Date: February 5, 2010
Title: Getting Started in Astronomy: Then and Now
Podcaster: David Chapman and Andrea Misner
Organization: Royal Astronomical Society of Canada – Halifax Centre: AstronomyNovaScotia.ca
Description: Andrea and Dave are two amateur astronomers and friends 30 years apart in age with a common bond formed by their interest in astronomy and physics. Dave became an amateur astronomer in the 1960s; Andrea in the 1990s. In conversation, they compare the “Galileo Moments” that started them on their individual journeys, the telescopes that were available to them, pop culture influences, the effect of light pollution on their skies, and the “photon” connection of observing through a telescope. Finally, they share their thoughts about the International Year of Astronomy 2009 when they and others helped bring the Universe down to Earth.
Bio: Andrea’s Bio: Andrea Misner was born under the skies of the Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. Over the course of her life she has developed a love for astronomy and physics and obtained her B.Sc. in Astrophysics from Saint Mary’s University in Halifax. During her undergraduate studies Andrea discovered she had a passion and enthusiasm for learning, which took her to earn a B.Ed. at the secondary school level (Fort Kent, 2008). Andrea is the Past President of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada – Halifax Centre and now teaches in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Dave’s Bio: Dave Chapman was born in Leicester, England and moved to Canada as a young boy. There, he encountered the dark skies of Northern Ontario and became a lifelong amateur astronomer. He studied physics up to the M.Sc. level (University of British Columbia, 1977) and worked for 31 years as a Defence Scientist, Since retirement, he has returned to his first loves: astronomy and guitars. He is a life member of the RASC, an Assistant editor of that organization’s Journal, and currently lives in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.
Today’s sponsor: This episode of “365 Days of Astronomy” is sponsored by Kylie Sturgess of the Token Skeptic podcast, investigating superstitions and the science behind them at www.tokenskeptic.org.
Transcript:
Getting Started in Amateur Astronomy: Then and Now
365 Days of Astronomy podcast (scheduled 2010-02-05)
by David M.F. Chapman and Andrea D. Misner
D: Hello, this is Dave Chapman from Halifax, Nova Scotia, in Canada…
A: …and I am Andrea. Dave and I are amateur astronomers, both members of the Halifax Centre of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.
D: So Andrea; what does it mean that we are amateur astronomers?
A: Well, Dave, “amateur” simply means we do astronomy as a hobby and not as a profession.
D: So. Just for fun!
A: Exactly!
D: So, Andrea: tell me how you first got started in astronomy. What was your “Galileo Moment” of personal discovery?
A: I was about 15 years old in 1998 standing in back of my parents house looking up at the sky when all of a sudden a meteor—or perhaps some space debris—collided with Earth’s atmosphere, streaking across the sky in red and orange flames over our house. It lasted a good 7 seconds, leaving a smoke trail behind! I saw that and said “Oh this is it…I am hooked!!!” That was my Galileo Moment.
What about you Dave? How did you get started in astronomy? What was your “Galileo Moment”?
D: I recall this very distinctly. I was a boy—maybe 9 years old—living in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in the 1960s. My father took me outside during the winter and showed me the Big Dipper and the constellation Orion, the Hunter. He had been a radio operator in the Royal Air Force and I expect he had a little training in navigating by the stars. I was hooked from that moment on. I read all the astronomy books in the children’s section of the Library and my mother tells me she had to get special permission to allow me to take out books from the adult section. A year or so later, my parents gave me a telescope on my 10th birthday, and a book by Patrick Moore. The telescope was a simple 60 mm refractor with a zoom lens on a wooden tripod.
A: Yeah…that sounds like my first telescope! My mother wanted to see the craters on the moon, so we went to the local hardware store, where my parents bought a 60 mm black refractor on a rickety tripod. We were in awe of this new sleek black ‘scope until my parents got frustrated and it was slowly forgotten, until I picked it up.
D: Yes my telescope wasn’t much, but it really opened my eyes to the cosmos. One of the first things I observed was the Moon, and I still have my observations and sketches from those days. I also looked at Saturn with its rings and Jupiter and the 4 bright moons.
A: You were such a geek!
D: Well, I prefer the term “boy scientist”.
A: Let’s talk a little about science fiction and space exploration. In my case, I grew up watching Star Trek: The Next Generation and reading a lot of Stephen Hawking. Now Stephen Hawking for me wrote in a way that it did not seem that space was such a high thing, away from me. I read it, I understood it, and it really excited me. It wasn’t beyond my intellectual grasp or understanding. What about you Dave? What science fiction did you follow? What space missions excited you?
D: Well I was a big fan of the short stories and novels by Isaac Asimov and later Larry Niven, who had a lot of correct physics in his work. I also read a lot of non-fiction by Asimov, who wrote a lot about astronomy, chemistry, and life science. I believe I may have learned more from my personal reading than I ever did in school. As far as TV shows, of course I was a big fan of the original Star Trek series. In my day, manned space flight was very new: I recall John Glenn orbiting the Earth in his Mercury capsule and all the soft landings of space probes on the Moon. Of course, the milestone for me was Apollo 11 landing in The Sea of Tranquility on the Moon, and Neil Armstrong’s first words as he stepped onto the lunar surface. That was live on TV on my 16th birthday! That was so great for me!
A: Wow…when I was growing up John Glenn went back into space at the age of 77 years! I remember watching the Space Shuttle Discovery launching on the TV. I don’t think that space flight had the same impact on my generation as the original moon flights did for yours, Dave.
D: One thing I cannot remember so well is light pollution. I recall seeing the Milky Way from the city as a boy, but I may be mistaken. My impression is that light pollution is worse now, with the increased population and overly bright lighting. I feel lucky to live in a relatively small city with dark skies not too far to drive to. What about where you grew up?
A: I grew up just outside of Bridgewater—on the South Shore of Nova Scotia—in Conquerall Mills, where the next door neighbor was a small forest away and any stray light was shielded by the trees. Bridgewater has grown since then putting in more buildings and lights that I am sure affect the skies I once observed under.
D: Well, I hope that people will eventually learn that responsible lighting is not only less expensive to operate, but has less impact on the environment, both from the point of view of chemical pollution and improved night sky transparency. I am very excited about Kejimkujik National Park becoming a Dark Sky Preserve, right here in Nova Scotia!
A: Me too! I think a lot of people have lost their connection with the night sky and the wonders it holds. Some people may not realize that when you look at the night sky you are actually seeing “old light”. Light from the Andromeda galaxy, the closest galaxy to us, takes about two-and-a-half million years to travel to Earth and into your eye at the telescope. People have lost that “light or photon connection” and part of The International Year of Astronomy was showing people the night sky and enjoying the views through telescopes or binoculars.
D: I agree with you: Of all the events we organized for IYA last year, I got the most satisfaction from setting up my telescope on the sidewalk and showing people Saturn, the Moon, and Jupiter. There is no substitute for seeing things for yourself, and the reactions were amazing. For may people it was their first view through a telescope, and they went away very happy indeed.
D: So what I learned from IYA was that the stars are our common bond, not only in the scientific sense you mentioned, but also culturally. All over this planet, people look up and see the same stars, even if they call them by different names, form different constellations from them, and make up different stories about them.
A: Even though not everyone feels a connection towards astronomy and the night sky, we are deeply connected to the universe. The same elements that are in stars are in us. For example, our universe and stars are made out of 90% hydrogen. We are made out of about 70% of water. What’s the H in H2O? Hydrogen!!! Regardless what we call the constellations or where we live, we are literally made of stardust.
D: We are made of stardust! I wonder if Joni Mitchell knew about that when she wrote her song?
D: Well Andrea, speaking of Galileo Moments, I believe we have used up all our podcast minutes. This has been a great conversation! And Happy Birthday, by the way!
A: Thank you! Absolutely, I hope the listeners enjoyed it. But before we go, we should invite them to visit our website AstronomyNovaScotia-DOT-ca.
A: So this is Andrea Misner…
D: …and Dave Chapman…
A: …wishing you clear, dark skies, pleasant observing, and lots of photon connections!
End of podcast:
365 Days of Astronomy
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