July 22: Gattaca

A couple of weeks ago we wrapped our summer science film series with the movie "Gattaca." Once again we had another good turn out for some sci-fi movie fun! Plus, we all had a chance to take a break from the oppressive heat of that week!

The movie centered on two main themes, genetic engineering and space travel, which mirrored both the debate in the late 90's on cloning and genetic engineering of humans and the launch of the Cassini-Huygens mission in October of 1997 (which was the release date of the movie!). After the movie, we talked about the scientific background behind genetic engineering and about the fact and fiction behind traveling to Saturn's moon Titan. Highlights of the talk included acknowledging the groundbreaking work done at Columbia, in the Fly Room, where fruit flies were used to understand genetic heredity. We also talked about the genetic engineering used today in making human insulin in bacteria. In regards to space travel, we dispelled the notion of going to Titan and back in one year and had a good discussion about future prospects in space propulsion - pointing to solar sails, ion rockets, and rail guns - a fitting discussion in light of the canceled shuttle program. I also pointed out that this movie is full of science which also includes nods to electric cars, solar energy, and genetic identification.

Two of our graduate students, Jana Grcevic and Christine Simpson, led the telescope viewing from the Low library plaza and Brandon Horn, also a grad student, helped out with movie setup. Thanks to everyone who came to watch, stayed to talk science, and gazed upon the heaven afterwards.

July 16, 2011: Family Astro: THE SUN

Luckily the clouds stayed away for the Family Astro event on July 16th because the topic was "The Sun". About 10 kids and 10 parents attended the event. Our first activity was tracing our shadow with chalk. We did this once at the beginning of the event, and once two hours later at the end in order to see how the position changed due to the apparent movement of the Sun through the sky. We then made scale models of the Sun and Earth out of paper to show the extreme size difference and large distance between the Sun and the Earth. Next we made our own "UV detector" bracelets out of UV color changing beads (a.k.a. Solar Energy Beads) and tested them outside and in a plastic bag covered in sunscreen. Participants then wrapped a map of the Earth around themselves and rotated like the Earth does, and we shone a lamp on them to simulate the Sun's light. This illustrated the cause of night and day and showed how it can be daytime on one side of the Earth and nighttime on the other. Finally, Graduate Student Duane Lee gave the kids and their parents a peek through a special solar telescope, and gave a tour of the telescope dome on the roof. Thanks to the volunteers for making this event a success!

Contact: Science Fiction Film Series

We had a nice crowd turn out for last week's showing of Contact, including a number of people for whom it was their first time at a Columbia Astronomy event. After the movie, we discussed the scientific background of wormholes (used as a transport mechanism in the movie), the difficulties of "listening to light" (as the Jody Foster character does numerous times), and used the Drake Equation to foster a discussion of how likely we are to actually detect alien life. After the main discussion, we had a lively discussion in the front of the lecture hall on Carl Sagan's views on religion and how those affect the movie he had a major role in writing and producing.

Summer Movie Night: The Fifth Element

This past Friday, Columbia University's astronomy program hosted its second movie screening of the summer. 45 visitors came to watch *The Fifth Element * starring Bruce Willis, Milla Jovovich, and Gary Oldman. Afterwards, Jeff Andrews led a discussion of the both the scientific possibilities and inaccuracies of the film, as well as a discussion of Plato's four classical elements. The fifth element in the movie has obvious origins in Aristotle's addition of aether as an immutable, almost heavenly fifth element, which he derived from astronomical observations. Jeff finished with a brief discussion of how Einstein's theory of relativity affects space travel through time dilation.

In two weeks on June 24, Columbia's astronomy department will be showing another classical film, *Contact*, starring Jodie Foster. Contingent upon the weather, we will also have telescopes set up on campus to look at the most interesting targets in the summer night sky. Don't miss this screening or the discussion afterwards led by one of our post-doctorates, Hugh Crowl. Considering the relative scientific accuracy of this movie, it promises to be an exciting event!

Summer Astronomy Events

Two events happened over the last two weeks involving Columbia Astronomy's Outreach Program.

First, on Friday May 27 at 7 pm, about 30 people came to this year's inaugural Science Fiction Movie Night. Due to the success of last year's program, this year, we're screening science fiction films in Pupin Hall that have astronomical themes. Our calendar for the summer can be seen here, and there will be four additional ones before August.

May 27's movie was Red Planet starring Val Kilmer. Graduate student Lia Corrales led the discussion after the film about the various aspects of science fiction and science fact found in the movie. The people in attendance generally gave her rave reviews, if not the film. After the film, a few astronomers set up a six-inch Dobsonian telescope on College Walk and gave out free views of Saturn.

Then, last Friday, June 3, a number of Columbia Astronomers took telescopes over to Brooklyn for a star party associated with the World Science Festival. Many members of the general public came out and looked through the telescope at various astronomical targets. Hundreds of people got a chance to see Saturn, so it certainly was a success. See pictures of it here.

Don't forget: this Friday, June 10, another blockbuster movie, "The Fifth Element" will be shown with astronomy graduate student Jeff Andrews leading a discussion on the science truth and falsehoods present in the film.

History of the Telescope

This past Friday, Alex Smith explained the importance of the telescope on astronomy, and our perception of the universe. Galileo's use of the telescope to look at the moons of Jupiter and the phases of Venus helped to shift from a geocentric model to a heliocentric one. He next went on to explain how Edwin Hubble discovered a whole slew of other galaxies, each one of which contained billions of stars, further expanding the limits of the universe. Alex continued to describe the development of the telescope explaining the value of sending telescopes into space and the extreme galaxies on the outer edge of the universe that have been observed with the Hubble Space Telescope. Finally, he closed with comments on the abilities of the current and next generation of telescopes such as the James Webb Space Telescope to be able to detect planets that potentially harbor life.

After the lecture, Brandon Horn gave a tour of the galaxy and solar system on our 3D wall, while Christine Simpson gave a tour of the dome that houses our telescope on the roof. At the same time, Duane Lee and Jeff Andrews gave a discussion of the astronomy picture of the day in the main lecture hall.

Thanks to all the volunteers and the 100 people who attended Alex's lecture.

-Jeff

Solstices and Equinoxes

Last night, a group of 15 elementary, home-school students and their parents visited the observatory for a discussion on how our Earth travels through the solar system and how we perceive these motions. Lia Corrales, Ian Allen and Cameron Hummels led an interactive activity which taught the kids about how the seasons, equinoxes, solstices, days and years are simply the results of how the earth rotates and orbits around the Sun. Ultimately, these topics related back to the students' lesson plan about Incan and Peruvian astronomy and how these people's used the equinox and solstice for the agricultural calendar. The students were very intelligent and had great questions on a variety of topics. Thanks to all of the participants!

--Cameron