You Know You're An Astronomer When...

By Nancy Atkinson - January 23, 2009 at 10:23 AM UTC | Site News
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[/caption] There's a new group on Facebook that is pretty fun. It's called

"You Know You're An Astronomer When...

" and they are putting together a great list of things which might indicate that you're an astronomer: one of those hardy souls willing withstand freezing temperatures just to catch a glimpse of the night sky. The first few are quite telling: 1. You see a bright star and know that it's actually Mars.

  1. You know the names of specific craters on the Moon.

  2. You know the significance of the phrase "Oh Be A Fine Guy/Girl, Kiss Me" or as we knew it in my high school astronomy class... "Oh Boy, A Fat Girl Kicked Me".

And then there is my favorite: 29. You know every line to the movie Apollo 13, and have possibly read the book. (That one really gives me away!)

The list goes on, and people are adding to the directory of key indicators all the time. Here's more...

Here's a few more (my comments in parenthesis)

  1. You have a personal vendetta against the weatherman. (Well, my brother is a weatherman, so I have to be careful here!)

  2. You know that Olympus Mons is the tallest peak in the solar system and which planet it's on.

(Here's a perhaps controversial one:) 12. You know that Pluto really isn't a planet and shouldn't have been considered one to start --as sad as it may be.

  1. You can pronounce Betelgeuse, Uranus, Charon, and Cassiopeia at least two different ways each.

  2. Someone casually wonders aloud how many planets out there might be able to support life you immediately think of the Drake equation.

  3. You have Astronomy podcasts on your ipod. (Yay! love that one, too!)

This is an open group on Facebook, so even if you aren't part of this social networking website, you should be able to check out the list, which is expanding all the time. Perhaps UT readers have some ideas?

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com