Who is the blog written by?

Pamela Gay is an astronomer at the Southern Illinois University in the US. As well as carrying out research, Gay is also keenly involved in science outreach. She puts together the Internet radio show Astronomy Cast, which consists of weekly 30-minute broadcasts each exploring a different topic in astronomy.

What topics does the blog cover?

According to Gay herself, Star Stryder is a blog focused on astronomy, academia and the scientific method, with some content related to teaching, the boundary between science and religion, and life as an astronomer thrown in for good measure. In practice, this means lots of astronomy results are explained and dissected, while we also get an idea of what daily life is like for the author. And, of course, like most bloggers she can’t resist drawing attention to interesting science stories in the media such as this quote from a National Geographic article: “CERN’s scientists, the fine people who brought us the W and Z particles, anti-hydrogen atoms and hyperlinked porn web pages, are now hard at work building the Large Hadron Collider to discover something even cooler: the Force. Yes, that Force. Or like physicists call it, the Higgs boson.”

Who is it aimed at?

Unlike most other blogs written by scientists, Star Stryder is aimed squarely at the interested general public. Gay takes her outreach role seriously, and is always careful to explain the science at an appropriate level for this audience.

Why should I read it?

As this blog is in large part an outreach project, it combines first-hand insight into scientific results and how science is done with the clarity and level of explanation more usually associated with journalists’ blogs. Together with Gay’s approachable and humorous writing style, this makes Star Stryder rare in the blogosphere.

How often is it updated?

Usually about once a day, with each post stretching to a few hundred words. When Gay is at an event, however, such as the recent Lunar and Planetary Society Conference, she tries to report on all the interesting talks and people she meets, which results in several posts a day. When you remember that she is also putting together material for Astronomy Cast, this really is an impressive feat.

Can you give me a sample quote?

As you probably know, my name is Pamela Gay. This is the name I was born with (yes, middle school was hell). I could have taken my husband’s last name when I got married a couple years ago, but at 32 I didn’t feel like changing, and I quite honestly can’t pronounce my husband’s very French, fairly long, last name properly. (Really. I say it and anyone who can speak French giggles rather violently.) So, Pamela Gay it is. This can be problematic. Our lab manager didn’t get any of my emails for the first several months I was here because my last name was considered sexually explicit content that needed blocking by his spam filter. Now, a good colleague in the UK (and possibly a second colleague) has been unable to receive my emails on his university accounts for ˜6 months. I tried 6 different email accounts the other day and none of my emails got through.