Thursday, May 5, 2016

Where do we go from here?

I am not a big fan of change. Yet, a lot has changed recently, and the biggest was out of my control. I had made the decision to pursue and develop a career within the planetarium field. That career was swiftly taken from me without a care. I will avoid the gritty details as that will have me begin a rant with the foulest language imaginable. So, as I am no longer working within a planetarium...
Where do I go from here?

It's a big universe out there.....
I think it is simply to carry on. After all, once a planetarium always a planetarium. I may not be able to control the universe on a daily basis, but that doesn't mean I have to stop talking about it. Plus, who knows what paths will open up in the future.

The planetarium community is amazing, and I am so proud and honored that I am a part of that community. So, I encourage everyone to visit their local planetarium. Although, if your in Arizona, take a drive and visit the Flandrau Science Center and Planetarium. I heard the one in Phoenix isn't as good these days.

"I think it's my adventure, my trip, my journey, and I guess my attitude is, let the chips fall where they may. "
- Leonard Nimoy

Sunday, February 28, 2016

Science: Not a Belief System

The other day, as a guest was walking out of the planetarium, he asked me "Why don't you teach creation?"
My answer: "That's not science."

It's as simple as that.

Science: "The intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment."

Repeatable and peer reviewed observations and experiments reveal the truths about the physical and natural world. You don't have to like, believe, or agree with the facts of the universe that science reveals. However, refusal, denial, or disbelief of scientific facts does not make them any less true.

If you want to believe the Earth magically formed 6,000 years ago. That's fine. However, if you want to argue that belief to be fact and true, the you have to PROVE IT.

In case you don't know the facts: the Solar System is 4.5 billion years old. This is a fact supported by various pieces scientific evidence.

So, your belief in a single religion's creation myth is not science. Therefore, I will not "teach" it during my planetarium show. Don't like it? Don't come to a science center expecting us to cater to your personal beliefs.



Thursday, February 18, 2016

Pluto... 86 years Young

Well... more like 4.5 billion years young, but who's counting. Happy 86th Birthday since you were discovered by Clyde Tombaugh!


No matter what category of planetary objects you fit in, we love you, Pluto! It took us a single human lifetime to reach you, and we cant wait to learn even more about you. Stay weird and interesting!

Read more about Pluto's discovery, HERE!
Read more about Pluto's crazy weirdness HERE!

Monday, February 15, 2016

Point Breakthrough! Surf's Up with Gravitational Waves

Sometimes it seems as if everything big has already been discovered. The past holds numerous huge discoveries which have impacted every aspect of our lives that it makes you wonder - what more could we possibly discover?

Of course, the answer to that question is: everything.

The universe is vast and old. Humans have been trying to understand the universe for at least several thousands years. And, we've been using science to accomplish those means for only several hundred. In a universe that's 13.8 billion years old... we might as well be in kindergarten.
Right: Cave Painting - Gua Tewet - The Tree of Life - Borneo,Indonesia.
Left: WMAP - Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation - Thermal radiation left over from the Big Bang
It's amazing what we have been able to learn in a relatively (*wink wink*) short time. 

Over 400 years ago, Nicolaus Copernicus hypothesized the Sun to be at the center of the Solar System. 62 years later, Johannes Kepler used mathematical principles to describe the motions of the planets under a heliocentric model, which predicted how the planets should behave in such a system. On the heels of Kepler, Galileo Galilei first peered through his telescope 5 years after Kepler began publishing his research. Galileo's physical observations of the phases of Venus and the moons of Jupiter finally proved Copernicus to be right. Hypothesis turned to theory a.k.a fact.

Through science, predictions about how the universe works can be made. 100 years ago, Albert Einstein became another legend in science history to slide the curtain open on our universe even further. 

Through Einstein's General Theory of Relativity, violent events in the universe such as black holes merging, neutron stars colliding, or even supernovae, should produce ripples in space-time called gravitational waves. However, gravitational waves have been elusive for the past 100 years because we needed technology that was sensitive enough to detect their very slight effect as these waves pass through the Earth. 
Visualization of a gravitational wave.
Luckily, we are now in an age where we have developed that technology. The Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) was designed with the sensitivity to detect gravitational waves through the use of mirrors and lasers that can detect any slight movement of those mirrors that occurs. LIGO has been in operation for 25 years, but just recently it received an upgrade to make it even more sensitive. After it re-opened and resumed it's search, guess what LIGO discovered...

Gravitational waves!

The frequency of waves told researchers that these gravitational waves were produced from the merger of binary black holes, which occurred 1.3 billion years ago. Not only have we now proven gravitational waves to exists and Einstein to be once again correct, but we have also proven the existence of binary black holes!





So, what's the significance? Well, through the successful detection of gravitational waves, a new area of space science (gravitational wave science) can open up. The ability to detect this phenomenon with LIGO will allow us to advance our technology even further, and we can use gravitational waves to detect other violent events in the universe in order to learn and understand how our universe works even better. 

Science...it works. 

GO HERE for more information about LIGO and gravitational waves.

Saturday, February 6, 2016

Are you smarter than a 5th grader?

There are some really smart kids out there. I have had so many kids come into the planetarium who know so much more about astronomy than I did when I was in high school. Some kids even know more than I do now. 

I love when kids ask me critically thought questions or questions I would've never thought to ask. I also love when a kid asks me a question that I do not know the answer to because then I get to learn something new. 

Today is a good example of kids asking great questions. After our show, Saturn: Jewel of the Heavens, sometimes I will ask the audience if they have any questions. There was a little boy in the audience who was maybe 5 or 6 years old. In fact, he could've been 4. 
He asked me these questions:
  1. Why did those rocks [moons] collide into each other to form Saturn's ring?
  2. Why do some of Saturn's rings have more stuff than other parts of the rings?
These are really great questions that show a level of critical thinking I'm sure I still don't have! 

What's great about these questions is that we are still trying to understand Saturn's rings and how they formed. There are multiple hypothesis, and the planetarium show only visualizes one of those scenarios. In addition, new research using Cassini data was released about something interesting and unexpected involving the density of the rings.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute
So, an elementary-aged child is asking the same questions professional astronomers are also asking about the rings. That is amazing! It is also inspiring. Every time I have a kid come into the planetarium that shows such knowledge, curiosity, and excitement about astronomy, it gives me hope for the future. There will always be those kids who pursue their dreams and help pave our way forward through the universe.

GO HERE for the recent JPL article about the rings' density.
GO HERE to learn more about the rings in general.


Monday, February 1, 2016

An Ode to Chaperones

A break from school and work,
A time to play and learn for all,
Screaming kids with endless energy,
Don't let them run, climb, or fall,
Plenty to experience and fun to have,
Put away the cell phone,
Look up,
Pay attention,
The world is larger than a little screen,
Be a role model,
Engage,
You've clocked in to volunteer,
You're the leader,
The authority of your little group,
Help keep them safe and respectful,
Encourage new learning,
Just maybe you too will learn something new.


Saturday, January 23, 2016

Amazing Space!

One of the things that fascinates me most about space is not what lurks in the depths beyond our home planet, but that we have developed the ability to see and even explore out into those depths.

For thousands of years, our only access to the universe was through our own eyes. It wasn't until the 1600's that telescopes first allowed our eyes to see beyond their evolved limitations and glimpse at what was awaiting us. Yet, we still remained earthbound even as telescopes grew; uncovering more light from the darkness.

We finally took our first steps into that darkness only fifty-nine years ago with the launch of the first space traveler, Sputnik. Since then, numerous robotic and human explorers have transformed humanity's place in the universe.

Sputnik
Of course, the Apollo missions left humanity's footprints on the Moon, but that is where our physical journey ends. For now. As a substitute for our physical limitations, the technology we have developed serves as our proxy as we probe into the unknown.

Apollo 11
Many spacecrafts have journeyed into space since the beginning of the Space Age. However, few have become so prolific and revolutionary that these missions almost seem to have an identity of there own.

January serves as an important anniversary month for our accomplishments in the new frontier.

30th Anniversary of Voyager 2 Fly-By of Uranus
Thirty years ago, Voyager 2 had it's closest approach for it's fly-by of the Uranus system. Voyager 2 saw this planet in way no human eyes had ever witnessed in person. It even discovered new moons and new rings our telescopes at the time couldn't see. After passing by Uranus at 50,600 miles, Voyager 2 was the last spacecraft to visit this world.

Crescent Uranus after Voyager 2 fly-by
12th Anniversary of the Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, Landing on Mars
Twelve years ago, Mars history was made with the successful (and bouncy) landing of the Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity. These plucky rovers were tasked to find evidence that Mars once had liquid water. The area where Opportunity landed was bountiful with such evidence. However, Spirit had a tougher time until a wheel malfunction was the stroke of luck the rover needed to find silicates (minerals formed formed in liquid water) buried within the martian soil. While the initial mission was only supposed to last three months, both Spirit and Opportunity proved to be the toughest rovers that could. Spirit's last phone home was in March 2010 after getting stuck in the sand. Yet, Opportunity is still going strong and sciencing the hell out of Mars.

Opportunity view from atop "Cape Tribulation" - January 2016
10th Anniversary of New Horizons Launch to Pluto
Ten years ago, the New Horizons spacecraft launched on it's long and lonely voyage to fly-by the (now) Dwarf Plant, Pluto. Just as the Voyager spacecrafts gave us our first detailed views of the planets within the outer solar system, New Horizons would finally give us an up close and personal of this faraway world. Pluto is ridiculously far from Earth (an average of 3.67 billion miles!), so it took New Horizons nine years to finally reach its destination. Almost as soon as New Horizons arrived, it was gone. Even though it only had a short fly-by, it did not disappoint. New Horizons has provided us with an unrivaled view; showing us details of the surface of Pluto and it's moons that has surprised and baffled astronomers. This brief encounter has provided us with data to last decades. New Horizons will continue to fly through the Kuiper Belt, currently on its way to another mysterious object sure to expand our understanding of these distant icy worlds.

Crescent Pluto after New Horizons fly-by

Our accomplishments, and even our failures, of the past push us further into that frontier. The universe is a big place, and it's exciting to see all the different ways we try to explore.

Happy anniversary space travelers!