Pluto Interview

Author and blogger John Scalzi interviews former planet Pluto.

Excerpts:

• I’m not going to sue. Who am I going to sue? You think the International Astronomical Union has any money to speak of? There’s a reason the most popular event at an astronomer’s conference is the free buffet.
• Yes, I’m excited about the New Horizons mission. But I wish you guys could have found a way to get one of the Voyagers my way. I wanted to listen that record.
• I would have preferred the term “ice planet” myself. Some of the “dwarf” planets out here are going to mess with that definition once you discover them.
• No, I won’t tell you where they are. Find them yourself. You guys are good at that.
• Life on other planets? You know, I’m paid really well not to comment about that.

AAS changes publishers

The AAS announced in Informational Email 2007-09, May 4, 2007, that IOP (Institute of Physics) will replace University of Chicago Press as publisher of ApJ & AJ.

U of C Press has commented on the change of publisher, concerned about the possibility of job losses.

The major development in astronomy publishing in 2006 was the purchase of Blackwell by Wiley. Blackwell publishes MNRAS.

UHM Library Serials Cancellations

Hamilton Library is experiencing a budget crunch that is requiring the cancellation of a number of journal subscriptions. Information on UHM Library Serials Cancellations indicates that 362 journals ($621,417) will not be continued as subscriptions in 2008.

Here are the astronomy titles. Click on the chart to enlarge.