Astronomy Folk | Planets, Meteors, Comets, Telescopes: 5000

I’ve mentioned before on this blog that I’m not one for arbitrary milestones. I’m OK with birthdays and such, but when it comes to celebrating attaining some certain number of things just because it’s a round number, it seems a bit silly.

Of course, that’s just my rational mind. My emotional mind still squees a little when that nice, round number is achieved.

And here I am, at my 5000^th post. This very post, in fact, if you excuse me getting a little meta.

I know that if we evolved to have 8 fingers, or 12, this post wouldn’t be quite the same milestone. But contingent, stochastic processes are what they are, and so here I am, 4999 posts from the first one. That one, published on March 13, 2005, was just a "Welcome to the blog!" kind of thing. But it was the start of a long series of posts about science, astronomy, Doctor Who, skepticism, religion, LOL cats, politics, and just about everything else that’s caught my attention.

Along the way the blog moved to its new home at Discover Magazine (that anniversary is pretty soon, too). And what news has unfolded over this period! Direct pictures of planets orbiting other stars were first taken. Methane was found cycling on Mars. Water on the Moon. Two moons of Pluto discovered. The first private company launched a rocket. MESSENGER headed for Mercury. Two impacts on Jupiter. Lakes on Titan. An asteroid seen before it impacted the Earth. Just to randomly pick out a very few.

And, of course, the fight against antireality, pseudoscience, nonsense: that continues as well. The title of this blog is Bad Astronomy, but that doesn’t limit the content. The forces of darkness will always be with us, and you can count on me to always fight them.

And as for the future, I will always write about what interests me, what makes me happy, and what angers me. But I can’t do it without you. Well, OK, sure, I can, but it’s not as much fun. Since that first post in 2005, nearly a quarter of a million comments have been left here, too. People praising me, insulting me, leaving non sequiturs, links to related material, corrections, stories, discussions, and so much more. It may be my name on the blog, but it’s the community here that keeps it alive.

So, after 5000 posts, consider this one a simple thanks.

Thanks.

[Update (a few hours after posting): I've read all the comments, and, and... I think I have something in my eye. Thanks again everyone.]