Speaking of Astronomy…

When I’m not writing books or blog entries or writing scripts for documentaries about astronomy, I spend some time at sea each year as an enrichment speaker on cruise ships.  I began doing these in 2001, and over the years have spoken to thousands of people aboard various sizes of cruise ships about astronomy and space science. Lately I’ve been doing them on behalf of the Smithsonian Institution and their travel department, a relationship that I’m very pleased to maintain.

You’d think that cruising would be a great time to spend under the stars — and oftentimes, it is.  There you are, out in the middle of the ocean, nothing but you, the stars, the ship, and a crowd of people onboard.  What’s not to like?

Sometimes however, as happens on land, clouds encroach, there’s light pollution obscuring the view, and as in “real life” (instead of “vacation life”), other activities impinge on the time for stargazing. Cruise ship activity directors are employed to make sure that you have something to do (if you want to), whether it’s talks from people like me (and the other speakers), dancing, eating, learning a craft, taking in a show, and many other activities.

Still, when the conditions are right, the skies are clear and the lights are low, there’s nothing like standing up on the top deck, out in the middle of the ocean, and admiring the view.  I remember one of my early cruises, the captain would turn off all the lights up there and we’d bask in the starry skies. On the flip side, I was once on a ship that had a huge “jumbo-tron” movie screen on the top deck and the light pollution was enough to drown out all but the brightest stars and planets. So, the romance of the stars at sea has various realities, not all of them good ones.

One of the things I enjoy most is talking one-on-one with my fellow passengers. I encourage folks to ask any questions they want about astronomy, and the results are always amusing and enlightening. One time, I had just finished a presentation about some of the major discoveries made by the Hubble Space Telescope, and in the Q&A a person asked me about the nature of time and space.  Another time on a cruise around South America, I had a wonderful conversation up top with a rabbi about the nature of the stars.  After another I gave talk about the Moon, a fellow got up and asked me if I knew how the Apollo missions’ orbits were plotted. Turned out he was a retired JPL employee and had spent part of his career working on just that very problem.

And, the questions don’t just come from the passengers. One memorable night off the coast of Chile, we were standing out on the back deck and our table steward approached me with a question about astronomy. Mark and I ended up giving him a little private star party, and he shared with us some of the star legends of his society.  You can’t beat astronomy for bringing people together!

One of the most frequently asked questions I get is “how can we tell cosmic distances?”  People also ask me about things they’ve read in the media — such as the latest exoplanet discovery — and it gives me a lot of insight into how the media is handling such science topics.

What I like is that people are so darned interested in the stars. I often hear from someone that they used to have a telescope when they were a kid, or that they always loved going to the planetarium when they were in school.  So, it seems that astronomy is a universal topic we can all relate to. The truth is, no matter where I go in the world, people do have an interest in the skies.  We all share the skies, and grow up under the same sky — no matter where we call home. That’s a very valuable lesson to learn, no matter where you cruise in your life.

Speaking of stargazing, check out this month’s edition of “Our Night Sky”, the video stargazing tour I do each  month for Astrocast.TV.  It hits some of the high points of April’ s night skies — just enough to give you a taste of what’s up.  Use it as a springboard for your own stargazing adventures!