Communicate Astronomy With Public
Communicate Astronomy With Public
Communicate Astronomy With Public
Dark Matter
Explained in 60 seconds!
Credibility of Press
Releases
An exploratory study
www.capjournal.org
Colophon
Editor-in-Chief Kim Jantzen Richard Fienberg Referees
Pedro Russo Lars Lindberg Christensen Anne Green Bob Fosbury
David W. Hughes Ajit K. Kembhavi Robert Hurt
Executive Editor Richard de Grijs Birgitta Nordström Declan Fahy
Lars Lindberg Christensen Pedro Russo Augusto Damineli Neto
Carla Gonçalves Oscar Alvarez-Pomares Thanks to
Editor John Timmer Kazuhiro Sekiguchi Enikö Patkós (ESO), Sonja Jap-
Terry Mahoney Pamela L. Gay Patricia A. Whitelock enga (Springer), organizers and
Rebecca Bemrose-Fetter Jin Zhu participants in the Colloquium
Assistant Editor Georgia Bracey on the Future Professional
Will Gater Fraser Cain IAU DIVISION XII, Commission Communication in Astronomy
Raquel Yumi Shida 55 Communicating Astronomy (Brussels, 2007)
Proof-reading Will Gater with the Public Journal Work-
Anne Rhodes Adrienne J. Gauthier ing Group Published by
Lars Lindberg Christensen IAU DIVISION XII Commission 55
Layout and Production Web Design and Development Rick Fienberg Communicating Astronomy with
Amit Kapadia Raquel Shida Andrew Fraknoi the Public
Francesca Granato Richard de Grijs
Martin Kornmesser IAU DIVISION XII, Commission André Heck Sponsored by
55 Communicating Astronomy Terry Mahoney ESA/ST-ECF
Contributors with the Public Steve Miller
Marusa Bradac Ian E. Robson Paul Murdin
Lars Holm Nielsen Dennis Crabtree Pedro Russo
Nanna Torpe Jørgensen Lars Lindberg Christensen Sidney Wolff
Contents
Editorial 03
Submit articles for one
of the following journal
Explained in 60 Seconds 04 sections:
Announcements
An Exploratory Study of Credibility Issues in
Astronomy Press Releases 05 Reviews
News
The Top Ten Astronomical “Breakthroughs” of the
Resources
20th Century 11
Innovations
www.capjournal.org
Press Releases and the Framing of Science
On-line issues
Journalism 35 Free subscriptions
Articles submission
Editorial
The next few years will be extremely important for astronomy communication and edu-
cation. The International Year of Astronomy 2009 will serve as a unique platform to in-
form the public about the latest discoveries in astronomy as well as to emphasize the
essential role of astronomy in science education.
The IAU DIVISION XII Commission 55 Communicating Astronomy with the Public Jour-
nal Working Group prepared a study assessing the feasibility of the Communicating
Astronomy with the Public Journal (CAPjournal). The conclusions were inescapable.
The present situation of public astronomy communication shows a clear need for a
publication addressing the specific needs of the public astronomy communication com-
munity.
The journal is divided in nine main sections dedicated to: “News”, “Announcements”,
“Letters to the Editor”, “Reviews”, “Research & Applications”, “Resources”, “Innova-
tions”, “Best practices” and “Opinion”. The “Research & Applications” section will con-
tain peer-reviewed science communication ‘research’ articles. “News” and “Announce-
ments” will present information and updates, such as conference reports from the
astronomy outreach community. “Resources” and “Innovation” will provide a repository
of outreach ideas and cutting-edge astronomy communication methods respectively.
“Best Practices” aims to be a guide, containing case studies, to the techniques that
work best in communicating astronomy. “Opinion” provides space for subjective dis-
cussions of topics related to astronomy communication.
We are eager to get your feedback, so please feel free to e-mail us at editor@capjour-
nal.org.
We would like to extend a special thank-you to Andrew Fraknoi and Sidney Wolff from
Astronomy Education Review — which in some sense can be seen as the sister journal
to CAPjournal on the educational side. We look forward to a warm collaboration and
much cross-fertilization.
Happy reading!
Editor-in-Chief
Best Practises
Explained in 60 Seconds
A collaboration with Symmetry magazine, a Fermilab/SLAC publication
Dark Matter
Dark matter is, mildly speaking, a very strange Universe can’t even be bothered to interact with
form of matter. Although it has mass, it does you.” Whatever dark matter is, it is not made of Key Words:
not interact with everyday objects and it passes any of the particles we have ever detected in
straight through our bodies. Physicists call the experiments. Dark matter could have — at the
matter dark because it is invisible. subatomic level — very weak interactions with Science Communication
normal matter, but physicists have not yet been State-of-the-art
Yet, we know it exists. Because dark matter has able to observe those interactions.
mass, it exerts a gravitational pull. It causes
Written
galaxies and clusters of galaxies to develop Experiments around the world are trying to de-
and hold together. If it weren’t for dark matter, tect and study dark matter particles in more di-
our Galaxy would not exist as we know it, and rect ways. Facilities like the Large Hadron Col-
human life would not have developed. lider could create dark matter particles.
Dark matter is more than five times as abun- Marusa Bradac
dant as all the matter we have detected so far. Kavli Institute for Particle
As cosmologist Sean Carroll says, “Most of the Astrophysics and Cosmology
At a distance of nearly four thousand kilometres Saturn’s moon Iapetus looms into view in this
incredible new image from the NASA/ESA Cassini-Huygens mission. Bright regions show areas
News
where ice has been uncovered by impacts on the sides of these colossal mountains which rise
up a staggering ten kilometres from the icy moon’s surface. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science
Institute
Applications
An Exploratory Study of Credibility Issues
Research &
in Astronomy Press Releases
Summary
Key Words
Current developments in the media marketplace and an increased need for
visibility to secure funding are leading inevitably to faster, simpler and more
Credibility aggressive science communication. This article presents the results of an
Hype exploratory study of potential credibility problems in astronomy press releases,
Science Communication
their causes, consequences and possible remedies. The study consisted of
Astronomy
eleven open-ended interviews with journalists, scientists and public information
Visibility
Press Releases officers. Results suggest that credibility issues are central to communication,
deeply integrated into the workflow and can have severe consequences
for the actors (especially the scientist), but are an unavoidable part of the
communication process.
hype — hype is when you take credit for more Finding 4: At least five separate factors
than you deserve,’ (Villard, interview 11). may contribute towards credibility prob- The Press Release Visibility Scale
lems in press releases. Live televised press conference with
Public information officers are juggling daily to When trying to “dissect” the cause of credibility Magnitude 7:
presence of a high ranking political figure
find a sensitive balance between correctness problems, we found that it is possible to list (at
and overstatement, and they constantly need least) five different distinct, but related, causes Magnitude 6: Live televised press conference
to walk a tightrope to get news out to the me- with underlying motivations that generally fall
dia. If press releases are accurate but uninter- into one of two categories: factors that con- Magnitude 5: Press conference
esting, they will not receive media attention, but tribute to making the organization look better
if PIOs sacrifice accuracy while injecting colour than it deserves and factors that make other Magnitude 4: Media teleconference
the press releases lose credibility with journal- organizations look worse than they merit. The
ists and are not used. As science communica- causes are: Magnitude 3: Press release
tor Watzke (interview 1) says, ‘[PIOs] end up
walking a line, because you want to be as in- 1. Using too high a level of communica- Magnitude 2: Photo release
teresting and provocative as possible without tion effort for the level of scientific impor-
being wrong.’ tance. Magnitude 1: Web-only posting
Although scientific organizations jostle to be 2. Using wording that does not correspond
heard by the same media and are sometimes to the level of scientific importance. Figure 1. Press release visibility scale.
in competition for the same funding, all the in-
3. Letting unscientific factors dictate the tim-
terviewees agree that if competition between • Magnitude 6 — Live televised press confer-
ing of the publication of a press release.
organizations becomes unethical it may dam- ence: If a result is released via a live televised
age the credibility of the whole community (sci- 4. Omission of references to other scien- press conference this effort tells journalists
ence communicator Edmonds, interview 1; sci- tists’ work. that the scientific institution believes the sci-
entist Leibundgut, interview 5). Hurt (interview entific finding is of major importance.
4) states this clearly: ‘Any chink in the armour 5. Unjust comparisons with other facilities.
of credibility can make the entire scientific com- • Magnitude 5 — Press conference: Press
1. The level of communication effort conferences that are not televised live are
munity vulnerable to attack.’
Naturally, all scientific findings are not of equal likely to receive less attention than their live
It is evident that there is a great interest in, and scientific significance. The PIO has to choose televised counterpart, mainly because they
concern for, credibility among the communica- from different levels of communication effort to require journalists to gather in person in one
tion actors in general. As stated by Villard (in- emphasise the finding and convince the me- place.
terview 11), ‘once lost [credibility] is very hard to dia to run the story given. This decision will be
• Magnitude 4 — Media teleconference: The
achieve again.’ It is a topic that is known to be based on a subjective assessment of the scien-
very sensitive and of high priority to all involved media teleconference allows journalists to
tific importance as determined by the PIO, the
communication actors. Great effort is put into be in close contact with the scientist without
scientists and possible internal organizational
producing science communication that is as boards. The chosen communication effort may having to travel. A scientist will give a pres-
accurate and as credible as possible (Watzke, have a great influence on the resulting visibility entation and journalists may ask questions
interview 1; scientist Livio, interview 6; science of the story in the media. afterwards.
communicator Madsen, interview 8; Hurt, inter- • Magnitude 3 — Press release: Press re-
view 4). We have chosen to define the level of effort with leases are the most frequently used way of
which a science press release is communicat- communicating science news that presents
Finding 3: Credibility problems are most ed and distributed by a “press release visibility
a scientific discovery of significant impor-
often caused by an intense need for vis- scale” (see Figure 1).
tance to the general public. Press releases
ibility driven by personal or organizational
desires for recognition or financial gain. are sent out via distribution lists that cover
When releasing a given result, a PIO will choose
As stated by scientist/communicator Heck hundreds of journalists and news media. If a
a level of effort according to the importance of
(interview 3): ‘Behind hype is the problem of the given result. The scale, as defined here, wire service picks up a press release many
visibility and recognition — the fight of organi- consists of seven steps, with magnitude 7 be- local newspapers will pick up the story.
zations, laboratories or people for money.’ This ing the highest level of effort an organization • Magnitude 2 — Photo release: Photo releas-
development inevitably leads to science com- can put into communicating a result. If too high es do not usually represent major scientific
munication with more spin, more push and a a level is chosen relative to the story’s scientific discoveries, but contain aesthetic images.
shorter elapsed time from scientific results to importance, credibility problems may occur Even though the scientific content is rela-
publicly communicated results. (Nelkin 1995, p. 161). The higher the level of ef-
tively low, a photo release may still achieve
fort the more solid the science case and the ev-
considerable media attention, and may for
The pressure is applied from different sides: idence have to be. Equally, the higher the level
from the organization itself — often from man- instance appear on the front page of the New
of effort the greater the need for a corrigendum
agement, from PIOs and also from scientists. York Times which happened for an image of
if the science is later proven wrong — and the
While many scientists try to be modest when actual correction should have a commensurate Mars4 taken by the Hubble Space Telescope
they publish their results, the increased com- visibility (Heck, interview 3). (Villard, interview 11). There is rarely a scien-
petition in the scientific community may push tific paper to back up a photo release.
them to overstate their results to become more • Magnitude 7 — Live televised press confer- • Magnitude 1 — Web-only posting: Web sto-
visible, thereby attracting more funding and ence with the presence of a high-ranking po- ries, posted only on the scientific institution’s
gaining recognition (Leibundgut, interview 5). litical figure: Only major scientific discoveries website, contain news or information from
As stated by Madsen (interview 8), ‘in the “con- are endorsed by politicians, whose presence the scientific institution that may only be of
ventional wisdom” scenario, the scientist is the will pull the media in even more strongly. interest to a smaller audience. The end user
guardian of “truth” and objectivity, urging cau- Normally this news will be based on an ac-
tion and moderation. […] But this is a simplistic needs to be active to “pull” the material from
cepted peer-reviewed paper to be published the scientific institution’s website.
scenario. I have seen several cases where the
in a prominent science journal like Science
scientist fell into the trap of serious “overselling” It is important to note that the press release
or Nature.
or hype and the press officer had to exercise visibility scale describes the effort level chosen
the necessary restraint.’ by PIOs to emphasize a scientific result, and
not the level of attention the press release will announcement that life had been found Interviewees mentioned that the reluctance of
actually receive in the media, as this is partly on Mars made all the headlines and even scientists to communicate arose from a fear of
determined by a number of additional external triggered some words from the then US losing credibility with their peers (Fosbury, in-
factors. President (Clinton). Interestingly, this took terview 2). One way to improve the scientists’
place shortly before a NASA budget was view of communication via press releases is
2. The wording of a press release to be approved by the US House of Rep- to encourage them to collaborate as much as
resentatives or by the Senate. Of course, possible and to understand the different pri-
It is necessary for the public information officer orities operating when communicating with the
no life has ever been found on Mars, but
to make science results understandable for the public. It is also necessary that the main scien-
general public by simplifications and analogies the subsequent rectification passed al-
most unnoticed in the news.’ tist involved approves a press release (Watzke,
(Heck, interview 3; Villard, interview 11; Livio, interview 1).
interview 6; Tyson, interview 10; Hurt, interview 2. A press release can be forced out before
4); Madsen, interview 8; Watzke, interview 1; a peer-reviewed paper exists. This by- If a press release is run past an internal referee-
Edmonds, interview 1). However, the wording passes the scientific process and opens ing board before its public release, some fac-
can be used to overstate claims and thus in- up a whole range of potential credibility tors that are known to increase inaccuracy can
crease the visibility of a scientific finding. It can be eliminated. This means that there is less risk
problems (Tyson, interview 10).
be tempting to omit a question mark in a head- of oversimplified results, incorrect analogies,
line and also to omit the caveats and qualifiers 3. A press release can be timed so as to problems of a political nature and other fac-
that are really necessary. As Livio (interview 6) interfere with a press release or an event tors that can harm credibility. Internal referee-
says, ‘when using words like “may”, “could”, from a competing scientific organization. ing also helps scientists maintain credibility
“possible”, etc., the news media does not find Not only is this unethical and counterpro- with their peers, which, as mentioned above, is
these stories exciting enough, and therefore do ductive for science in general, but, as in important for the scientist’s willingness to com-
not print them […].’ case 1 above, it raises concern about the municate Edmonds, interview 1; Hurt, interview
real motives behind the press release. 4; Madsen, interview 8; Watzke, interview 1).
Another aspect of the critical use of word-
ing is seen as “superlative saturation”. This is 4. Omission of references to other Finding 7: The lack of a peer-reviewed sci-
recognized as part of the established process scientists’ work entific paper makes a press release more
(Tyson, interview 10) and occurs when PIOs fo- vulnerable to loss of credibility.
cus on the parts of science that contain results Giving proper credit to earlier work in the same
To all interviewees it is important that the re-
that justify superlatives like “biggest”, “fastest”, field is another stress point in the battle be-
sult has been peer-reviewed prior to public
“first”, etc. The superlatives are often factually tween the communicator’s need for concise-
dissemination, as this is vital to increase the
correct and are added to catch the attention ness and the scientist’s need for complete-
scientific accuracy of the communication. In
of journalists working under heavy time pres- ness (Edmonds, interview 1). There is no doubt
its most extreme form this principle is imple-
sure and deadlines. It is always possible to that this decision is very subjective. Credibility
mented by some journals, like Science and
find at least one superlative for even the small- problems may arise if credit is taken for work
Nature, in the form of the Ingelfinger rule (Toy
est science results. The resulting “superlative that has been done by others or a conscious
2002). The rule says that scientific results must
saturation” can make it difficult for journalists decision is taken to omit references to earlier
not be published elsewhere (including public
to separate “big story” press releases from work where it is obvious that it ought to be ac-
dissemination and electronic preprints) before
smaller ones. knowledged.
the paper has been published by the journal it
was submitted to. The rule was invented partly
3. Dictating the timing of a press release 5. Unjust comparisons with other to protect the (legitimate) commercial inter-
facilities ests of the publishers of scientific journals and
The timing of a press release is a factor that
Comparisons of scientific and technical abilities partly to control the timing of the release of a
can affect the visibility of a given science story
are a standard part of public communication. given scientific result into the public domain
greatly. The timescales of the scientific proc-
It is most probably unavoidable and, to some as a response to the increasing external pres-
ess and the communication process are vastly
extent, a healthy part of justifying the funding sure. The original intentions of the Ingelfinger
different. Science can take years to material-
spent on scientific projects. A newly funded rule make some sense, as it seems fair for a
ize and the communication of the result can
project is supposed to be an improvement, publication to protect the newsworthiness of its
be over in days. As stated by Lorenzen (inter-
incremental or better, on existing projects. stories and to put a brake on the accelerating
view 7), ‘Peer-reviewing is a slow process — I
Credibility issues can occur if this is done in an pace of the public dissemination of science re-
think you have to communicate fast.’ Conflict
unjust way or so as to diminish other projects sults. However, the embargo system also has
over timescales is one of the inherent potential
(Hurt, interview 4; Villard, interview 11). negative effects (Kiernan 2000; Marshall 1998)
flashpoints in the scientist-journalist interaction
that lie beyond the scope of this paper.
(see Valenti 1999).
Finding 5: Loss of credibility mostly affects
the scientist The need for a refereed scientific paper back-
The timing of a press release can be the cause
We find that individual scientists stand to lose ing a press release increases as the claims
of credibility problems in at least three areas:
more credibility than an entire institution, a become more significant. If no paper is avail-
reporter or a PIO (Schilling, interview 9). So it able to support significant scientific claims, it
1. The timing may be used as a political
is natural to find that scientists are more con- makes a press release more vulnerable to loss
tool: A press release can, for instance,
cerned about this topic than other actors. Sci- of credibility, as the claims may more easily
be timed to coincide with a vote on fund-
entists know that negative reactions from their be undermined as the normal scientific proc-
ing for a scientific organisation. As a sci- ess has been bypassed. It is risky to use high
entist, Fosbury points out (interview 2): peers can have devastating consequences for
their career, as it might for instance get harder levels of communication efforts without a peer-
‘When a professional in, I guess, any sci- reviewed scientific paper in the background
to publish articles, find collaborators or get bet-
ence sees a press release they think the (Tyson, interview 10; Fosbury, interview 2).
ter positions (Livio, interview 6; Tyson, interview
organization must have a grant application
10).
review coming up and therefore they are
trying to create some kind of event around
Finding 6: Refereeing either by the main
Conclusions
this.’ This can raise concern about abus- scientist, an internal refereeing board or Credibility issues are found everywhere in sci-
ing science results for political motives an external refereeing board can reduce entist-PIO-journalist interactions and are deeply
among the journalists. Heck (interview 3) the risk of credibility problems. integrated into their workflow. Overstatements
gives an example: ‘Some years ago an are, to some degree, accepted and recognized
as a necessity for the communication process.
Jin Zhu (Beijing Planetarium) To evaluate current tools and methods and prepare for future
Christos Goudis (National Observatory of Athens) Case Studies and hands-on demonstrations
Nikos Matsopoulos (National Observatory of Athens) Communication in the YouTube/MySpace/vodcasting mediascape
Raquel Yumi Shida (ESA/ESO)
Audiovisual, multimedia & online tools
Dennis Simopoulos (Eugenides Foundation/Planetarium)
Kanaris Tsinganos (Hellenic Astronomical Society) Social impact and evaluation of astronomy communication
Manolis Zoulias (National Observatory of Athens) Education and communication tools for the visually impaired
Applications
Research &
of the 20th Century
David W. Hughes Richard de Grijs
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Department of Physics and Astronomy
University of Sheffield University of Sheffield
E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected]
Summary
Key Words
Astronomy was revolutionized in the 20th century. The electron was discovered
in 1897 and this transformed spectroscopy and introduced plasma and
Breakthroughs magnetohydrodynamic physics and astro-chemistry. Einstein’s E = mc2,
Research
solved the problem of stellar energy generation and spawned the study of
20th Century astronomy
Advancement elemental nuclear synthesis. Large telescopes led to a boom in astronomical
spectroscopic and photometric data collection, leading to such cornerstones
as the Hertzprung-Russell diagram and the mass-luminosity relationship, and
to the realization that the Universe contained a multitude of galaxies and was
expanding. Radio astronomy was introduced and the advent of the space age
saw the astronomical wavelength range expand into the ultraviolet, X-ray and
gamma-ray regions, as well as the infrared and millimetre. We also started
wandering around roaming the Solar System instead of merely glimpsing its
members from the bottom of our warm, turbulent atmosphere. Astronomical
“breakthroughs” abounded. We have asked astronomers to select their “top
ten” and these are listed and discussed in this paper.
ries. This dropped to about 1000 after the rav- ing observed over a multitude of wavelengths
20th Century ages of the First World War. By the year 2000, from the gamma- and X-ray end of the spec-
Top Ten Breakthroughs the world groaned under the efforts of around trum through to the long wavelength radio.
20,000 astronomers, each publishing, on aver-
Listed using the Eurovision Song age, 2 research papers a year. Today, the world The middle orders of both our final lists are
Contest approach to positioning has 32 telescopes with mirror diameters, D, in dominated by stellar astrophysics. There is
the range 2.0 m < D < 3.0 m, fourteen in the considerable agreement in the ordering of
1. Expanding Universe range 3.0 m < D < 4.0 m, eight in the range 4.0 these breakthroughs. The most important was
2. The multitude of galaxies m < D < 8.0 m and eleven with D > 8.0 m. the discovery of the sources of stellar energy.
The fact that there is a variety of nuclear “fu-
3. Cosmic microwave background els”, coupled with the possibility of simply uti-
4. Exotics (quasars/AGN)
The Process lizing potential energy, means that there are a
In our original letter to Astronomy & Geophys- range of different star types. So the second
5. Stellar energy sources and evolution
ics (de Grijs & Hughes, 2006), we overviewed major “stellar” breakthrough concerns the divi-
6. Hertzprung-Russell diagram and stellar the huge advances in enlightenment and in- sion of the stellar population into dwarf stars,
diversity giant stars and white dwarf stars, exemplified
strumentation that had occurred in the 20th cen-
7. Exoplanets tury, and pointed to some of the ways in which by their positions on the Hertzsprung-Russell
the understanding of our planetary, stellar and diagram. This advance was extremely fruitful,
8. Stellar chemical composition
galactic neighbours had changed between AD leading as it did to the recognition of both a
9. Dark matter 1900 and 2000. We then decided to ask both mass-dependent stellar evolutionary sequence
the readers of Astronomy & Geophysics and and a host of subspecies stellar types. The final
10. Galaxy mapping and structure
our colleagues at the University of Sheffield to “stellar” breakthrough concerned composition.
produce lists of what they considered to be Maybe we can couple this with physical state
the significant astronomical and astrophysical too. Clearly, we are dealing with a triumph for
20th Century the spectroscopists and a transition from an
breakthroughs that had occurred in this time
Top Ten Breakthroughs interval, and to place these breakthroughs in era when we had no idea what a star was made
order of significance. of or how stellar structure and composition
Listed using the “horse racing form” varied from surface to centre to today’s deep
approach to positioning understanding of elemental nuclear synthesis
Many contributions were received and the sug-
gested breakthroughs were then analysed and and stellar interiors.
1. The multitude of galaxies
ordered in two ways. All the breakthroughs
2. Expanding Universe suggested by all the respondents were consid- It is interesting to note the lowly position of
3. Stellar energy sources and evolution ered, even though some respondents put for- planetary astronomy in both Lists 1 and 2.
ward fewer than the ten requested. First choic- Despite the dawn of the space age, no char-
4. Hertzprung-Russell diagram and stellar acteristic of our Solar System makes the top
diversity
es were given ten points, second choices nine,
third choices eight and so on. List 1 shows the ten. Exoplanets have a somewhat contentious
5. Stellar chemical composition results using the Eurovision Song Contest ap- breakthrough status considering that the dis-
proach. Here, the points given to each break- covery of well over a hundred planets orbiting
6. Exotics (quasars/AGN)
through are added up, and the breakthrough stars other than the Sun simply underlines that
7. Cosmic microwave background with the most points wins, the one with the next fact that we really have little idea where our So-
8. Dark matter highest tally coming in second, and so on. In lar System came from, or how cosmogonical
this approach all the “judges” considered all processes fit in with general star birth.
9. Exoplanets
the “entries”.
10. Solar probing using neutrinos/helioseis-
mology The second approach is rather like the “bet-
A More Detailed
ting form” of a horse when entering a new race. Consideration of the
photographic plate by the much more efficient Here, we wish to know the position it obtained
charge-coupled device, and by the introduc- in the previous races that it entered. And not Breakthroughs
tion of adaptive optics. entering a race does not count. In this method,
all the points allocated to a breakthrough are
1. The Milky Way is not the only galaxy in
In 1900, with the exception of a small incursion added up, but this number is then divided by
the Universe. Many of the fuzzy nebular blobs
into the infrared using blackened thermometers the number of times that that breakthrough has
that Charles Messier (1730-1817) charted in
and bolometers, all astronomy was restricted been chosen, and the results are then listed in
the mid-18th century are actually distant star
to the limited visual wavelength range. By order, giving List 2.
systems just like our own. The breakthrough
2000, the surface of the Earth was dotted with
occurred in 1923, when Edwin Hubble (1889-
radio telescopes and a legion of gamma-ray, Both lists indicate that galaxies win clearly. The
1953) used the 100 inch Hooker reflector and
X-ray, UV and IR telescopes had been placed top two places in both lists go to the discov-
discovered a Cepheid variable in M31 (later
above the atmosphere in low Earth orbit. ery that the Universe actually contains a huge
published in Hubble, 1929a). By 1924 he had
number of galaxies, as opposed to just the
discovered twelve more. Using the calibrated
In 1900, if we wanted to travel, we caught a single one (ours!), and the discovery that the
Magellanic Cloud Cepheid data obtained by
railway train or a ship. By 2000, everyone was galactic distribution was not static, but ever
Henrietta Leavitt (1868-1921), see Leavitt &
flying and twelve men had walked on the Moon expanding. The galaxy/cosmology party then
Pickering (1912), he realised that M31 was
(albeit in the 1969-72 time period). The space try to dominate List 1 by having the cosmic mi-
900,000 light years away, nine times further
age had also seen craft flying by all the planets crowave background in third place, the empha-
than the outer edge of our Milky Way galaxy.
except for Pluto (although NASA’s New Hori- sis here being on the Big Bang theory and its
Soon it was realized that the Universe con-
zon mission is expected to fly by Pluto and its conclusions as to the age of the Universe. The
tained over 1011 galaxies and not just the one.
satellite Charon in July 2015), going into orbit galactic bias is further underlined by the high
This is a marvellous example of an astronomical
around Venus, Mars Jupiter and Saturn, and position of the astronomical “exotics”. Much is
breakthrough and paradigm shift. Astronomers
actually landing and roving about on Mars. made of quasars, active galactic nuclei, galac-
did not just double the number of galaxies, or
tic accretion discs and galactic central black
change it by a factor of ten. A single unique
In 1900, the world boasted around 2000 active holes, all of which are powered by a range of
entity, our Galaxy, suddenly, in the late 1920s
astronomers, working in around 100 observato- highly energetic physical processes, these be-
found itself to be merely one among over 125 introduction of mass-energy equivalence, this perature]) for stars in general. Both Hertzprung
billion. Some change! being exemplified by the iconic equation E = and Russell found that there were two main
mc2. Clearly, mass is not converted into energy types of stars. By far the commonest were
2. The Universe is expanding. This entry re- under normal physical conditions. Before E = the “dwarfs”— approximately Sun-sized stars
lies somewhat on the previous one. The stars mc2 could be embraced, astrophysicists like occupying a “main sequence” along which
in the Galaxy are clearly orbiting the centre of Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington (1882-1944) had luminosity was proportional to temperature
mass, and astronomers envisaged a stellar to show just how extraordinary the centre of a to the power of approximately 6.7. Less com-
system of a specific size, with a nuclear bulge star was. Eddington was one of the first to re- mon were the “giants”. Here, we had stars with
at the centre and an edge beyond which there alize that stars were gaseous throughout, and absolute magnitudes of around zero. (As time
were very few stars. It was a great leap to in- that stars owed their stability to the balance be- went by more stellar classes were added. One
troduce another 1011 or so galaxies. And Ein- tween the force exerted by gravity and the op- class was the faint Earth-sized white dwarfs,
stein’s view was that the Universe was static. posing pressure exerted by gas and radiation. with absolute visual magnitudes between 10
The realization that, on average, the galaxies This led to the mass-luminosity relationship, and 14 and spectral types around B and A, and
seemed to be moving away from us was a which was vital for the understanding of stellar the other, the rarer supergiants with absolute
major paradigm shift. And this was bolstered evolution. For example, the main sequence lu- visual magnitudes in the -5 to -8 range.)
by the discovery that the recessional velocity minosity of a star is proportional to mass3.5 and
increased with distance. Again, the 100 inch the main sequence lifetime of a star is propor- 5. We now understand the composition
Hooker telescope was responsible. This huge tional to mass-2.5. These relationships enabled of the baryonic matter in the Universe. In
instrument had been used to take spectra of astronomers to estimate such important char- 1900, the general consensus was that stars
galactic radiation. Vesto Slipher (1875-1969) acteristics as stellar cluster masses and ages. were made of “earth”. Since 1925 astronomers
measured redshifts, as did Edwin Hubble. started to realize that stars are predominantly
These Doppler velocities were reasonably ac- Eddington (1926) intimated that the density of made of hydrogen and helium, this clearly
curate. Hubble estimated galactic distances the gas at the centre of the Sun was well over a being a major paradigm shift. Cecelia Payne
using Cepheids, for the close ones, and then hundred times that of water, and that the tem- led the way, in her famous Harvard PhD the-
magnitude and size comparisons for the more perature of this region was higher than 107 K. sis Stellar Atmospheres, A Contribution to
distant. Needless to say, the assumption that Stellar interiors were certainly hot enough for the Observational Study of High Temperature
galaxies of a specific type all had similar ab- the nuclear reaction rate to be non-negligible. in the Reversing Layer of Stars, a thesis that
solute magnitudes and diameters led to errors But what was the form of the mass that was be- led to her 1925 Radcliffe College (Cambridge,
in the estimated distances. By 1929, however, ing destroyed? Luckily, at about the same time Massachusetts) doctorate. She used the 1920
Hubble had obtained 46 values of both velocity (1920), Francis William Aston (1877-1945) was equation developed by Meghnad Saha (1894-
and distance. using a mass spectrometer (an instrument that 1956) to convert spectroscopic line strengths
he invented) to measure the masses of certain into atomic number counts and eventually
A graph indicated that velocity was propor- atoms and isotopes. He realized that four hy- stellar photospheric compositions. A second
tional to distance (see Hubble, 1929b). The drogen atoms were heavier than one helium important breakthrough in this field was the
gradient was 500 km s-1 Mpc-1, this positive atom. Others at the time (see later) were hinting realization that stars come in two main compo-
value indicating that the Universe was smaller that hydrogen and helium were the major com- sitional sorts; metal rich Population I and metal
in the past. It was noted at the time that the ponents of stellar composition. These factors poor Population II. This was discovered by
inverse of the gradient (assuming no retarda- combined to solve the stellar energy genera- Walter Baade (1893-1960) in 1943 (see Baade
tion) gave the time since the expansion started. tion problem. But one had to show exactly how 1944), using photographic plates that he had
Astronomers could thus measure the age of it worked. Hans A. Bethe (1906-2005) did this taken of the M31, The Andromeda Galaxy, with
the Universe, or at least the time since it was in 1939, when he proposed the carbon-nitrogen the Hooker, under the conditions of the wartime
all “squashed” into a primeval “atom”. Initially -oxygen (CNO) cycle. Later on he introduced blackout. A third breakthrough was the expla-
this worryingly revealed that the Universe was the proton-proton cycle. Interestingly, these nation of why the stars actually had the compo-
younger than the Earth, but cosmologists processes were extremely slow, so stars spent sitions that they did, and how that composition
speedily reassessed the “Hubble constant”, long periods of time on the main sequence, varies with time. There were two components
whose present value, combining WMAP with gently converting hydrogen into helium. During to this breakthrough: first the explanation of the
other cosmological data, is around 71±4 km this period, their luminosity changed very little. initial 75%:25% hydrogen helium mix produced
s-1 Mpc-1 (see http://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/m_uni/ just after the Big Bang, and second the 1957
uni_101expand.html). So the Universe is about The recognition of the source of stellar energy breakthrough due to the work of Margaret Bur-
(13.8±0.8) x 109 yr old, about three times older led eventually to the general solution of the stel- bidge, Geoffrey Burbidge, William Fowler and
than planet Earth. lar evolution problem, an endeavour that took Fred Hoyle. This takes the nuclear e-process
about 35 years. that converts hydrogen into helium and ex-
Another breakthrough discovery associated tends the sequence on to the production of
with Hubble’s early work was the realization 4. There are only two common types of carbon and oxygen, silicon, sulphur, argon and
that the Universe looked very similar in all direc- stars. Slightly before our understanding of how calcium, and ending with the iron peak. These
tions. This led to the suggestion that the Uni- stellar energy was gained came the realization four scientists then showed how the r-process
verse would look similar from the vast majority that the vast majority of stars are essentially of takes over in supernova explosions and moves
of places inside it, and thus that the formative just two types, the so-called “dwarfs” and “gi- the composition on towards gold, platinum and
Big Bang must have been amazingly homoge- ants”. This is rather surprising nomenclature for uranium.
neous and isotropic. objects that typically have diameters of around
106 and around 20 x 107 km respectively. The 6. Exotics. In 1900, the “Universe” consisted
3. The generation of stellar energy. The year 1910 saw certain astronomers draw- of planets, other minor members of the Solar
next three breakthroughs indicate just how lit- ing up lists of stellar luminosities and surface System, stars and a single Galaxy. The objects
tle we knew about stars in 1900 and how the temperatures (as time went by these lists were known at that time were relatively mundane.
first few decades of the 20th century led to a extended to included radii and masses). Hertz- But there is a special class of astronomer who
major transformation of our views. In 1900, prung (1911) plotted graphs showing the ap- yearns for the exotic, and the last century has
astronomers realized that stars were old, well parent magnitude as a function of spectral type provided such celestial bodies in abundance.
over a billion years old, and that they were very for stars in specific open clusters (i.e. nearby The exotics, by their very nature, stretch cos-
luminous for much the greater part of their life. “moving groups” of closely related stars), such mic physics to extremes, and it is this that
But astronomers did not know how the huge as the Pleiades and the Hyades. Russell (1914) leads to the breakthrough. First one has the
amounts of stellar energy were produced. took full advantage of recent parallax work and stellar exotics. Typical examples are found at
The breakthrough was triggered by Albert Ein- plotted absolute magnitude (i.e. luminosity) as the end points of stellar evolution. Low-mass
stein’s 1905 paper on special relativity and the a function of spectral type (i.e. log[surface tem- stars evolve into Earth-sized white dwarfs, bod-
The Top Ten Astronomical “Breakthroughs” of the 20th Century CAP Vol. 1, No. 1, October 2007 Page 14
The Top Ten Astronomical “Breakthroughs” of the 20th Century — Continued
ies governed by the laws of degenerate mat- ments have indicated that this radiation, in the The observations of a host of other planetary
ter. Neutron stars were predicted by Subrah- rest-frame of the Universe, is isotropic down to systems were expected to provide clues as to
manyan Chandrasekhar (1910-1995) in 1930 1 part in 105. Huge amounts of money have the origin of our own system. They have not.
to be the evolutionary endpoint of stars more been expended in launching satellites such as
massive than 1.4 solar masses. Many of these COBE (1992) and WMAP (2001) to investigate A side issue to the breakthrough discoveries of
are produced by supernova explosions, as the isotropy on ever smaller scales. many exoplanetary systems is the realization
suggested by Walter Baade and Fritz Zwicky that we are still alone. Life seems to be rare;
(1898-1974) in their joint 1933 paper. The radio 8. Dark Matter. Most of the Universe seems and intelligent, inquisitive, communicating life,
wave observations of of Jocelyn Bell (now Bell- to consist of material that we cannot see. The rarer still. Look though we may, we have found
Burnell) and Anthony Hewish in 1967, showed “luminous”, radiating, bodies in our Universe absolutely no evidence of life having broken out
that pulsars were just rotating neutron stars. Fi- only make up about 4% of the total mass. on other planets in our system. Even though we
nally, one has the black holes, these being the This strange and still unexplained phenom- listen diligently, we have intercepted no incom-
endpoints of the evolution of stars more mas- enon was first discovered by Fritz Zwicky ing radio signals from “extraterrestrials”.
sive than three solar masses. (1937). The application of the virial theorem
to the Coma cluster of galaxies indicated that 10. Solar neutrinos and helioseismology.
Another addition to the tally of exotic break- it contained 400 times more mass than that We cannot “see” inside a star. Our vision of the
throughs was the1963 discovery of the quasi- indicated by the visible parts of the galaxies. solar photosphere extends to a depth of about
stellar object 3C 273 by Maarten Schmidt. Here, 500 km, but, in comparison with the solar ra-
we were confronted by a strong radio source, Galaxies are more massive than they look. We dius of around 700,000 km, this still leaves a
at a redshift of 0.158, which visually looked just can count all the stars and add up their mass- very long way to go. Until recently, the stellar
like a 13th magnitude star moving away from es, and then include the gas and the dust. But interior was the realm of the theoretical astro-
Earth at 16.6% of the velocity of light. Subse- it is still not enough. Vera Rubin showed that physicist. Two breakthroughs have occurred in
quently, radio-quiet quasars were found, as the velocity curve of a typical galaxy indicated the last 50 years. The first was the detection
well as quasars that varied in brightness over that the velocity of rotation did not decrease and monitoring of solar neutrinos, these be-
timescales of a few weeks. Soon, quasars were significantly as a function of distance from the ing produced by the host of nuclear reactions
being equated to accreting discs around 107 galactic spin axis (see Rubin, 1978, 1983). that convert hydrogen into helium. Raymond
to 108 solar mass black holes, these being the Everyone was expecting most of the galactic Davis Jr and his huge tank of 37Cl in the mine at
very active nuclei at the centre of distant (and mass to be in the nucleus. If this were the case, Homestake, South Dakota, measured at least a
thus young) galaxies. Seyfert galaxies (first the rotation velocity would decrease as the in- few of the 6.5 x 1014 neutrinos m-2 s-1 that pass
described in 1943) are thought to be a spe- verse square root of distance from the massive through the Earth. This experiment started
cific class of quasars with rather low luminosity. central body (as happens in the Solar System). in 1968. Detectors using gallium started op-
They are near-normal spiral galaxies with rea- The typical spiral galaxy actually has a massive eration in 1991 (see, for example, Stix, 2002).
sonably active nuclei Quasars/AGN are perfect halo, which has a density that decreases as a
examples of late 20th century exotics, lending function of the inverse square of the distance The second breakthrough was the observa-
themselves to multi-wavelength investigation. from the spin axis. The composition, or form, tion of seismic waves on the solar surface. As
of the “missing mass” in this halo is not known. waves of different frequency penetrate to differ-
7. The Microwave Background Radiation. It Some of our contributors to the breakthrough ent depths, they can be used to estimate spin
is one thing to suggest that the Universe started listings suggested that the discovery of “dark rates in the solar interior as well as the position
with a “big bang” (a derogatory term coined by matter” should only achieve breakthrough sta- of the region where radiative energy transport
Fred Hoyle (1915-2001) in a BBC broadcast, tus when the actual physical form of the dark changes to convective energy transport. Helio-
see Hoyle, 1950), but it is another to prove it. matter has been identified. This is somewhat seismic oscillations were discovered in 1960
It is one thing to measure an expanding Uni- unfair. One of the great joys of modern astron- and reported by Leighton et al. (1962). The de-
verse, but it is another to work out what made it omy and astrophysics is the host of mysteries tailed structure of the five-minute evanescent
expand. Robert Henry Dicke et al. (1965) real- that abound. oscillations were reported in 1975 (Deubner,
ized that a Big Bang (the term quickly became 1975) and the lowest wavelength modes were
capitalized) would not only accelerate matter 9. Exoplanetary systems. In 1900, there observed in 1979 (see Claverie et al. 1979).
away from a singularity but would also pro- was one known planetary system — the one
duce extremely hot radiation that would cool we inhabit. As the century progressed certain
as the Universe expanded. If the Universe was astronomers, such as Peter van de Kamp Discussion and
11 13,000,000,000 yr old it should have a radius
10 of= 13,000,000,000
300,000 light years, and the radia- (1975), hinted that the slight astrometric wob-
ble of the celestial paths of certain nearby
Conclusions
tion should now have a temperature of only a stars indicated that they had planetary com- The timing of the breakthroughs is rather in-
few K. This corresponds to an energy emis- panions. By the end of the 1900-2000 period, formative. Those relating to stars occurred
sion maximum at a wavelength of a millimetre the planetary floodgates had opened. The rather early on in the 20th century. The stellar
or so. Dicke planned to search for this micro- Doppler shift of a planet’s parent star could energy problem was well on the way towards a
wave maximum, but was pipped at the post by now be monitored accurately. A profusion of solution in 1905; stellar diversity was indicated
a serendipitous discovery. Arno Penzias and planetary discoveries were reported (see, for by the 1911-14 Hertzprung-Russell diagrams;
Robert Wilson of Bell Telescope Laboratories example, Mayor & Queloz, 1995, who used and stellar composition was reasonably well un-
detected the 3.1±1 K background radiation the telescope at the Haute-Provence Observa- derstood by 1925. The two huge extragalactic
(λmax = 0.93 mm) in 1965 when trying to elimi- tory in France, and Butler & Marcy, 1996, who breakthroughs, the discovery of galactic multi-
nate static that was interfering with their satel- confirmed the discovery using the telescope at plicity and the expansion of the Universe, both
lite communication system. Their 4080 MHz the Lick Observatory in California, USA). Later occurred at the end of the 1920s. The year 1937
horn antenna was about as big as a house. on, some of these discoveries were confirmed saw the discovery of dark matter. So six out of
This breakthrough immediately converted cos- by the observation of stellar transits. This was ten of our breakthroughs occurred in the first 37
mology from a vibrant exciting subject with a fascinating breakthrough. Our Solar System years of the 20th century. Three more occurred
two flourishing and competing theories, into was proved not to be the only one in the Gal- in the 1960s: the discovery of quasars in 1963,
a boring dirge where everyone sings from the axy. Rather unexpectedly, however, the vast the cosmic microwave background in 1965 and
same “Big Bang” hymn sheet and the “steady majority of these newly discovered planetary the detection of solar neutrinos in 1968. The
state” theorists are cast into outer darkness. systems are nothing like the system that we mid-1990s saw the discovery of exoplanets.
Interestingly, in whichever direction one looked live in. Instead of having Jupiter-like planets
from Earth, the radiation was very close to the orbiting the central star every decade or so, With the exception of quasars and the mi-
same temperature of 3.1 K. More recent refine- their “hot Jupiters” are in Mercury-like orbits. crowave background, the visual portion of
the electromagnetic spectrum dominates the used it to show that the Moon has mountains, Another serious “yet-to-come” breakthrough
breakthrough scene. It is also rather interest- Venus goes round the Sun, and Jupiter has concerns cosmogony. It is fair to say that we
ing to note that the 100 inch Hooker telescope satellites . . .’ have a very tenuous understanding of how our
provided two of the breakthroughs, and larger planetary system formed, and why there are only
telescopes have not helped a great deal in • ‘I have invented a prismatic instrument that eight planets in it, and why it essentially ends
providing the remainder. Perhaps there are a splits light into its different colours, and when at Neptune. The discovery of planets around
host of future breakthroughs awaiting the next I look at Sun-light I see lots of dark lines, at other stars simply has not helped. The major-
generation of large telescopes, but this is rath- specific wavelengths, just the job to help my ity of these systems have Jupiter-sized planets
er unlikely. Computers seem to have led to no physicists measure the refractive index varia- in Mercury-like orbits. In fact, many of the new
top-ten breakthroughs at all. Neither has space tions of glass. Blast, an astronomer has devel- systems are nothing like the system that we live
exploration. The later is rather unexpected. oped the instrument, fitted it to a telescope, in and were probably formed in different ways.
Maybe the discoveries of the planetary flyby and measured the chemical composition of
probes, orbiters and landers, discoveries such the Universe, stellar surface temperatures, And then we have the problem of the origin
as magnetic fields around Mercury, impact cra- the radial velocities of stars and planetary of the Universe. Many astronomers are rather
ters on Venus, thick crusts on the non-Earth surfaces . . .’ uncomfortable about the creatio ex nihilo as-
facing hemisphere of the Moon, great canyons pects of the Big Bang. And the addition of the
on Mars, smooth sandblasted asteroids, kilom- • ‘I am using a new-fangled millimetre wave spice of inflation, dark energy and dark mat-
etric dirty snowball nuclei at the centre of com- radio horn antewweiver to pick up messages ter does little damp down their suspicions that
ets, active volcanoes on Io, huge subsurface from submarines and am trying to reduce we might not yet be on exactly the right track.
water oceans on Europa, lakes of liquid meth- the background noise. But I am not going
ane on Titan, large blue spots on Neptune, etc. to pass this interesting noise data on to an We also worry that angular momentum still
might have crept into the top thirty, but not the astronomer. I shall publish the results myself seems to be rather too difficult a topic for as-
top ten. There again, maybe the bodies in the and thus prove that the Universe started with tronomers. As university lecturers we have
Solar System turned out to be very much as we a Big Bang.’ always been somewhat embarrassed by be-
expected, and there were few major surprises. ing unable to explain to our students why, for
example, the Sun and Venus are spinning so
Breakthroughs come in two main categories; (i) Those breakthroughs associated with ‘the solu- slowly and the Universe is not thought to be
the completely unexpected, and (ii) the solution tion to a long-standing problem’ usually arose spinning at all.
to a longstanding problem. Considering lists 1 from a combination of instrumental advance,
and 2 it is clear that nobody predicted the exist- prolific data collection or theoretical enlighten- One of the great joys of astronomy is the simple
ence of quasars before they were found, or had ment. The “chemical composition of the cos- fact that, even though breakthroughs abound,
suggested that the vast majority of the material mos” is a perfect example, relying, as it did, on and occur at a fairly regular rate, there is a vast
in the Universe was “dark”. Also, the expecta- the invention of the spectrometer, the analysis of amount of evidence indicating that there are still
tion was that the space between the stars and spectral lines, the discovery of the electron and a huge number of breakthroughs yet to come.
galaxies was well behaved, empty and flat. the theoretical work of Menghnad N. Saha. The
The discovery of interstellar dust and gas by Hertzprung-Russell diagram is another. Here Finally, let us mention some general points.
Robert Julius Trumpler in 1930, and the con- we have a “discovery” whose time had arrived. Before starting this exercise we thought that
sequent light absorption, together with the dis- If Ejnar Hertzprung (1873-1967) and Henry Nor- different types of astronomers might come
covery of 21 cm radio waves emitted by neutral ris Russell (1877-1957) had not reached for the up with completely different lists of break-
atomic hydrogen in the Universe, put paid to graph paper, others would have done the job throughs. Surprisingly, this was not the case.
the second of these assumptions. The gravita- in the next year or so. A similar situation arose There was considerable agreement between
tional flatness disappeared with the introduc- with a mini-breakthrough around the same such diverse groups as, for example, the
tion of General Relativity by Albert Einstein in time, this being the discovery of the Cepheid cosmologists, planetary astronomers, stel-
1916. The “proof” of space curvature came period-luminosity relationship. Henrietta Swan lar theoreticians and astro-historians. Many
with Eddington’s observations of the starlight Leavitt’s work in 1912 was ground-breaking, alluded to the temporal nature of our quest.
from the Hyades cluster during the totality of as was the calibration and use of the relation- What we today (in 2007) regard as being the
the 29 May 1919 solar eclipse, followed, more ship by Ejnar Hertzprung and Harlow Shapley great breakthroughs of the 1900-2000 pe-
importantly, by the detection of the gravitational (1885-1972) to measure the 94,000 light year riod might differ somewhat from what astrono-
lensing introduced by super-massive galaxies distance to the Small Magellanic Cloud. But mers in 2107 would regard as the significant
as observed by Dennis Walsh et al. (1979). again, if these astronomers had not done the breakthroughs. And clearly the breakthroughs
job some one else would have, soon after. of 1900-2000 bear scant relationship to the
Likewise, if one combs through the research breakthroughs of 1800-1900 and 1700-1800.
papers of the 19th century the possibility of Let us conclude by hinting at some of the
there being a multitude of galaxies was hardly breakthroughs that we are still waiting for. Some It was also interesting to compare the speed with
mentioned, and when this multitude was dis- of these concern astronomical bodies that are which certain breakthroughs became recog-
covered, again, the expectation was that they embarrassingly close to planet Earth. Consid- nized. One can well imagine that the discovery
would be orbiting their centre of mass as op- er the second brightest object in the sky, our of the cosmic background radiation was real-
posed to rushing away from the Big Bang. Moon. Do we know where it came from? The ized to be a breakthrough in about half an after-
short answer is, no. Some contemporary re- noon. The elevation of the HR diagram to break-
These “completely unexpected” breakthroughs searchers hint that a Mars-sized asteroid sim- through status clearly took a couple of decades.
sometimes depended on the invention of a ply knocked a chunk off the Earth’s mantle and
completely new type of scientific instrument. that this ejected material subsequently con- One also feels sorry for the topics that did not
Often, the “new instrument” started life having densed and accumulated to form our Moon. quite make it. The 20th century was the era of
very little to do with astronomy. Just consider But it would be most unusual if there was just astronomical ages. At the beginning, we did
these possible statements and consequences. the one large impact in the history of our planet. not like to talk about such a delicate topic as
In those times there were many asteroids, and age, such was our uncertainty. At the end, plan-
many big ones, so similar impacts should have ets, meteorites, stars, stellar clusters, galaxies,
• ‘I have invented a two-lens telescope that
occurred quite a few times. If our Moon were and even the Universe itself, had well known
brings distant things closer, and reveals
the result of an impact it is rather surprising that ages. It was also the century of interiors. Stellar
bodies too faint for the eye to see, marvel-
we do not have quite a few moons, as opposed and planetary interiors were mysterious places
lous for army and navy use and for spotting
to just the one. And Mars, Venus and Mercury in 1900. By 2000, these had been successfully
your enemies when a long way away. Blast, should be blessed with satellite families too.
an astronomer has usurped the device and
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Annoucement
The International Year of Astronomy 2009
Summary
Key Words
The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has launched 2009 as the
International Year of Astronomy (IYA2009) under the theme “The Universe, yours
International Year of Astronomy 2009 to discover”. IYA2009 marks the four hundredth anniversary of Galileo Galilei’s
IYA2009 Cornerstone projects
first astronomical observation through a telescope. It will be a global celebration
UN Millennium Development
of astronomy and its contribution to society and culture, with a strong emphasis
on education, public engagement and the involvement of young people, with
events at national, regional, and global levels throughout the whole of 2009.
IYA2009 has been endorsed by UNESCO, which has recommended it for
adoption by the United Nations. The UN General Assembly will vote in late
2007 to endorse 2009 as the International Year of Astronomy.
Vision and Goals of the formed in each country to prepare activities for
International Year of
2009. These nodes will establish collaborations
between professional and amateur astrono- THE UNIVERSE
mers, science centres and science commu- YOURS TO DI S C OVER
Astronomy 2009 nicators in preparing activities for 2009. More
than 90 countries are already involved, with
well over 140 expected. To help coordinate this
Vision huge global programme, and to provide an im-
The vision of the International Year of Astrono- portant resource for the participating countries,
my 2009 is to help people rediscover their place the IAU has established a central Secretariat
in the Universe through the sky, and thereby and an IYA2009 website (www.astronomy2009.
engage a personal sense of wonder and dis- org) as the principal IYA resource for public,
covery. Everyone should realize the impact of professionals and media alike.
astronomy and other fundamental science on
our daily lives, and understand how scientific
knowledge can contribute to a more equitable
and peaceful society.
IYA2009 activities will take place locally, region- Figure 1. The International Year of Astronomy
ally and nationally. National Nodes have been 2009 Logo.
International Year of Astronomy 2009 Goals, Objectives and Evaluation
The International Year of Astronomy 2009 CAP Vol. 1, No. 1, October 2007 Page 19
The International Year of Astronomy 2009 — Continued
IAU
IYA2009 Secretariat
The International Astronomical Union (IAU,
www.iau.org) is the initiator and international
leader of IYA2009. It was founded in 1919 with
the mission of promoting and safeguarding the National Official Partners Organisational Task Groups
science of astronomy through international co- Nodes Chairs Global Sponsors Associates Chairs
operation and maintains a small secretariat in
Paris. Its individual members are professional Figure 2. IYA2009 Organisational Structure.
astronomers active in research and education
countries taking part, but most particularly for
in astronomy all over the world. It is a “bottom-
those developing countries that lack the nation- We aim to give 10 million people their first look
up” organization run by its members for the
al resources to mount major events alone. through an astronomical telescope in 2009.
benefit of astronomy worldwide and maintains
This is achievable if, for example, 100,000 ama-
friendly relations with organizations that include
teur observers each show the sky to 100 peo-
amateur astronomers in their membership.
ple. Millions of small telescopes are sold every
IYA2009 Global year, but anecdotal evidence suggests that
Currently the IAU has nearly 10,000 individual
members in 87 countries worldwide. In addition Cornerstone Projects most are rarely used for astronomy. A world-
wide Telescope Amnesty programme will invite
to arranging scientific meetings, the IAU pro-
people to bring their little-used telescopes to
motes astronomical education and research in 24 Hours of Astronomy IYA2009 events, where astronomers will teach
developing countries through its International
This is a round-the-clock, round-the-globe them how to use them and offer advice on
Schools for Young Astronomers, Teaching for
event, including 24 hours of live webcasts, ob- repairs, improvements, and/or replacements,
Astronomy Development, and World Wide
serving events and other activities connecting encouraging more people to stay involved in
Development of Astronomy programmes,
large observatories around the world. One of the hobby.
and through joint educational activities with
UNESCO and other bodies. the key goals is to allow as many people as
possible to look through a telescope, and see We encourage the organizers of IYA2009 cel-
what Galileo saw — the four Galilean moons ebrations in all countries to promote similar
The IAU acts as a catalyst and coordinator for
around Jupiter. The 24 Hours of Astronomy activities, with a common goal of giving 10 mil-
IYA2009 at the global level, largely, but not ex-
might coincide with a “Dark Sky Event” with lion people worldwide their first look through an
clusively through the IYA2009 website and Sec-
a controlled reduction of city illumination in a astronomical telescope.
retariat. The IAU will organisze a small number
of international events such as the global as- Wave of Darkness around the globe to raise
tronomy web-portal, global image exhibitions awareness that the dark sky is a majestic, but Cosmic Diary
and the Galileoscope project. The IAU will often overlooked, cultural resource for everyone This project is not just about astronomy; it is
be the primary interface with bodies such as (security and safety issues to be considered). more about being an astronomer. Profession-
UNESCO and the United Nations. al astronomers will blog in text and images
The Galileoscope about their life, families, friends, hobbies, and
The next triennial General Assembly of the IAU Who doesn’t remember the first time they interests, as well as their work — their lat-
takes place in Rio de Janeiro in August 2009. looked at the Moon through a telescope and est research findings and the challenges that
Some 2500 astronomers from all over the world were amazed by the details of the mountains face them in their research. The Cosmic Diary
will attend. Considerable media attention is al- and craters? The same is true for Jupiter’s aims to put a human face on astronomy. The
ways given to the General Assemblies, with cloud belts and its fascinating Galilean moons, bloggers represent a vibrant cross-section of
regular briefings and news releases provided. Saturn’s rings and a sparkling star cluster. female and male working astronomers from
Naturally, the programme of the General As- around the world. They will write in many dif-
sembly will be closely linked to the themes Observing through a telescope for the first time ferent languages and come from five different
and activities of IYA2009, and this will provide is a unique experience that shapes our view of continents. Outside the observatories, labs
a further opportunity for the Global Sponsors the sky and Universe. The IYA2009 programme and offices, they are musicians, parents, pho-
of IYA2009 to promote their activities through wants to share this observational and personal tographers, athletes, amateur astronomers. At
displays and speakers at dedicated sessions, experience with as many people as possible work, they are managers, observers, graduate
particularly those devoted to communication across the world and is collaborating with the students, grant proposers, instrument builders
and education. US IYA2009 National Node to develop a sim- and data analysts.
ple, accessible, easy-to-assemble and easy-
The IAU IYA2009 Secretariat to-use telescope that can be distributed by the The Portal to the Universe
The central hub of the IAU activities for IYA2009 millions. Ideally, every participant in an IYA2009 The science of astronomy is extremely fast
is the Secretariat established by the IAU to co- event should be able to take home one of these moving, and delivers new results on a daily
ordinate activities during the planning, execu- little telescopes. basis, often in the form of spectacular news,
tion and evaluation of the Year. The Secretariat images of forms and shapes not seen any-
will liaise continuously with the Single Points This simple telescope enables people to build where else, enhanced by illustrations and ani-
of Contact, Task Groups, Global Official Part- and observe with a telescope that is similar mations. Public astronomy communication has
ners, Global Sponsors and Organizational As- to Galileo’s. Sharing these observations and to develop apace with the other players in the
sociates, the media and the general public to making people think about their importance mass market for electronic information such as
ensure the progress of IYA2009 at all levels. A is one of the main goals of IYA2009: Promote the gaming and entertainment industries. The
website (www.astronomy2009.org) has been widespread access to new knowledge and ob- problem today is not so much the availability
set up and more than 90 member countries serving experiences. A do-it-yourself Galileo- of excellent astronomy multimedia resources
have established national committees and ap- scope could be the key of pursuing an interest for use in education, outreach and the like, but
pointed “Single Points of Contact”. The Sec- in astronomy beyond IYA2009, especially for rather finding and accessing these materials.
retariat and website are the most important people who cannot afford to buy a commercial The public requires better access to informa-
coordination and resource centres for all the telescope. tion, images, videos of planets, stars, galax-
ies or other astronomical phenomena. Press, UNESCO’s goals of preserving historical as-
educators, scientists, laypeople need a single tronomical sites for posterity. For this corner-
point of entry into all the discoveries that take stone project, the IAU will collaborate with the
place on a daily basis — a global one-stop US National Optical Astronomy Observatory,
portal for astronomy-related resources. Mod- International Dark-Sky Association and other
ern technology (especially RSS feeds and the national and international partners in dark
VAMP — Virtual Astronomy Multimedia Project) sky and environmental education on several
has made it possible to link all the suppliers of related themes, including worldwide meas-
such information together with a single, almost urements of local dark skies by thousands of
self-updating portal. The Portal to the Universe citizen-scientists using both unaided eyes and
will feature a comprehensive directory of ob- digital sky-quality meters (as in the successful
servatories, facilities, astronomical societies, GLOBE at Night programme), star parties, new
amateur astronomy societies, space artists, lighting technologies, arts and storytelling, and
science communication universities, as well as health and ecosystems. Figure 3. The Universe from the Earth — An Exhibit of
a news-, image- and video-aggregators and Astronomical Images.
Web 2.0 collaborative tools for astronomy mul- IAU/UNESCO Astronomy and
timedia interconnectivity. The global astronomy World Heritage ty and grandeur of the universe. UNAWE will
web portal will enable innovative access to,
UNESCO and the IAU are working together to broaden children’s minds, will awaken their cu-
and vastly multiply the use of, astronomy mul-
implement a research and education collabo- riosity in science and will stimulate internation-
timedia resources — including news, images,
ration as part of UNESCO’s Astronomy and alism and tolerance. Games, songs, hands-on
illustrations, animations, movies, podcasts and
World Heritage project. This initiative aims at the activities, cartoons and live internet exchanges
vodcasts.
recognition and promotion of achievements in are devised in partnership with UNAWE com-
science through the nomination of architectural munities throughout the world for children from
She Is an Astronomer the age of four onwards. UNAWE will enable
properties, sites or landscape forms related to
IYA2009 has the aim of contributing to four of the observation of the sky through the history of the exchange of ideas and materials through
the UN Millennium Development Goals, one mankind or connected with astronomy in some networking and interdisciplinary workshops.
of which is to ‘promote gender equality and other way. The proposed lines of action are: Universe Awareness is imagination, excitement
empower women.’ Approximately a quarter identification, safeguarding and promotion of and fun in the Universe for the very young.
of professional astronomers are women, and these properties. This programme provides an
the field continues to attract women and ben- opportunity to identify properties related to as- The Universe from the Earth
efit from their participation. However, there is a
wide geographical diversity, with some coun-
tronomy located around the world, to preserve — An Exhibit of Astronomical
their memory and save them from progressive
tries having none, and others having more than deterioration. Support from the international
Images
50% female professional astronomers. Also, community through IYA2009 is needed to de- Cosmic images are captivating and have in-
the very high level of female dropouts shows velop this activity, which will allow us to help credibly inspirational power. Astronomy touch-
that circumstances do not favour female sci- preserve this sometimes very fragile heritage. es on the largest philosophical questions fac-
entists. Gender equality is of a major concern ing the human race: Where do we come from?
to the whole scientific community regardless of Galileo Teacher Training Where will we end? How did life arise? Is there
geographic location. The problems and difficul- life elsewhere in the Universe?
ties are different in all regions and continents. Programme
IYA2009’s She is an Astronomer programme There is an almost unfathomable amount of Space is one of the greatest adventures in the
will offer platforms that address some of these rich and very useful astronomy educational history of mankind: an all-action, violent arena
problems. She is an Astronomer will contain resources available today — mostly in digital with exotic phenomena that are counter-intuitive,
the following components: form, freely available via the Internet. However, spectacular, mystifying, intriguing and fascinat-
experienced educators and communicators ing. The fantastic images of the Universe are
• The Portal to the Universe global web por- have identified a major “missing link”: the largely responsible for the magical appeal that
tal will provide a collection of links to all the training of the educators to understand the re- astronomy has on lay people. Indeed, popular
existing regional and national programmes, sources and enable them to use it in their own images of the cosmos can engage the general
associations, international organizations, syllabuses. To sustain the legacy of the Inter- public not only in the aesthetics of the visual
non-governmental organizations, grants and national Year of Astronomy 2009, the IAU — in realm, but also in the science of the knowledge
fellowships supporting female scientists. collaboration the National Nodes and leaders and understanding behind them. IYA2009 is an
in the field such as the Global Hands-On Uni- unprecedented opportunity to present astrono-
• Part of the programme will appear in the verse project, the US National Optical Astrono- my to the global community in a way that has
Cosmic Diary featuring the work and family my Observatory and the Astronomical Society never been done before. The Universe from the
lives of female researchers. of the Pacific — is embarking on a unique glo- Earth is an exhibition arranged by the IYA2009
bal effort to empower teachers by developing project that will bring these images to a wider
• The project intends to seek cooperation the Galileo Teacher Training Programme. The
agreement with prestigious already running audience in non-traditional venues, like art mu-
Galileo Teacher Training Programme goal is to seums, public galleries, shopping malls and
initiatives, to provide fellowships to female create by 2012 a world-wide network of certi- public gardens.
scientists to support their career prospects. fied Galileo Ambassadors, Master Teachers
and Teachers. Included in the programme is
• A Woman Astronomer Ambassador pro-
gramme will be established to reach girls the use of workshops and on-line training tools The IYA2009 and the UN
to teach the topics of robotic optical and radio
at school and university level with the mes-
telescopes, web cams, astronomy exercises, Millennium Development
sages of the programme.
cross-disciplinary resources, image process-
ing, and digital universes (web and desktop
Goals
Dark Skies Awareness planetariums). IYA2009 is, first and foremost, an activity for
It is now more urgent than ever to encourage everyone around the world. It aims to con-
the preservation and protection of the world’s Universe Awareness vey the excitement of personal discovery, the
cultural and natural heritage of dark night skies Universe Awareness (UNAWE) will be an inter- pleasure of sharing fundamental knowledge
in places such as urban oases, national parks national outreach activity that aims to inspire about the Universe and our place in it. The UN
and astronomical sites, as well as to support young disadvantaged children with the beau- Millennium Development goals form a blue-
Opinion
Re-enlightenment
Carla Gonçalves Pedro Russo
University College London International Astronomical Union
E-mail: [email protected] International Year of Astronomy 2009
ESA/Hubble
E-mail: [email protected]
Key Words
Science
Astronomy
Humanism
IYA2009
Culture
In 2009 we celebrate the International Year of much as it needs to be, and this should not be used to change attitudes in an individualistic
Astronomy. The International Year of Astronomy be neglected. We believe that scientists have society towards a greater sense of community,
2009 is, above all, a celebration of the fulfil- a duty to make knowledge accessible to eve- as well as serve as a vehicle for mutual respect.
ment, growth and creativity of humanity in its ryone. This will avoid public alienation of sci-
quest to understand the Universe and the life ence and enhance human well-being and IYA2009 will clearly play an impor-
within it. In recent decades the pseudo-scienc- individual responsibility. Scientific knowledge tant role in establishing all of these as-
es seem to have been overpowering science in and understanding need not be difficult, and pects and it is a unique opportunity to
the public understanding of the world around science in general should be demystified. The re-enlighten society regarding science.
us (Sagan 1996). As a prominent example, specificity of the language needed to produce Informed debate, scientific thinking, and toler-
astrology is more widely accepted by the original contributions to science should not ance as perceived from an astronomical per
population as truth than alternative scientific be used as an excuse for the scientific com- spective can be channelled into building a
explanations (Kelly et al. 1989). This may be munity not to communicate the advances in better world for our generation and the genera-
due to the dedicated language of science or, the field and not make basic methods and tions to come.
more importantly, a lack of public understand- explanations accessible to the population.
ing of it. Eventually, this lack of understanding
will result in a notable hindrance in the cultural IYA2009 will be a vehicle to highlight and make References
and literal advancement of society’s compre acknowledgeable the merit of a scientist’s role • Kelly, I., Culver, R., & Loptson, P. 1989, Astrology
hension of science and science subjects. If as a valuable contributor to society. Above and science: an examination of the evidence, in
we are not careful, scientific, cultural, social all, IYA2009 is a celebration of the fulfilment, Cosmic Perspectives, Essays dedicated to the
memory of M.K.V. Bappu. Ed. S. K. Biswas, D. C.
and economic progress will be impeded and growth and creativity of humanity in its quest to V. Mallik, & C. V. Vishveshwara (Cambridge: Cam-
the modernization and prosperity of countries understand the Universe and life within it. bridge University Press), p.207
ultimately penalized. Therefore, now more than
ever it is pressing to bring scientific and critical The IYA2009 will be a good opportunity to re- • Sagan, Carl 1996, The Demon-Haunted World: Sci-
ence as a Candle in the Dark (New York: Ballantine
thinking back on to the agenda. The engage- affirm the place of astronomy in the cultural, Books)
ment of the scientific community, educators artistic, social and scientific order and con-
and the media is crucial in achieving this most tribute to the fulfilment, growth, and creativ-
important goal. ity for both the individual and society. For Bios
example, astronomical insights into human
Astronomy, as a science, is committed to the use existence could be put to use in the arts, phi- Carla Gonçalves obtained her first degree
in Astronomy at The University of Porto and
of critical reasoning, factual evidence, and ra- losophy, politics, criticism and democracy. her M.Sc. in Radiation Physics at University
tional methods of inquiry to probe the Universe. College London. After working as a Clinical
The amazement that the public feels toward The itch to explore and the sense of wonder, Scientist for the English National Healthcare
astronomical images and quantities, together when approaching existentialist questions, are System. Carla is now working towards a
with addressing fundamental and inspirational common to every human. In this respect, as- degree in Medicine at UCL.
questions regarding our place in the Universe, tronomy is the key to an examined life. It deals Pedro Russo is the IAU Coordinator for
make astronomy not only essential for global with fundamental questions regarding the ori- IYA2009. He is a member of the Venus Moni-
education but also an excellent way of engag- gin, location, nature and destiny of our species, toring Camera/Venus Express Scientific Team
ing the public in science, hence the importance our planet and the Universe. We believe that the and has been working with Europlanet, IAU
of the International Year of Astronomy 2009. astronomical perspective (without relegating Commission 55: Communicating Astronomy
with the Public and EGU Earth and Space
humans to a peripheral place) can work as a Science Informatics Division.
The public feels it should be informed as common basis for global equity and peace and
Astronomy Cast: Evaluation of a Podcast
Research and
Applications
Audience’s Content Needs and Listening Habits
Summary
Key words
In today’s digital, on-demand society, consumers of information can self-select
content that fits their interests and their schedule. Meeting the needs of these
Podcast consumers are podcasts, YouTube, and other independent content providers.
Audience
In this paper we answer the question of what the content provider can do to
Astronomy Content
Web-resources transform a podcast into an educational experience that consumers will seek.
Survey In an IRB-approved survey of 2257 Astronomy Cast listeners, we measured
listener demographics, topics of interest and educational infrastructure needs.
We find consumers desire focused, image-rich, fact-based content that includes
news, interviews with researchers and observing tips.
Listener Demographics
To determine who is listening to our episodes,
we asked our listeners to self-identify personal
characteristics including gender, age and edu- Figure 2. The income distribution of Astronomy Cast listener survey respondents. The total sample (N = 1843) is
shown in red, and the sample of US respondents (N = 1122) is shown in blue.
Astronomy Cast: Evaluation of a Podcast Audience’s Con- CAP Vol. 1, No. 1, October 2007 Page 25
tent Needs and Listening Habits
Astronomy Cast: Evaluation of a podcast audience’s content needs and listening habits — Continued
more than 2% of our respondent pool. Together, astronomy. To understand this result, we need be noted in this data. The top ten podcasts
the respondents represented 72 nations. to ask, ‘Why didn’t you take astronomy before?’ (representing 60% of the responses) show
and ‘What created your interest?’ in a future listeners are non-discriminatory with regard to
2. Listener Socio-economic Characteris- study. show length, but prefer podcasts with more
tics than one host, that operate in a panel format,
The average Astronomy Cast listener is affluent We have clearly identified a population of peo- or with hosts interviewing experts. Interestingly,
and surrounded by technology. 99.7% of the ple who have a growing interest in astronomy 2.3% of respondents specifically indicated
respondents have computers in their homes, content. Through edutainment we have inspired they have no favorite podcast (14% of survey
and 94.9% of those homes are connected to individuals to seek more classical educational participants also left this question blank). See
the Internet. Over 85% of them live in homes experiences, such as attending local lectures. appendix, question 21 for a complete list of re-
with portable MP3 players, DVD players, and sponses.
cell phones. 52% of their homes have video 2. Type of Content Being Listened to
game players, and 56% have Digital Video Re- To determine the listening habits of the Astrono- Listeners were also asked to identify their fa-
corders. They are not subscribing to satellite my Cast audience, we asked our listeners to tell vorite science-based podcast (Table 4). Re-
radio (only 13% have it in their households), but us their favorite podcasts, their favorite science spondents show a clear preference toward sci-
they are listening to podcasts, with the average podcasts, and then to list up to ten podcasts ence podcasts with only one host (only three
respondent listening to 13.11±10.53 podcasts. they listen to on a regular basis. Listeners could in the top ten had more than one host), even
We do not feel this audience is necessarily typi- leave any of the questions blank. though they still prefer interview-style presenta-
cal of all podcasts, and in fact this audience tions. We believe this reflects a dearth of multi-
is substantially wealthier than the GPS06 audi- When asked to list up to ten podcasts listened host science-based podcasts. 22 of the top 25
ence and is thus more able to have electronic to regularly, 1876 people responded by listing Science and Medicine shows in iTunes are sin-
gadgets. a total of 2227 unique podcasts. In their 11,805 gle-host productions. Of the top ten podcasts,
responses (37% listed ten podcasts, 15% listed only half are produced from radio shows. This
one, and 4-7% listed two-nine podcasts), they implies that the best science podcasts can
Audience Impact and demonstrated diverse tastes in topic. We at- compete for listeners with radio shows made
Needs tempted to classify the format and publisher of
all podcasts listed by more than twenty people.
available through RSS feeds. (Table 5)
1. Impact of Podcasts on Listener Attitude (Table 2, at the bottom of the article) Astronomy Cast listeners are clearly a niche
toward Astronomy audience, listening to primarily science-based
One of the most significant results of GPS06 While it is hard to clearly distinguish profes- podcasts, while exhibiting interest in podcasts
was documentation of the ability of podcasts to sional podcasts from volunteer efforts, there on tech news and current events. In general,
transform individuals from not being interested was clear diversity. 54% were from radio, televi- most podcasts they listen to are hosted by
or only passively being interested in astrono- sion, and magazine publishers, 3% were from one person, but they tend to prefer content
my, to individuals actively seeking astronomy NASA, and the rest were from individuals with presented in an interview, lecture or news
content. In our survey, we replicated their study unknown funding sources. magazine style. There is a sharp decline in
and found similar results (Table 1). We found the number of podcasts reported that have
that 25% of our listener respondents had no in- In terms of format 1.4% of the shows were an average length of over an hour; by and
terest or a passive interest in astronomy prior to vodcasts. It is unclear if this is indicative of a large our respondents seem to be listening to
listening to astronomy-related podcasts. After lack of interest in vodcasts in general, or if it podcasts between 30 minutes and an hour.
listening to astronomy-related podcasts, 70% simply reflects that there are fewer vodcasts in
of these individuals had begun to actively seek the preferred subjects of our audience or fewer 3. Content Sought
astronomy content or had become amateur as- players able to play them. Each week Astronomy Cast presents a different
tronomers. GPS06 saw 61% and 63% gains in topic for 30 minutes. Some shows are general
their surveys. It is clear from this list that we are only reach- (e.g. exoplanets), and others are more specific
ing one niche — those interested in science (e.g. Venus). By throwing out a variety of top-
We also found that while only 31.6% of our and medicine. Of the ten most frequently listed ics and hitting on both big picture topics and
respondents had taken astronomy courses in podcasts (representing 29% of responses), narrow topics we hope to meet the needs of
high school or college, 61.2% are now either only two are not categorized in “Science & our listeners. This is an uncomfortable strategy,
attending or interested in attending local as- Medicine” by iTunes. In fact, in looking at all and in the survey we asked the open-ended
tronomy lectures and 68.9% are interested in podcasts listed at least twenty times (61% of question, ‘What type of content do you want to
learning how to become involved in amateur those listed), 71% are categorized in “Science see?’ so that we could provide what is actually
& Medicine”. wanted rather than guessing at what is wanted.
Table 1. Change in listener attitude toward astronomy Answers were sorted into 30 different bins to
content after listening to podcasts containing The niche nature of our audience also carries obtain a quantified breakdown of needs. A
astronomy related content. We consider the first three into how listeners responded to the question complete table of our bins and the number
categories passive content acquires and the last three ‘What is your favorite podcast?’ Table 3 lists the of responses fitting in each bin is listed in Ap-
categories active content acquirers. top ten favorite podcasts. Several trends can pendix B. Full responses from listeners are not
Option % Before % After Change Table 3. 10 podcasts most frequently listed as “favourite podcast” by respondents to the Astronomy Cast listener
survey.
I knew how to spell 1.1 0.4 -0.7
astronomy
Podcast Name Avg Length (hh:mm) # Hosts Topic Presentation N
I thought it was neat 2.9 0.1 -2.7
when I was a kid Astronomy Cast 0:15 - 0:30 2 Science & Medicine Discussion 689
I will pay attention if it 20.8 7.1 -13.7 The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe 1:15 - 1:30 6 Science & Medicine Panel 200
crops up in
something I already read/ Universe Today 0:05 - 0:15 1 Science & Medicine Interviews 70
watch/listen to
This Week in Tech 1:00 - 1:15 4 Tech News Panel 48
I actively seek and read/ 56.7 70.0 13.3
watch/listen
to stories about None 45
astronomy
BBC: In Our Time 1:30 - 1:45 4 Society & Culture Panel 32
I am an amateur 16.7 20.1 3.5
astronomer and/or go All 24
to local astronomy club
meetings
This American Life 0:45 - 1:00 1 Society & Culture Talk Show 22
I am a professional 1.9 2.2 0.3
astronomer or NPR: Wait, wait... Don’t tell me! 0:45 - 1:00 1 News Game show 21
astronomy major in
college Mysterious Universe 0:45 - 1:00 1 Science & Medicine Discussion 20
Table 4. 10 podcasts most frequently listed as “favourite science podcast” by
respondents to the Astronomy Cast listener survey.
The Skeptic’s Guide to 1:15 - 1:30 6 Science & Medicine Panel 130
the Universe
CBC Radio: Quirks & 0:45 - 1:00 1 Science & Medicine Interviews 33
Quarks
None 24
There was also a large interest in keeping up- 3 Radio Lab 2 Jay Abrumrad & Robert Krulwich WNYC
to-date with information relating to our own So- 4 BrainStuff: The HowStuffWorks Podcast 1 Marshall Brain HowStuffWorks
lar System. In 4.1% of the responses, listeners
5 Wild Chronicles 1 Boyd Matson National Geographic
requested topics concerning the Sun, planets,
and other Solar System objects. Another 2.1% 6 Science Talk 1 Steve Mirsky Scientific American
wanted updates on the various probe and sat- 7 Hidden Universe HD Dr. Robert Hurt NASA/SSC
ellite missions that are under way in the Solar 8 Hubblecast HD 1 Dr. Joe Liske ESA/Hubble
System, including past and possible future mis-
9 60-second Science 1 Karen Hopkin Scientific American
sions. This thirst for the latest information was
also expressed more generally with approxi- 10 NPR: Hmmm…. Krulwich on Science 1 Robert Krulwich NPR
mately 6% of the responses requesting news 11 The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe 1 Dr. Steven Novella NESS
of various types — discoveries, sky objects 12 NPR: Environment 1 Varies NPR
to observe, spacecraft missions, and general,
13 NOVA | PBS 1 Varies WGBH
brief news updates each week.
14 HD NASA’s JPL N/A NASA
These results match with our multiple choice 15 Green.tv N/A green.tv
question responses to the question, ‘What is 16 Science Times 1 David Corcoran New York Times
your favorite type of show?’ Of 2112 respond-
17 NASACast Video N/A NASA
ing, 85% prefer the topic shows, 7% prefer
shows in which we answer listener questions, 18 The Naked Scientists 1 Dr. Chris Smith Cambridge University
and 8% prefer shows in which researchers are 19 Food Science 1 Dr. Kiki ON Networks
interviewed.
20 Astronomy Cast 2 Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay Astronomy Cast
21 TERRA: The Nature of our World Varies 1-2 filmmakers Montana State University
As well as asking about what content is needed,
we also asked if the show is currently pitched at 22 Quirks & Quarks - Segmented Show 1 Bob McDonald CBC Radio One
too high or two low a level on a five-point Likert 23 Skepticality 2 Derek Colanduno & Swoopy Skeptic Magazine
scale. The overwhelming majority of our listen-
24 Nature Podcast 1 Chris Smith Nature
ers (76% of 2154 responding) said the show is
25 National Geographic World Talk 1 Patty Kim National Geographic
pitched just right, very few thought it was a lit-
Astronomy Cast: Evaluation of a Podcast CAP Vol. 1, No. 1, October 2007 Page 27
Audience’s Content Needs and Listening Habits
Astronomy Cast: Evaluation of a podcast audience’s content needs and listening habits — Continued
explain the equations behind the concepts, those responding requested low-bandwidth
and 3% wanted educational materials or slide versions of shows. After working to make our online content better
shows to accompany the audio. Additionally, reflect the needs of our listeners outlined in this
eight people asked for quizzes to accompany As with many surveys with open-ended ques- paper, we will do a second listener survey to
the shows so they could test their learning. We tions, this survey did log several responses address the questions and to learn what new
believe these requests indicate that people that were silly or social rather than intellectual needs our listeners have discovered they can-
want to use these shows to obtain a high level in nature. On the reasonable side, nine people not live without.
of astronomy understanding and wish to make requested pictures of the Astronomy Cast hosts
sure their understanding is correct. so they could know what the people they were
listening to look like. On the unreasonable side, Conclusion
Another unexpected result was that seven re- one person requested email addresses for all It’s a cliché, but it’s true. The Internet really is
spondents indicated they do not listen to the scientists mentioned in the show, three people a revolutionary tool for reaching a highly tar-
show, but rather read our transcripts to access requested images of naked women, one per- geted audience and delivering a comprehen-
our content. Reasons stated included being son requested a live band (other information sive collection of multimedia resources: audio,
hearing impaired (one person), not under- shows, such as Geologic, do have this), and video, animation and text. And this road goes
standing English well enough to understand one person requested more cowbell. While we both ways, allowing audiences to give nearly
the spoken podcast (one person), and not now intend to include pictures of the hosts on- instant feedback to educators, allowing them
being able to download large audio files (five line, the other needs in the area will go unmet. to fine-tune their presentation to the needs of
people). While these seven people represented the audience.
less than 1% of those responding, it should be
noted that we did not specifically ask if people Discussion The hunger for astronomy information is enor-
listen to our show or read our transcripts, so From our survey respondents, we can begin to mous, and is exemplified by the popularity
we do not know how large a population these envision a formula for an ideal show. Specifical- of photographs from the Hubble Space Tele-
people represent. This is a question that will ly, the perfect show should be under one hour, scope. Listeners told us they can handle com-
need to be asked in a follow-up survey. We be- feature two hosts, and include interviews with plex subjects as long as they are made under-
lieve this result indicates that the simple act of real scientists, five-minute news updates, and standable. Over time, their understanding and
providing transcripts to audio and video shows information on any celestial events of interest capabilities grow, as they learn to digest more
can allow the content to reach into underserved to amateur astronomers. These shows should, and more complex information.
communities, including the hearing-impaired ideally, be available in multiple formats (high-
and those with limited Internet access. quality 64 kbs audio, low-quality 16 kbs audio, Perhaps what surprised us most during this
and possible video/enhanced mp4 format). Ac- survey process is the enthusiasm of the audi-
Listener survey responses also addressed companying shows should be transcripts, links ence. They are learning about astronomy be-
show format. Currently, Astronomy Cast, is an to supplementary materials including educa- cause they enjoy it, not because they have to.
audio-only show processed to 64 kilobytes tional resources and original journal articles, They find it intellectually stimulating, and want
per second (kbs), and the typical show is 12- and as many images and videos as possible. to know more. Time and time again we hear
15 megabytes in size. Of those listing specific This formula is actually fairly close to the audio how our audience appreciates that we do not
needs, 12% requested enhanced or video pod- format of the existing and highly popular Skep- ‘dumb things down.’
casts that would show images and/or video of ticality podcast, although they do not have the
topics being discussed. An additional 1% of requested online content. Podcasts like Astronomy Cast allow educators
to deliver on the public enthusiasm for science
Bios In designing shows, our survey seems to indi- information; inexpensively and quickly, and by-
cate that there is a need for high-level content passing the traditional media gatekeepers that
Dr. Pamela L. Gay is an assistant research that requires listeners to intellectually reach. assumed the public is too ignorant or vacuous
professor at Southern Illinois University
Edwardsville. Her research interests include
Astronomy Cast is pitched at a college-level to handle the wonders of the Universe that na-
variable stars and assessing the impact of that assumes the listener has had introductory ture reveals to anyone who cares to go search-
new media astronomy content on informal science courses. In fan mail letters (not quanti- ing for it.
audiences. When not in the classroom or fied due to lack of IRB approval to use them
doing research, she co-hosts Astronomy Cast in research), listeners often comment that they Through podcasting, initially passive content
and writes the blog StarStryder.com.
cannot listen while doing other things because non-seekers can be transformed into individu-
Rebecca Bemrose-Fetter is an undergradu- they must concentrate on our show. They also als who actively seek public lectures, classes
ate majoring in physics at Southern Illinois often comment that they must listen to shows and other astronomy activities. This introduces
University Edwardsville. In her free time, she multiple times and read the online content to podcasts as a new tool to bring people into
has given volunteer astronomy presentations feel confident that they fully understand the amateur astronomy. Podcasts appeal to a
to Girl Scout groups and run astronomy-
based sessions at conferences for gifted and
content of the shows. In future studies we feel large range of ages, with our show appeal-
talented children. Rebecca is the assistant there is a need to address the question how ing equally to people in their late twenties and
producer of Astronomy Cast. much effort listeners put into learning through early fifties. While the people who interact with
the Astronomy Cast podcast. podcasts tend to be college educated and af-
Georgia Bracey is a graduate student in fluent, and tend to have a lot of technological
Physics & Astronomy Education Research
at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville,
This study allowed us to get an initial, quan- gadgets in their households, they are not just
an experienced elementary school teacher tified understanding of our listeners’ demo- people employed in computer-related fields.
and an amateur astronomer. She is currently graphics and needs. In also raised some in- Our audience includes people from all career
interested in science education and public teresting questions. In future studies we wish fields. The audience is also global, with a pod-
outreach, including the development and to ask further questions. What brings passive cast being produced in the US by a Canadian
evaluation of science curricula and science
teaching methods.
seekers of astronomy content to an astronomy — US collaboration reaching 72 nations on six
podcast? How many “listeners” are actually continents. This simple-to-produce commu-
Fraser Cain is the publisher of Universe reading our transcripts rather than listening to nications media is a way to produce globally
Today, a space and astronomy news website. the show (and why)? And also, what about As- accessible content that can change attitudes
He’s also a freelance writer, with several tronomy Cast do people like most and least? and inspire learning.
published books, and articles in periodicals
such as Wired. Fraser has also held executive
We also need to ask the people who are now
positions in software and technology compa- interested in astronomy classes why they did
nies in Vancouver, BC. He’s also co-host of not take astronomy before and what created
Astronomy Cast. their interest.
References A Low-Cost Tool for Affecting Attitudes in Diverse
Audiences, Astronomy Education Review 5: 36-52
• The Skeptics Guide to the Universe, hosted by Ste-
ven Novella. http://www.theskepticsguide.org
• Astronomy Cast, hosted by Fraser Cain and Pame- • IT Conversations, produced by Phil Windley. http:// • United States Census Decennial Census for 2000,
la Gay. http://www.astronomycast.com itc.conversationsnetwork.org accessed through American Factfinder
• Fox, S. and Madden, M. 2006. Generations Online • Quirks and Quarks, hosted by Bob McDonald.
Pew Internet and American Family Life Project. http://www.cbc.ca/quirks/
http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/170/report_dis-
play.asp. • Skepticality, hosted by Derek Colunduno and
Note
Swoopy. http://www.skepticality.com 1. To view the appendix please refer to the CAP Jour-
• Gay, Price & Searle 2006, Astronomy Podcasting:
nal online at http://www.capjournal.org
Table 2. A list of all podcasts listed by more than 20 people in the Astronomy Cast listener survey as being regularly listened to. Listeners could listen up to 10 shows and no
one listed the same show more than once.
Podcast Name Avg Length # Topic Presentation NASA/ESA: HubbleCast < 0:05 varies Science & Medicine Video
(hh:mm) Hosts
NASA: JPL < 0:05 varies Science & Medicine News
60 Second Science (Scientific < 0:05 1 Science & Medicine Lecture
American) NASACast < 0:05 varies Science & Medicine News
ABC NewsRadio: StarStuff (Australia) 0:15 - 0:30 1 Science & Medicine News NASACast Video < 0:05 varies Science & Medicine Video
ABC Radio National: All in the Mind 0:15 - 0:30 1 Science & Medicine Interviews National Geographic varies varies varies varies
ABC Radio National: Ockham’s Razor 0:05 - 0:15 1 Science & Medicine Interviews Nature 0:15 - 0:30 1 Science & Medicine Interviews
ABC Radio National: The Science 0:45 - 1:00 1 Science & Medicine News Net @ Nite 0:45 - 1:00 2 Tech News News
Show
New Scientist 0:15 - 0:30 1 Science & Medicine News
APM: A Prairie Home Companion 0:05 - 0:15 1 Comedy Talk Show
News from Lake Woebegon New York Times: Science Times 0:15 - 0:30 1 Science & Medicine Lecture
Archaeology Channel 0:05 - 0:15 1 Science & Medicine News NOVA < 0:05 1 Science & Medicine News
Ask a Ninja < 0:05 1 Comedy Video NOVA Science Now < 0:05 1 Science & Medicine News
Astronomy 161 0:30 - 0:45 1 Science & Medicine Lecture NPR varies varies varies varies
Astronomy a Go-Go! 0:45 - 1:00 1 Education Lecture NPR: Car Talk 0:45 - 1:00 2 Performing Arts Interviews
Astronomy Cast 0:15 - 0:30 2 Science & Medicine Discussion NPR: Fresh Air 0:30 - 0:45 1 Society & Culture Interviews
Astronomy Magazine Podcast 0:05 - 0:15 1 Science & Medicine News NPR: Radio Lab 0:45 - 1:00 2 Science & Medicine Discussion
Bad Astronomy: Q & BA Vodcast 0:05 - 0:15 1 Science & Medicine Lecture NPR: Science Friday 1:45 - 2:00 1 Science & Medicine Interviews
BBC NewsPod 0:30 - 0:45 1 News & Politics News NPR: This American Life 0:45 - 1:00 1 Society & Culture Talk Show
BBC World Service: Digital Planet 0:15 - 0:30 1 Technology News NPR: Wait, wait... Don’t tell me! 0:45 - 1:00 1 News Game show
BBC: From Our Own Correspondent 0:15 - 0:30 1 News & Politics News Planetary Radio 0:15 - 0:30 1 Science & Medicine Interviews
BBC: In Our Time 0:30 - 0:45 4 Society & Culture Panel Point of Inquiry 0:30 - 0:45 1 Science & Medicine Interviews
BBC: Mark Kermode Film Reviews 0:15 - 0:30 2 TV & Film Reviews PseudoPod 0:15 - 0:30 2 Literature Magazine
BBC: The Naked Scientists 0:45 - 1:00 1 Science & Medicine Interviews QuackCast 0:15 - 0:30 1 Science & Medicine Discussion
Berkeley Groks Science 0:30 - 0:45 2 Science & Medicine Interviews Real Time with Bill Maher 0:45 - 1:00 1 News & Politics Talk Show
CBC Radio: Quirks and Quarks 0:45 - 1:00 1 Science & Medicine Interviews Science @ NASA < 0:05 1 Science & Medicine News
CNET: Buzz Out Loud 0:30 - 0:45 2 Technology News Science Magazine Podcast 0:30 - 0:45 1 Science & Medicine News
Cranky Geeks 0:30 - 0:45 1 Tech News Panel Science Talk 0:15 - 0:30 1 Science & Medicine Interviews
Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History 0:45 - 1:00 1 History Lecture Security Now 0:45 - 1:00 2 Tech News Discussion
Democracy Now 0:45 - 1:00 1 News & Politics News SETI: Are We Alone? 0:45 - 1:00 1 Science & Medicine Discussion
Diggnation 0:45 - 1:00 2 Tech News News Skepticality 0:45 - 1:00 2 Science & Medicine Talk Show
DL.TV 0:30 - 0:45 1 Tech News News Skeptoid 0:05 - 0:15 1 Science & Medicine Lecture
Dogma Free America 0:45 - 1:00 2 Other Interviews Slacker Astronomy 0:05 - 0:15 2 Science & Medicine Discussion
Dr Karl on Triple J 0:30 - 0:45 1 Science & Medicine Discussion Slackerpedia Galactica 0:30 - 0:45 3 Science & Medicine News
Escape Pod 0:30 - 0:45 1 Literature Commentary Slate Daily Podcast 0:05 - 0:15 1 News & Politics News
FreeThought Radio 0:45 - 1:00 2 Other Discussion Slice of SciFi 0:30 - 0:45 2 TV & Film Reviews
Futures in Biotech 0:45 - 1:00 2 Science & Medicine News StarDate < 0:05 1 Science & Medicine Lecture
GeekBrief < 0:05 1 Gadgets Video STScI: Sky Watch < 0:05 2 Science & Medicine News
Grammar Girl 0:05 - 0:15 1 Language Courses Lecture TEDTalks 0:15 - 0:30 N/A Education Lecture
Guardian Unlimited: Science Weekly 0:15 - 0:30 1 Science & Medicine News The Economist Podcast 0:05 - 0:15 2 News & Politics Magazine
Infidel Guy 1:00 - 1:15 1 Other Discussion The Jodcast 0:30 - 0:45 4 Science & Medicine News
KCRW: Left, Right & Center 0:15 - 0:30 4 News & Politics Discussion The Onion Radio < 0:05 1 Comedy News Parody
Logically Critical 0:30 - 0:45 1 Science & Medicine Discussion The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe 1:15 - 1:30 6 Science & Medicine Panel
MacBreak Weekly 1:00 - 1:15 4 Tech News Discussion This Week in Science 0:45 - 1:00 2 Science & Medicine News
MacCast 0:45 - 1:00 1 Tech News News & Reviews This Week in Tech 1:00 - 1:15 4 Tech News Panel
MSNBC: Meet the Press 0:45 - 1:00 1 News & Politics Interviews Tiki Bar TV (video) < 0:05 varies Comedy Video
Mysterious Universe 0:45 - 1:00 1 Science & Medicine Discussion TWiT: The Daily Giz Wiz 0:05 - 0:15 2 Tech News Reviews
NASA varies varies varies varies Universe Today 0:05 - 0:15 1 Science & Medicine Lecture
NASA: Hidden Universe < 0:05 varies Science & Medicine Video Windows Weekly 0:45 - 1:00 1 Tech News Lecture
Astronomy Cast: Evaluation of a Podcast Audience’s Con- CAP Vol. 1, No. 1, October 2007 Page 29
tent Needs and Listening Habits
Innovations
I Tune, You Tube, We Rule
Summary
Key Words
The website YouTube was created in 2005 and has rapidly become one of
the most popular entertainment websites on the internet. It is riding the online
New media video wave today like few other online companies and is currently more
Videos
popular than the video sections of either Yahoo or Google. iTunes, a digital
YouTube
iTunes media application created by Apple in 2001, where one can download and
Digital Media play music and videos, has had a similar success. There is little doubt that
they both represent important communication channels in a world heavily
influenced by online media, especially among teenagers and young adults. As
science communicators we can use this direct route to a younger audience to
our advantage. This article aims to give a taste of these applications with a few
selected examples demonstrating that both YouTube and iTunes are excellent
tools to teach and inspire the general public.
Figure 3. Orion Nebula 3D takes us on a journey into Figure 5. Ant: Light Pollution (Credit YouTube
one of the most famous nebulae in the sky. From http:// user: pinkyshow) from http://www.youtube.com/
www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyxOF_8T5hg (Credit watch?v=skKpivApW7E. educational situations, during talks to the pub-
YouTube user: Indriq; Animation credit: VisLab SDSC).
lic, or as an alternative distribution channel for
content that they might not usually be drawn to. releases and news with a large user base for
Today, even the big public outreach offices of new or existing video material.
space agencies and observatories worldwide Internet video is the medium of choice today for
are using YouTube to reach a wider audience. many people looking for news and information.
An excellent example of a professionally pro- People watch what they want, and a key step
duced video from a public outreach office is to induce lots of mouse clicks on your video is
Black Holes: Tall, Grande, Venti from NASA’s an interesting title and an eye-catching icon. It
Chandra X-ray Observatory. Users who enjoy is equally important that the content be visually
these videos can usually also subscribe to the appealing, not too long and factually correct.
outreach office’s YouTube channel — as is the Bad science and misconceptions in astronomy
case with the Chandra video. But the beauty can be easily disseminated through this me-
of YouTube is the ease with which such vid- dium, so we, as astronomy communicators,
eos can be produced, uploaded and shared. Figure 6. Hidden Universe HD is also a great video are in charge of providing good content for the
Huge budgets are not always required as even podcast series with stunning graphical and audio public.
seemingly low-cost productions can have a content. (Credit NASA/Spitzer Science Center/Robert
profound and influential impact. Take the su-
perb video Ant: Light Pollution whose anti-light
Hurt.)
References
pollution message is as simple as it is eloquent reason why we, as science communicators, • Christensen, L. L. & Shida, R. Y., 2007, Hubblecast:
and powerful. should not do the same. A Video Podcast from ST-ECF, Space Telescope
European Coordinating Facility Newsletter 42, p.
12-13.
Using These New Technologies
• Hidden Universe HD: http://www.spitzer.caltech.
to Our Advantage and Avoiding edu/features/hd/index.shtml
Misconceptions • HubblecastHD: http://www.spacetelescope.org/
These media can be used in a fairly broad videos/hubblecast.html
manner by science communicators either by • iTunes: www.apple.com/itunes
using the videos in both formal and informal
• YouTube: www.youtube.com
iTunes
iTunes is an application that can be down-
loaded for free (see references for the link).
In the iTunes Store, under the “Podcast” and
“Science and Medicine” sections, several as-
tronomy video podcasts may be found. Down-
loads and uploads are free. Submitting videos
to iTunes rather that YouTube may require a bit
more time, but the experience is worthwhile. As
with YouTube, iTunes has been used to great
effect by many of the world’s big science and
astronomy public affairs offices and there is no
Figure 7. Hubblecast HD is a video podcast series that showcases the latest news and images from the Hubble
Space Telescope. Read more about the production details in Christensen & Shida (2007). (Credit ESA/Hubble.)
Innovations
A User’s Perspective
Adrienne J. Gauthier, M.Ed.
Steward Observatory, University of Arizona
E-mail: [email protected]
Summary
Key Words
Second Life (SL) is a multi-user virtual environment that is not limited to adult
social entertainment. SL is also a 3D playground for innovative instructors
Communication via social networking and education/outreach professionals in the sciences. Astronomy and space
Multi-user virtual environments
science have a presence in SL, but it could be so much more. This paper
Second Life
Outreach, informal education describes some of the current astronomy themed spaces in SL and briefly
discusses future innovations.
universities have an active SL presence and by the SciLands consortium of 34+ islands:
35-40 classes are taught in the virtual world. genome research, physics, health sciences,
The science, humanities, medical, technology, information sciences, nanotechnology, biology,
business and law schools are all represented. space technology, and astronomy are among
Innovative faculty and instructional staff con- those currently represented. In addition, the
tinue to develop educational experiences for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis-
their students with this bleeding-edge tech- tration (NOAA) has a spectacular build6 where
nology4. Informal education projects also take you can not only see inside a hurricane, but
advantage of this amazing online program. watch a tsunami form and ruin a coastline. But
Replicas of cathedrals, cities, artefacts, and what about astronomy?
historically significant role-playing sims5 all ex-
Figure 1. The author’s avatar, Ourania Fizgig, gazes ist to educate the general public. Most of the Ourania Fizgig (my avatar) was created in De-
through a small telescope to see The Eagle Nebula. higher education projects are also open to the cember 2006 as I prepared for an undergradu-
public to enjoy. Many sciences are represented ate non-major general science course on “Life
in the Universe”, taught by Professor Chris Im-
pey at the University of Arizona. I was asked to
design, implement and manage an astrobiol-
ogy/astronomy-related project in Second Life
with the students. A handful of students were
courageous and innovative enough to partici-
pate. We decided to build a scale model show-
ing the timeline of Earth, from 4.6 billion years
ago to the present. The exhibit has the timeline
stretched along a spiral structure with images,
3D models, movies and Notecards7 of text to
provide content to the audience. The early con-
tent revolves around geological and atmos-
pheric processes, but once life emerges, the
timeline focuses on biology and chemistry. We
architect Aimee Weber14 is still well visited and nent and focuses on physics and astronomy
referenced today. They also streamed the rare education. Their sim houses the Second Life
transit of Mercury into SL from observations at Observatory, modelled on the Mount Evans
Kitt Peak Observatory in Arizona. The popular Meyer-Womble Observatory at the University
astronomy podcast, Slacker Astronomy15, also of Denver. Astronomical imagery can be seen
has a small bit of land in SL to visit. through the eyepieces of the telescope if the
camera controls are worked correctly.
One astronomical adventure in SL is a content-
Figure 3. Breathtaking view of the International Space rich display space created by avatar Roger The Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) at Caltech has a
Station and the Space Shuttle Endeavour. Amdahl16. He takes us through the basics of strong and growing presence in SL and based
electromagnetic radiation, telescope optics, on Explorer Island with amazing model building
interferometry, spectroscopy and their relation of past, present, and future space technology.
plan to build a “Timeline of the Universe” wrap- to astronomical objects. Another individual In one area it appears they are experiment-
per for the Earth timeline, placing the Earth in astronomy project is an interactive Celestial ing with stereoscopic images of the lunar and
context with the rest of the Universe and thus Sphere created by avatar Prospero Frobozz17. Martian surfaces. One corner20 of their sim is
being able to add beautiful astronomical im- Avatars can manoeuvre their camera or view dedicated to recreating portions of Mars. Ava-
agery. This ambitious initial build was complet- to be inside The Celestial Sphere and watch. tars should watch for dust devils, rovers, and
ed in August 2007 and is found in the sky of the Numerous educational activities can be built bouncing Mars airbags. Exhibits under devel-
LivingintheUniverse sim8. around the manipulated views as the controls opment sit high above Explorer Island. The Vic-
adjust the projection of the sphere to reflect toria Crater model is inspiring and the view of
This project is not the only astronomy-themed any latitude on Earth. the Space Shuttle Endeavour and the Interna-
sim in Second Life, which also has the Interna- tional Space Station (under construction) over
The SL Planetarium18 is managed by avatar Earth is breathtaking. Their sim also hosts the
Chaac Amarula. Anthony Crider, a real-life obligatory scale model of the Solar System.
professor at Elon University, has used the
planetarium for instruction. Scripted shows In August 2007 I participated in the SL launch
are imagined, designed, and implemented by event at Explorer Island for the Phoenix Mars
his students. A working replica of a Meade Mission. My colleague is a part of the Phoe-
telescope sits outside the SL planetarium. Stu- nix Mars EPO (education and public outreach
dents can be engaged with the 3D model as team) and was asked to speak in SL on launch
they learn how to operate such a telescope in day. She was at Cape Canaveral anxiously
real life. awaiting the live launch. I was in Tucson and up
at 3 a.m. to watch the live launch video feed in
Science School19 is a notable higher education SL. We collaborated for her interview over the
project that is located on the SciLands conti- phone as she gave me details and answered
Bio
Notes
1. Second Life, a multi-user virtual environment
owned by Linden Labs. http://secondlife.com
2. http://blog.secondlife.com/2007/06/12/may-2007
-key-metrics-published/
3. Griefing is an act of vandalism in online virtual
worlds.
Figure 7. View of the International Spaceflight Museum.
4. Bleeding-edge technology is technology that is at
questions from the SL audience, and I typed in high traffic sims to mimic the real life cor- the very forefront of technological advancement,
i.e. ahead of cutting edge technology.
the answers through her avatar. Following the nerstone IYA (International Year of Astronomy)
actual launch, I updated her on the rocket once 2009 project, The Universe from Earth21. I’d per- 5. Sim refers to a 65,000 square meter space in SL
it left their view at Cape Canaveral but was still sonally like to see an aggregator of astronomi- in which 15,000 prims are available for building.
being shown zoomed-in for the video feed. The cal images and contextual information brought 6. http://slurl.com/secondlife/Meteora/177/161/27/
power of social computing was evident that into an SL exhibit space. This may become
morning when the sim filled around launch time possible in the coming year if grant monies are 7. A Notecard is a simple text window shown on the
screen. Content creators in SL can easily give
as many avatars wanted to see the video feed. forthcoming. Now that we have Google Sky22, information to avatars using this method.
how can that integrate with Second Life? NOAA
Last on the list of astronomy themed places may be leading this bleeding edge of devel- 8. http://slurl.com/secondlife/
in Second Life is the well-known International opment with their Second Earth23 project that LivingintheUniverse/45/190/251/
Spaceflight Museum, the original driving force melds Second Life and Google Earth to deliver 9. http://slurl.com/secondlife/Spaceport%20
of the SciLands consortium. Here models visualized weather and other data for scientists Alpha/48/78/24/
(some working) of various rockets, satellites and the general public. Ponder the possibilities 10. http://slurl.com/secondlife/Explorer%20
and vehicles are displayed. There is some spe- for astronomy, a Second Sky perhaps? Island/182/155/23/
cific astronomy content spread throughout the
11. http://slurl.com/secondlife/Spaceport%20
sim and it also contains a scale model of the
Alpha/22/52/22/
Solar System.
12. http://slurl.com/secondlife/Infotainment%20
In general, Second Life seems to lack hard- Island/57/131/31/
core astronomy content — all those beautiful 13. http://slurl.com/secondlife/NASA%20
images of galaxies, nebulae, and star clusters CoLab/245/112/22/
from the world’s telescopes and the rich con- 14. http://slurl.com/secondlife/Science%20
textual information that comes from the various School/119/168/24/
education and public outreach offices. Where
15. http://slurl.com/secondlife/Carmine/115/24/180/
are they? Why haven’t they found Second Life?
My sources tell me they have, that it is just a 16. http://slurl.com/secondlife/Primrose/228/59/86
matter of time and development cost. The In-
17. http://slurl.com/secondlife/Infotainment%20
ternational Year of Astronomy may also play Island/81/90/31/
a role in bringing more astronomy to Second Figure 8. Second Life Observatory modelled on
Life. I can imagine installations of images being 18. http://slurl.com/secondlife/Spaceport%20
the University of Denver, Mt Evans Meyer-Womble Alpha/22/52/22/
peppered throughout SL at special events and Observatory.
19. http://scienceschool.wordpress.com/about/
20. http://slurl.com/secondlife/Explorer%20
Island/65/36/52/
21. http://www.astronomy2009.org/content/
view/302/91/
22. http://earth.google.com/sky/skyedu.html
23. http://sl.nmc.org/2007/08/29/upcoming-teachers-
buzz-noaa-interactivity-and-sl-metrics-mon-3-
sep-9am-pdt/
Opinion
Science Journalism
Reproduced, with minor editorial changes, from Ars Technica, courtesy of Ars Technica, LLC
John Timmer
Ars Technica, LLC
E-mail: [email protected]
The chances of this happening are probably press releases and counting on interviews with
Key Words proportional to the press officer’s expertise the scientists in order to fill out the report. This
in the relevant field of research. And that, of again leaves the journalists highly dependent
course, is going to vary wildly. As a result, on the quality of the press release; if it’s bad,
Science press releases vary in quality from something the writer may reduced to squeezing a scien-
as good as an experienced science writer tist’s words into a story that’s scientifically un-
Journalism might produce to borderline incoherence. sound. The interviews may give the scientists
Press Releases the opportunity to correct any misinterpreta-
Embargo Scientists themselves, however, share part of tions by the journalist ,but it depends in part on
the blame for this wide range of quality. Part of the time and effort that they expend in talking
this stems from our willingness to write in jar- to the press. Any miscommunications between
gon that limits our audience to fellow experts in the two may result in the kind of horror stories
In a recent summary of a significant publica- our fields. One article I covered spent much of that started the recent discussions of science/
tion, I devoted a few paragraphs to slamming its introduction discussing the differences be- press relations.
the press release that accompanied the results, tween the ‘cognition-based perceptual fluency/
since I viewed it as presenting assumptions as misattribution theory‘ and the ‘affect-based he- The whole process becomes a bit like the
established fact with no underlying data to sup- donic fluency model’ but didn’t define either of game of Chinese whispers, where an original
port them. This seems to have happened at a these until much later in the paper. The press message gets badly distorted as it’s passed
time where a general debate has erupted over release announcing the results was (surprise!) around the room by word of mouth. To make
the ways science gets presented to the public difficult to fathom, and the results received al- matters worse, there’s a lot of mistrust at both
and the role of journalists in the communica- most no coverage beyond Ars: good for Ars, ends of the chain: scientists may view the press
tion process. I’ve now viewed the internals of bad for nearly everyone else involved. as prone to misreporting and sensationalism,
pretty much every step of the pipeline that runs while the press probably views scientists as
from results to public press, and I’ve given Some of the confusion could be avoided if sci- being uncooperative and possessing limited
some thought to what goes wrong along the entists and press offices worked more closely communications skills. I pity the press officers
way to produce press coverage that’s mislead- together, but my experience is that their interac- that have to act as a bridge between the two.
ing and/or inaccurate. So what follows is both a tions are somewhat limited. A lot of the blame
description of the process for the curious, and for this falls on the shoulders of the scientists, To fix this, the scientific community is going
my take on what the problems are. as they tend to view the press office as a dis- to have to do two things. The first is to recog-
traction from their work rather than as the first nize that press coverage is neither a distrac-
In general, most science stories start with a step towards an informed public. My experi- tion nor an unseemly display of ego; rather, it
publication. There are exceptions to this — ma- ence has been that researchers are generally is an essential part of maintaining an informed
jor astronomical sightings and large scientific cooperative with the press, but they interact and scientifically literate public. The second is
meetings produce their share of press cover- very little with their own institution’s press office, to recognize the central role that the press re-
age — but for the most part, scientists like to perhaps because they recognize that there is lease now occupies in this process. Scientists
keep the profile of their results low until they an unpleasantly high ratio of press releases to can start to improve the situation by making
have passed peer review. Mostly, the press is press coverage. their publications accessible to a broader au-
made aware of publications through the em- dience, but they will have to go beyond that.
bargo system run by the journals or through So the press releases that reach the hands of They need to know when a press release about
press releases from the institutions where the journalists can vary widely in quality. Assuming their research is being made, they need to work
researchers work. the story gets covered, one of two things tends with the press officer involved to make sure it’s
to happen. Most news outlets no longer have right, and they need to recognize that the press
There’s a number of ways for things to go sour dedicated science journalists (this is especially officer probably has better communication
here. The clearest problem is that press offic- true of the web-based press), and they hand skills than they do.
ers are dedicated to creating positive coverage the story to someone who rearranges the press
of whatever institution they are a part of, be it a release and publishes. This is depressingly Scientists are the first step in the process and,
university or a journal. Part of that job involves common and sends any flaws in the release accordingly, they need to be the first to get their
making scientific results as broadly interesting straight on to the public. act together. Once the scientific community
and significant — as newsworthy — as they does a better job of ensuring that the press has
possibly can. That can often lead them to spin Even dedicated science journalists, however, good material to work with, it’ll be in a far bet-
the results in a way that the people who ac- don’t always have the time or ability to read ter position to recognize when the journalists
tually produced them may view as inaccurate, and digest the underlying publication. They of- get things wrong and to work on ensuring that
over-hyped or oversimplified. ten end up structuring their reports around the those mistakes don’t get repeated. Page 35
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