Gateways to the Cosmos

Gemini Observatory
Gemini Observatory

Observatories are our windows to the universe. Through their gates, we can move out to distant realms and explore the lives and deaths of stars, the evolution of galaxies, and the origins of the cosmos. Astronomers used to travel to observatories quite regularly to do their work, which made them appreciative of the distant, lovely places where these facilities are built.

Now you don’t have to go to an observatory to get your data as much as in the olden days (or nights, actually), because many facilities are automated and can deliver your data across the Internet (or in digital format on tape or disk) very quickly. We are in the age of remote observing, and it seems to me to be a natural evolutionary step for astronomers to take. Yet, something is lost, something described in Patrick McCray’s book Giant Telescopes as a romantic link to a past time of astronomical discovery when lonely men (they were almost always men) wrestled with great astronomical beasts atop cold mountaintops. Many important discoveries were made by those men and their machines, and their hard work has led directly from the ways of the “old days” to the methods of today’s astronomers.

Still, that shouldn’t stop us from appreciating the beauty of the mountaintops, even as we revel in the rest of the cosmos that is revealed from their observatories. I think every astronomer should go up a mountain at least once in his or her career, and not just for the heady experience of trying to take data at high altitude (although that’s a hoot, too). You gain a new perspective on the world when you go up the mountain. You get to feel as if you could fall up to the stars when you step outside from the control room during an observing run. And, then there’s the rush you get from knowing that the night you’re up there, you’re one of a handful of human beings across the world who are doing what you’re doing.

In that sense, then, observatories are truly gateways to discovery. It’s just that what you discover isn’t always up in the sky!

Homesteading on Titan

Spacewriters homestead
Spacewriter's homestead

I suppose it’s fitting that during the week of major discoveries on cold, methane/ethane-slushy Titan that a snowstorm would arrive to remind us of winter cold here on Earth. However, what some of us are experiencing in the snowstorm currently enveloping the New England area of the U.S. would be a balmy day on Mars and a downright searing heat wave on Titan! Imagine the report from The Weather Channel(tm) if we lived on Titan:

Folks out near Dragon’s Head are well advised to stay inside for the rest of the day, as a strong cold front is bringing methane flurries. Temperatures could plunge to -183 Celsius, with wind chills making it feel like -190. Watch out for lake-effect accumulations around the shores of Snowy Sea. And people, if you don’t have to be out, we advise you stay in and stay warm!

It’s kinda fun to think about “extreme” weather on other planets and how we’d deal with it if we lived there. Of course, life on Titan (for humans) would be a challenge of major proportions. Just how would we build habitats? Out of what? And why would anybody want to live there? There’s another good science fiction story there, just waiting to be written!