Category Archives: astronomy education

Astronomy Decor and More

I’ve Got a Thing for Astronomy Decor

(and Accuracy)

I have lots of it. My office is full of astronomy books, which are a form of decor that also serve a useful purpose. And, I have a gorgeous set of black-and-white astronomy images taken in the 1960s at the Observatory Tautenberg that I have hanging here and there.

constellation lamp

But, I also have some whimsical things, like this constellation lamp I found at Lowes Hardware a few days ago. I also have a Moon in My Room, which Mark gave me as a holiday gift.moon in my room

I like it when astronomy gets used in products like this because they lend a nice, cheerful, “fun” air to the stars. And, when it comes to science, people sort of need to be “coaxed” into liking it. Our culture has this weird sort of disconnect about science: we use its technology and “ooh” and “aah” at the pretty pictures from Hubble Space Telescope, and even read in wonderment about things like the Human Genome Project or the latest advances in medical science. But, some people also make fun of science, and sometimes even discard it or dismiss it when it challenges long-held politico-religious beliefs or feelings. If you don’t believe me, look at the debates that sizzle around the edges of the global climate change and environmental issues of our day. (But don’t get me started on cre@tion “science.”)

What I don’t like are things purport to be “scientific” but really are not. There are trends in media for example (including advertising and movies) where science, if it gets mentioned at all, is either misquoted, misused, or just plain flat wrong. My friend Phil Plait, over at Bad Astronomy.com has made a career out of finding these mistakes and debunking silly rumors and pseudo-science.

A couple of examples of misuse of science come to mind. First, a catalog for makeup products that we get in the mail has taken to using the word “scientific” to sell soaps and creams. I read these things quite carefully, mostly because I know that no matter how much you pretty up the language to sell this stuff, it’s still just cream in a bottle. And, in this particular catalog, it’s olive oil in a bottle that sells for about four times the price of the same olive oil you can get in the grocery store. But, stick the words “scientifically formulated” on the sales material and suddenly it’s somehow more than just olive oil. Don’t get me started on the irony of using science to sell stuff to women, a population that (until a few decades ago) was largely excluded from science and still finds itself today fighting glass ceilings in research institutions. (Although, it is getting better…)

My second example comes from the mall. Specifically, a store that caters to selling expensive little baby clothes. This spring they’re selling toddler togs festooned with constellation patterns. Great, I think to myself, they’re getting kids started in astronomy early.

Well…. not so much, it turns out. It’s “astrology time” at the baby store, dressing the little ones up in their birth astrological symbols (which, if you don’t it by know, are keyed to positions of the Sun in the zodiac that aren’t the same as they were when astrology was first “devised” several thousand years ago, rendering the most essential aspects of astrology incorrect from the get-go).

Oh, the clothes ARE darling. But, they’re pushing a pseudo-science, not a science. About the only thing that astronomy has in common with astrology is a skyful of stars. So, for the folks who wanna know more about the difference between the two before you head out to the Mall, go to the Astronomical Society of the Pacific and read all about it.

The Old Alma Mater Does It Again

Dear Ol’ CU

It’s always nice to get good news from one’s alma mater (instead of the usual begging letters from the development foundation). Where I went to school (University of Colorado), astronomy, planetary science, and space sciences research have always been Big Things. I did my graduate studies while serving on a team that worked with an HST instrument (the Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph), and also did some work on comet images under a Halley Watch grant. One of the folks who I overlapped with at CU is Alan Stern, now Associate Administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, and an old friend. At CU he worked with the Center for Space and Geoscience Policy, before leaving to work at Southwest Research Institute. A number of other missions had CU relationships, including some involving other members of the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (where I worked), Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics (I worked there as an undergraduate), and a variety of other research institutes at CU.

Artist concepts of a Naval Observatory Proposalinvolving CU-Boulder to place a carpet-like radio telescope on the moon to probe the earliest structures in the universe. Image courtesy CU-Boulder, NRL

Suffice to say, I was pleased to see a press release today outlining a pair of projects that NASA and the Naval Research Laboratory has selected for further funding and development that both involve people and institutions at CU. The first is for a space observatory to find Earth-like planets in distant solar systems. The other is for a unique type of low-frequency radio telescope on the far side of the Moon. Astronomers would use it to look for some of the earliest structures in the universe. Both are very worthy projects and I’m pleased to see my home university continue its winning streak in astronomy and space science. (Read more details here.)

Both projects should give undergraduate and graduate students first-hand experience in designing instruments AND doing science, something that attracted me back to graduate school in the first place (lo these many years ago). While CU isn’t the only university that gets these grants and makes opportunities available, it has been a leader for many years in this area. I can’t think of Duane Physics tower or the LASP building or the JILA towers without remembering all the really smart, really great scientists who came out of those labs and who are making solid scientific contributions today. There are whole new generations of instruments and projects waiting for new generations of student scientists. And that’s good news for science and for old alums like me.