“Oh for crying out loud!” I muttered as I entered the doorway of the Airbus A 380. As usual, I was the last person on the plane. You would think that with a double decked, 800 passenger aircraft, I could at least make it on time.

Unfortunately the conference had run overtime. Maybe it was all the talk of the explosion of 40-Eridani that the Hubble Telescope picked up that had created the buzz at the latest “Astronomy In Life” conference that had caused me to lose track of time.

“Sorry, sorry”, I said, as I climbed into my seat.

“Oh hey, aren’t you the guy that spoke at the Astronomy In Life conference?” My seat-mate had me pegged. I instantly recognized him as the guy that peppered me with questions about the explosion of 40-Eridani.

“Oh God”, I thought, “This is going to be a long flight.”

No sooner had I settled into my seat, than the gentleman began a barrage of questions. “So, 40-Eridani. That’s where Vulcan orbits, right?”

“Nuts! would you like some nuts, sir? Last chance before take-off!”