All posts by Cathy Palmer-Lister

Cosp;ay / Costuming

Interesting costuming exhibit at the McCord

The McCord Museum in Montreal has an exhibition on costume balls that might interest many SFF fans.

McCord Stewart Museum
690 Sherbrooke Street West
Montreal, (Quebec) H3A 1E

“Over 40 dazzling outfits worn will be on display as well as photographs of guests in costume, souvenir publications and more —that capture the spirit and prestige of these grand events. This exhibition and the accompanying publication represent the culmination of a research effort which draws on the quintessential strengths of the McCord Stewart Museum’s rich collections. Many remarkable discoveries, unveiled to the public for the first time.”

Astronomy News, Science and technology

Space Snapshot

Good morning, Moon! This image captured by Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lander on March 3 shows sunrise on the lunar surface. This marked the beginning of the lunar day and the start of Blue Ghost’s surface operations, which will last throughout one lunar day (about 14 Earth days). Image credit: Firefly Aerospace.

PlanetVac is sampling the Moon! Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost successfully landed on the Moon on March 2, carrying with it 10 NASA science and technology instruments, including Lunar PlanetVac. This sample collection technology was developed and tested by Honeybee Robotics, with key tests funded by Planetary Society members and donors. Firefly Aerospace confirmed this week that Lunar PlanetVac has been deployed to begin collecting samples of lunar regolith.

Moon illustrationWithout an atmosphere, the temperature on the surface of the Moon depends almost entirely on direct sunlight. Near the Moon’s equator, temperatures can reach around 120 degrees Celsius (250 degrees Fahrenheit) in the daytime and ten drop to -130 degrees Celsius (-208 degrees Fahrenheit) at night.

Lunar planetvac
The Lunar PlanetVac instrument on the end of Blue Ghost’s Surface Access Arm. Image credit: Firefly Aerospace.

PlanetVac is sampling the Moon! Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost successfully landed on the Moon on March 2, carrying with it 10 NASA science and technology instruments, including Lunar PlanetVac. This sample collection technology was developed and tested by Honeybee Robotics, with key tests funded by Planetary Society members and donors. Firefly Aerospace confirmed this week that Lunar PlanetVac has been deployed to begin collecting samples of lunar regolith.

Fanzines

Fanzine roundup

Zines to share!

Added today at https://efanzines.com:

Andy Hooper’s CAPTAIN FLASHBACK #75

Perry Middlemiss’s Perryscope #51

Nic Farey’s This Here…#84

Octothorpe #129, a regular fannish podcast by John Coxon, Alison Scott and Liz Batty, is now on line

Christopher J. Garcia’s The Drink Tank #460

Bill Plott’s Sporadic #87, 88, 89 and archive issues 66b, 67

From N3F:

With this mailing I am sending a copy of Tightbeam 366. There has been one change. We are moving the longer articles toward the rear of the magazine, so Jesse Silver’s wonderful anime reviews now appear late rather than early in the magazine.

https://www.monsffa.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Tightbeam366.pdf

Books

Locus list of Forthcoming Books

MAR 2025

  • KATHERINE ADDISON • The Tomb of Dragons • Rebel­lion/Solaris UK, Mar 2025 (tp, eb)
  • KATHERINE ADDISON • The Tomb of Dragons • Tor, Mar 2025 (hc, eb)
  • KEVIN J. ANDERSON • Stiffs & Stones • WordFire Press, Mar 2025 (c, tp, hc, eb)
  • CLIVE BARKER • Jump Tribe • Subterranean Press, Mar 2025 (c, hc, eb)
  • AGUSTINA BAZTERRICA • The Unworthy • Simon & Schus­ter/Scribner, Mar 2025 (tp, eb)
  • JEDEDIAH BERRY • The Naming Song • Titan Books UK, Mar 2025 (1st UK, tp,eb)
  • TERRY BROOKS • Galaphile • Penguin Random House/Del Rey, Mar 2025 (hc, eb)
  • JAMES J. BUTCHER • Cold Iron Task • Ace, Mar 2025 (hc, eb)
  • M.R. CAREY • Once Was Willem • Orbit UK, Mar 2025 (hc, eb)
  • M.R. CAREY • Once Was Willem • Orbit US, Mar 2025 (tp, eb)
  • V. CASTRO • The Pink Agave Motel and Other Stories • Clash Books, Mar 2025 (c, tp, eb)
  • CASSANDRA CLARE • The Ragpicker King • Penguin Random House/Del Rey, Mar 2025 (hc, eb)
  • CASSANDRA CLARE • The Ragpicker King • Macmillan/Tor UK, Mar 2025 (hc, eb)
  • TRACY DEONN • Oathbound • Simon & Schuster, Mar 2025 (ya, hc, eb)
  • AMAL EL-MOHTAR • The River Has Roots • Tordotcom, Mar 2025 (na, hc, eb)
  • ERIC FLINT & IVER P. COOPER • 1637: The Pacific Initiative • Baen, Mar 2025 (tp, eb)
  • ERIC FLINT & WALTER H. HUNT • 1637: The French Connection • Baen, Mar 2025 (hc, eb)
  • CHARLIE N. HOLMBERG • Wizard of Most Wicked Ways • Amazon/47North, Mar 2025 (tp, eb)
  • STEPHEN GRAHAM JONES • The Buffalo Hunter Hunter • Simon & Schuster/Saga Press, Mar 2025 (h, hc, eb)
  • STEPHEN GRAHAM JONES • The Buffalo Hunter Hunter • Titan Books UK, Mar 2025 (h, hc, eb)
  • ALLAN KASTER, ED. • 3 Hard Shots at the Moon • Au­dioText/Infinivox, Mar 2025 (an, tp, eb)
  • MARY ROBINETTE KOWAL • The Martian Contingency • Tor, Mar 2025 (tp, hc, eb)
  • JONATHAN MABERRY • Burn to Shine • St. Martin’s Grif­fin, Mar 2025 (h, tp, eb)
  • GREGORY MAGUIRE • Elphie • HarperCollins/Morrow, Mar 2025 (hc, eb)
  • SEANAN MCGUIRE • Installment Immortality • Tor, Mar 2025 (tp, eb)
  • NATASHA PULLEY • The Hymn to Dionysus • Blooms­bury USA, Mar 2025 (hc, eb)
  • EMERY ROBIN • The Sea Eternal • Orbit UK, Mar 2025 (tp, eb)
  • EMERY ROBIN • The Sea Eternal • Orbit US, Mar 2025 (hc, eb)
  • JOHN SCALZI • When the Moon Hits Your Eye • Tor, Mar 2025 (hc, eb)
  • JOHN SCALZI • When the Moon Hits Your Eye • Macmillan/Tor UK, Mar 2025 (hc, eb)
  • S.M. STIRLING • Lords of Creation • Arc Manor/Caezik SF & Fantasy, Mar 2025 (hc, eb)
  • HARRY TURTLEDOVE • Twice as Dead • Arc Manor/Caezik SF & Fantasy, Mar 2025 (hc, eb)
  • MOSES OSE UTOMI • Children of Useyi • Simon & Schuster/Atheneum, Mar 2025 (ya, hc, eb)
  • DAVID WEBER & JANE LINDS­KOLD • Friends Indeed • Baen, Mar 2025 (ya, hc, eb)
  • EDWARD WILLETT • Shapers of Worlds Volume V • Shadowpaw Press, Mar 2025 (an, tp, eb)
  • AMÉLIE WEN ZHAO • The Scorpion and the Night Blos­som • Penguin Random House/Delacorte, Mar 2025 (1st US, ya, v, hc, eb)
Astronomy News

ASTEROID 2024 YR4 UPDATE

Space Weather News for Feb. 18, 2025
https://spaceweather.com
https://www.spaceweatheralerts.com

 ASTEROID 2024 YR4 UPDATE: The odds just increased again. Asteroid 2024 YR4 now has a 2.6% chance of hitting Earth on Dec. 22, 2032, up from 2.2% a week ago, and 1.3% in January. Current probabilities are based on 368 observations spanning 54 days. This growing arc of data is improving our knowledge of the asteroid’s orbit and, so far, steadily increasing the odds of a strike.


Click to view and play with an interactive orbit of asteroid 2024 YR4

That was the bad news. The good news is, even if it hits, 2024 YR4 will not wipe us out. With an estimated diameter of 40 to 70 meters, it is only a few times larger than the Chelyabinsk meteor that hit Russia in 2013. That space rock exploded in the atmosphere, creating shock waves that shattered glass windows and injured hundreds of people (mainly from broken glass). The estimated size of 2024 YR4 reminds researchers even more of the Tunguska impactor, which leveled a forest in Russia in 1908. You wouldn’t want to be at ground zero, but Earth would survive.

The risk profile of 2024 YR4 is unusual. Often we see sensational headlines predicting some newly-discovered asteroid might hit Earth. These are space rocks with huge error bars on their orbits because they haven’t been tracked for very long. As soon as more data are collected, the odds of impact go down. For 2024 YR4, however, the odds are still going up, which makes it interesting.

Reminder: There’s still a 97.4% chance of a miss. Stay tuned for updates.

 

World Con / NASFiC

Bid for World Con in Montreal is filed

With Tel Aviv suspending its bid for obvious reasons, Montreal might well be the site for World Con in 2027–Cathypl

From: https://www.worldcon.org/2024/12/07/montreal-2027-worldcon-bid-filed-tel-aviv-2027-worldcon-bid-suspended/

The Montréal 2027 Worldcon bid filed its official bid to host the 2027 Worldcon with Seattle 2025 on December 7, 2024, and the bid was accepted by Seattle 2025. See the Worldcon Bids Page for links to the documents in the bid filing.

On the same day, the Tel Aviv 2027 Worldcon bid sent an announcement to SMOFCon 41 for presentation to the Worldcon Q&A session announcing that the bid is suspended. Tel Aviv in 2027 bid chair Guy Kovel wrote: “Regrettably, due to the situation in Israel, we would have to push our bid to a later year, we have not yet made an announcement as we are still in internal discussions as to what year we would be able to bid for.”

The deadline for filing bids to host the 2027 Worldcon is February 14, 2025. Instructions for filing a 2027 Worldcon bid are on the 2025 Worldcon website.

Note: The author of this post is a member of the Montréal 2027 bid committee and the bid’s parent non-profit corporation.

Astronomy News

Hearts on Mars

https://www.planetary.org/

Hearts on mars

Mars may be named after the god of war, but it seems more like a sappy romantic. NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft spotted these hearts on the Martian surface throughout its time in orbit. All of them are natural formations, but let’s just go ahead and interpret them as love notes from the red planet. Image credit. NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems.

CSFFA / Aurora Award / Hall of Fame

Aurora Awards: Eligibility Lists Are Open Until Feb. 22, 2025

From CSFFA: Eligibility Lists Are Open Until Feb. 22, 2025

https://www.csffa.ca/

Our first operational change in response to our member survey has been to open eligibility lists early this year. Our eligibility list volunteers have been hard at work verifying a wide array of submitted works, and you can see our current list of confirmed eligible works on our public list page here. This page can be shared widely, everyone has access to it. We hope that the additional time with compiled lists of confirmed works has given our members a chance to explore more titles in the lead up to nominating window. Our eligibility list submissions will close at 11:59pm on Saturday, February 22, 2025. The nominating period will open on March 1. For a more comprehensive look at our 2025 calendar, click here.

Until February 22, CSFFA members are encouraged to add works they are familiar with or have done in 2024. You will need to have purchased your 2025 membership in order to access the member-only eligible work submission forms. If you are a publisher or do not have a membership and would like assistance adding works to the lists, please contact us. If you only published a few works, we are more than happy to put them in for you. You must send us full details of the work and a URL for members to access to get more information about the work.

The eligibility lists for works done in 2024 by Canadian citizens and permanent residents.  For full details on eligibility rules, see here. and on the Aurora Award categories, here. Reminder that no work can be nominated unless it has been added to the eligibility lists before the nominating period begins.

New this year: Our public eligibility page now contains links to external URLs for each work, which you will find to the right of the entry marked as [info]. For works that are available to read in full online (eg. short stories in online magazines), the [info] link should direct you to that work so you can read it. For other works, the info link provides publication, synopses, and purchase options.

For questions or comments about eligibility lists, please contact us at volunteer.csffa@gmail.com

Astronomy News

Should you be worried about Asteroid 2024 YR4?

Kate Howells • Jan 30, 2025

https://www.planetary.org/articles/should-you-be-worried-about-asteroid-2024-yr4

Should you be worried about Asteroid 2024 YR4?

A recently discovered near-Earth asteroid, dubbed 2024 YR4, is making headlines because of the slim possibility that it could impact Earth on Dec. 22, 2032. Early observations suggest that it has about a 1% chance of colliding with our planet. So why all the fuss?

2024 YR4 is garnering so much attention because of more than 37,000 near-Earth asteroids already discovered, it is the only one with more than a 1 in 1,000 chance of impact. “It is rare to have an asteroid with a non-zero probability of hitting Earth,” said Heidi Hammel, Vice President for Science at the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy and Vice President of the The Planetary Society’s board of directors.

To put it into context, 2024 YR4 has a Torino scale rating of as high as 3. The Torino Impact Hazard Scale ranges from 0 (no chance of impact) to 10 (certain impact likely to cause planetwide devastation). Ratings of 1 are fairly common among newly discovered asteroids, but follow-up observations have always reduced that rating to 0. Asteroid 2024 YR4’s rating of 3 is the second-highest an asteroid has ever reached. The only asteroid ranked higher was Apophis, discovered in 2004 and rated 4, but subsequently downgraded to 1 and then 0. We now know with certainty that Apophis will only pass close to Earth in 2029.

Right now, ESA estimates that 2024 YR4’s diameter is in the range of 40-100 meters (around 130-330 feet). If it did collide with Earth, an impactor of that size could cause an explosion in the atmosphere or even an impact crater, either of which could cause serious, even devastating, damage on the ground.

Asteroid danger by the numbers
Asteroid danger by the numbers The risk, characteristics, and rarity of various kinds of asteroid impacts.Image: NASA