · 12/09/2026

This is our new car, a tandoori Toyota C-HR EV.

150

Dan Burns @the-physics-well.net · 12/09/2026

Great night at the Great Basin National Park Astronomy Festival last night. Patchy clouds were annoying, but didn’t prevent us from showing hundreds of people the wonders of the darkest sky in any National Park on the lower 48. The Milky Way was a stunning overhead spectacle! #astrophotography

A row of telescopes and people seen in the evening twilight with trees and mountains in the background.

1231

Dan Burns @the-physics-well.net · 11/09/2026

Had to hike up to almost 11,000 ft on the Wheeler Peak summit trail to find aspen showing fall color. Last night’s star gazing was obscured by clouds. Tonight looks better for the Great Basin National Park Astronomy Festival.

A craggy mountain is framed by golden aspen and a talus trail

525331

Dan Burns @the-physics-well.net · 11/09/2026

A Ground Force dump body used in mining

010

Dan Burns @the-physics-well.net · 11/09/2026

I am driving Highway 50, the Loneliest Road in America, to the Great Basin National Park Astronomy Festival today. A Nevada state trooper stopped me and had me move off the road for an oncoming oversized vehicle. It was as wide as the entire two lane road!

380

Dan Burns @the-physics-well.net · 09/09/2026

If this post gave you déjà vu, there was a Type 1a supernova in NGC 7331 last July! I made this gif from the image of 2025rbs I posted back then. I used a mono ZWO ASI2600MM for this image, a color ZWO ASI2600MC for the recent one. The color camera did pretty well. #astrophotgraphy

041

Dan Burns @the-physics-well.net · 08/09/2026

Here is a gif with the supernova removed from one frame. #astrophotography

0103

Dan Burns @the-physics-well.net · 08/09/2026

Sn2026aaiv shines just to the right of the core of NGC 7331. As of 9/8/26 this Type 1a supernova is increasing in brightness. I estimate it was magnitude 14 this morning. NGC 7331 is 44 million light years away. The galaxies below it are almost 10x further away. Details in ALT. #astrophotography

3658

Dan Burns @the-physics-well.net · 01/09/2026

I believe you meant to say “Wow”.

Famous potential detection of an alien signal that never repeated. The word wow is handwritten.

000

Dan Burns @the-physics-well.net · 31/08/2026

Unfortunately, I have no aurora images from June or July. If you included August and allowed composites, I would have submitted the first one. The second image is not a composite but also from the Perseid peak in August 2024. I look forward to seeing your completed calendar. #astrophotography

a red aurora and many colorful meteors streaking through it. in the foreground is a lake with houses lit up by too many lights reflecting in the lake

a red aurora and one long meteor trail with a green tail streaking through it. in the foreground is a lake with houses lit up by too many lights reflecting in the lake

091

Dan Burns @the-physics-well.net · 31/08/2026

I missed out on the lunar eclipse due to clouds, but smoke from the Hawk Fire near Reno gave me a chance to see a reddish-orange Moon rise over the lake last night. #astrophotography

an orange gibbous moon rises over a ridge. in the foreground is a lake with houses lit up by colorful lights reflected in the water. The moon's red light creates an orange stripe down the center of the lake

0152