Photograph by Lauren Laufman
Telescope
In 1987, amateur astronomer Albert F. A. L. Jones spotted a bright blue star in the sky that wasn’t listed in his notes. As clouds rolled in, he noted down its position, and alerted other observers to what he found. This is how Jones became one of three people to co-discover the supernova, SN1987.
Jones’ story is a prime example of how people of any skill level can participate in astronomy, which is one of the goals of the Minnesota Institute for Astrophysics’ new outreach program, Universe @ Home.
“Just being able to look up and scan the sky, even without super fancy equipment, you can contribute to huge astronomical discoveries,” says Nico Adams, the University of Minnesota astrophysics graduate student heading the program. “It’s kind of a democratic field that way.”
Every Wednesday, UMN astrophysics students hold an event over YouTube Live consisting of a 20-minute lecture, a Q&A section, and an activity that viewers can follow along at home. Some of the topics that will be covered include All of Time in 20 Minutes, the Secret Lives of Galaxies, and current events in astronomy. The events are designed so that anyone of any age or skill level can participate, even if they’re brand new to the world of astronomy.
“I think it's important to show that anyone can be an astronomer,” Adams says. “You don't have to be from any particular background, or look like any particular stereotype, you can be anyone.”
Adams and astrophysics faculty member Evan Skillman started the program after the cancellation of Universe in the Park, the previous summer program where astrophysics students would give lectures in local parks, set up telescopes for public use, and show people how to read star maps. Since allowing multiple people to put their faces to the same equipment isn’t ideal during a pandemic, Universe @ Home was created to continue the astrophysics department’s outreach efforts.
During past Universe in the Park events, many of the participants were people who happened to be in the park at the time, and wanted to know what was going on. But, even without foot traffic, Universe @ Home’s test night had more attendees than any of their previous events.
The last portion of the online lectures is dedicated to activities like using Universe Sandbox to see how meteor showers work, classifying galaxies, and looking through a telescope via livestream. In addition to learning more about the universe, some of the activities also provide insight and tools on how to do things like stargazing alone.
Stargazing
Even though Universe in the Park isn’t happening this summer, Adams says that aspiring astronomers can still venture out on their own to go stargazing. It doesn’t need to involve getting a state-of-the-art telescope, mapping out the exact latitude and longitude of the best viewing position, and driving out into middle-of-nowhere Montana (but if you do all of those, more power to you). All you need is a clear night sky, and a vehicle.
“It's tough around the Twin Cities, because the Twin Cities is just sort of a large blob of light pollution,” Adams says. “But, if you drive about 30 minutes out of the Twin Cities area in any direction, you will start to see a lot more in the sky than you are used to.”
As you drive out of the cities, the stars in the sky become more and more clear, he notes. If you feel like you’ve driven far enough to see what you want to see, all you need to do is pull over and find a spot to look up.
But, for those who are looking for something a bit more complicated, there are numerous ways to enhance night sky viewing, like bringing a pair of binoculars, renting a telescope, or going out during a meteor shower. The next one is the Perseid meteor shower this August. But, even on a non-meteor shower night with no equipment, it’s still possible to see things like shooting stars, passing satellites, and the planet Venus.
In addition to helping others learn more about the universe, Adams hopes that the program will help encourage people outside the field of astronomy to feel more included in it, and to develop a new view of what astronomy can be.
“The goal of the department should be to train people to be able to inspire wonder,” Adams says. “Because that's part of the goal of astronomy in general.”
Universe @ Home, Wednesdays, cse.umn.edu
