WEBVTT 00:00:07.449 --> 00:00:10.210 Howdy Star Gazers and welcome to this episode 00:00:10.210 --> 00:00:13.490 of Star Trails. My name is Drew and I'll be your 00:00:13.490 --> 00:00:15.769 guide to the night sky for the week of April 00:00:15.769 --> 00:00:19.370 the 5th through the 11th. This month we're going 00:00:19.370 --> 00:00:22.609 to explore some of the scientific processes we 00:00:22.609 --> 00:00:26.070 use as astronomers. We'll discuss how data is 00:00:26.070 --> 00:00:29.609 collected and used. and how computers and programming 00:00:29.609 --> 00:00:32.829 are part of that. And to kick off the month, 00:00:32.990 --> 00:00:35.929 we have a different sort of show on tap for this 00:00:35.929 --> 00:00:38.689 week. I'm going to interview the director of 00:00:38.689 --> 00:00:42.090 a local observatory to spark our discussion on 00:00:42.090 --> 00:00:45.950 visual astronomy. Later in the show, I'll discuss 00:00:45.950 --> 00:00:48.850 some of the famous observatories around the world 00:00:48.850 --> 00:00:52.409 and their discoveries. Also, we'll check in with 00:00:52.409 --> 00:00:55.359 this week's sky. Whether you're tuning in from 00:00:55.359 --> 00:00:57.859 the backyard or the balcony, I'm glad you're 00:00:57.859 --> 00:01:00.679 here. So grab a comfortable spot under the night 00:01:00.679 --> 00:01:06.780 sky and let's get started. Since Galileo created 00:01:06.780 --> 00:01:11.019 his telescope in the early 1600s, the observatory, 00:01:11.400 --> 00:01:14.700 that is a building containing a telescope, has 00:01:14.700 --> 00:01:17.500 been one of the primary tools for studying the 00:01:17.500 --> 00:01:21.500 night sky. Eventually, radio telescopes would 00:01:21.500 --> 00:01:24.319 enter the picture, along with space telescopes 00:01:24.319 --> 00:01:27.840 that far exceed the capabilities of their terrestrial 00:01:27.840 --> 00:01:32.579 brethren. Even so, the classic domed observatory 00:01:32.579 --> 00:01:35.519 is still what comes to mind for many of us when 00:01:35.519 --> 00:01:39.739 we think of astronomy. As a kid who enjoyed stargazing, 00:01:40.140 --> 00:01:43.180 my parents would often drive me past the Melton 00:01:43.180 --> 00:01:46.579 Memorial Observatory on the campus of the University 00:01:46.579 --> 00:01:50.000 of South Carolina in Columbia, in hopes of seeing 00:01:50.000 --> 00:01:53.379 the telescope inside peeking out of the dome's 00:01:53.379 --> 00:01:56.459 shutter. While I never spotted any astronomy 00:01:56.459 --> 00:01:59.780 in progress, the observatory represented a long 00:01:59.780 --> 00:02:02.959 -term goal for me. Eventually, I would attend 00:02:02.959 --> 00:02:06.060 school here, and when I arrived that fall, The 00:02:06.060 --> 00:02:09.819 first class I signed up for was astronomy. It 00:02:09.819 --> 00:02:12.080 would be a few more months before I managed to 00:02:12.080 --> 00:02:16.240 get into a lab class inside Melton. In November 00:02:16.240 --> 00:02:20.740 of 1993, I finally entered the observatory and 00:02:20.740 --> 00:02:23.740 a childhood dream was realized when I peered 00:02:23.740 --> 00:02:26.639 at the moon through the main telescope, which 00:02:26.639 --> 00:02:30.319 is painted in garnet red to match the university's 00:02:30.319 --> 00:02:33.939 colors. Of course, reality doesn't always match 00:02:33.939 --> 00:02:37.250 expectations. When I was a kid, I didn't really 00:02:37.250 --> 00:02:40.330 understand how bad light pollution could be because 00:02:40.330 --> 00:02:44.090 I didn't live in a major metropolitan area. Once 00:02:44.090 --> 00:02:46.969 at school, I was disappointed to learn that we 00:02:46.969 --> 00:02:50.229 weren't going to be peering deep into space because 00:02:50.229 --> 00:02:54.430 light pollution here is quite severe. Yet Melton 00:02:54.430 --> 00:02:57.849 Observatory still stands and, more importantly, 00:02:58.229 --> 00:03:02.060 is still used today. Its classical architecture 00:03:02.060 --> 00:03:05.560 is a nod to historic campus observatories dating 00:03:05.560 --> 00:03:09.639 back hundreds of years. So I decided to contact 00:03:09.639 --> 00:03:13.060 Melton's director and learn more about the nearly 00:03:13.060 --> 00:03:16.460 100 -year -old observatory and how the community 00:03:16.460 --> 00:03:20.039 uses it today. Here's my interview with director 00:03:20.039 --> 00:03:28.150 Martin Bowers. Right now I'm in Melton Memorial 00:03:28.150 --> 00:03:30.830 Observatory on the campus of the University of 00:03:30.830 --> 00:03:33.069 South Carolina and I'm joined by Observatory 00:03:33.069 --> 00:03:36.069 Director Martin Bowers. Welcome to the show. 00:03:36.650 --> 00:03:38.610 Thanks for having me. Thanks for being on here. 00:03:39.030 --> 00:03:41.090 So this observatory has been around for nearly 00:03:41.090 --> 00:03:43.990 a century. What's the story behind how it was 00:03:43.990 --> 00:03:47.430 built? Well, my understanding is that Dr. Melton 00:03:47.430 --> 00:03:50.469 was the president of the university from 22 to 00:03:50.469 --> 00:03:55.120 26 and he felt the need to have a real observatory 00:03:55.120 --> 00:03:58.439 because at that time, they had a telescope, but 00:03:58.439 --> 00:04:00.659 they'd have to set it up and put it away every 00:04:00.659 --> 00:04:02.680 time they used it because they didn't have a 00:04:02.680 --> 00:04:05.080 true observatory. And that's a lot of work. I 00:04:05.080 --> 00:04:08.139 know as an amateur observer myself with my own 00:04:08.139 --> 00:04:10.860 equipment, when I do imaging especially, that's 00:04:10.860 --> 00:04:12.740 a lot of work. So we said, if we're going to 00:04:12.740 --> 00:04:15.139 teach astronomy, we need a proper observatory. 00:04:15.659 --> 00:04:18.360 But coming up with the money even 100 years ago 00:04:18.360 --> 00:04:20.759 was a problem for a new building. So he convinced 00:04:20.759 --> 00:04:24.180 a good friend and alumnus named Edwin Sibles 00:04:24.180 --> 00:04:27.180 to donate the bulk of the money. And they built 00:04:27.180 --> 00:04:30.879 this building and dedicated it in 1928. But unfortunately, 00:04:30.920 --> 00:04:34.000 Dr. Melton had passed away before it was completed. 00:04:34.399 --> 00:04:38.300 So Mr. Sibles dedicated it in memoriam of his 00:04:38.300 --> 00:04:40.639 good friend, Dr. Melton. And that's why we call 00:04:40.639 --> 00:04:43.100 it the Melton Memorial Observatory. Exactly. 00:04:43.470 --> 00:04:46.050 So the question I'm sure everybody wants to know 00:04:46.050 --> 00:04:50.189 is what kind of gear is in Melton? Well we still 00:04:50.189 --> 00:04:53.089 have, my understanding is the original telescope 00:04:53.089 --> 00:04:57.970 and mount, it's a 16 inch cassegrain, very long 00:04:57.970 --> 00:05:00.790 focal length, I think its focal ratio is f16. 00:05:01.209 --> 00:05:04.829 So it does really well on planets and craters 00:05:04.829 --> 00:05:08.009 on the moon, but that's our primary scope. We 00:05:08.009 --> 00:05:10.730 also have a number of portable telescopes. Usually 00:05:10.730 --> 00:05:14.209 we set up a couple of Celestron C8s, eight -inch 00:05:14.209 --> 00:05:17.110 Schmidt -Cassegrain as well. Okay. How did you 00:05:17.110 --> 00:05:19.750 become the director of this observatory? Well, 00:05:19.949 --> 00:05:23.810 I'm a member of the Midlands Astronomy Club. 00:05:24.029 --> 00:05:27.329 I've been doing this now for eight years. And 00:05:27.329 --> 00:05:30.790 so eight years ago, the club was contacted by 00:05:30.790 --> 00:05:33.889 one of the astronomy professors who said, hey, 00:05:33.949 --> 00:05:36.810 we need someone to serve as the director. And 00:05:36.810 --> 00:05:40.430 so I applied for the job because it sounded fun. 00:05:41.050 --> 00:05:43.449 So the university reached out to the club and 00:05:43.449 --> 00:05:46.649 said, do you have anybody who could? Yes. Okay. 00:05:46.910 --> 00:05:49.470 And there are several members of the club who 00:05:49.470 --> 00:05:53.610 have served stints in this role before and they 00:05:53.610 --> 00:05:55.670 were helpful at resources because I had to ask 00:05:55.670 --> 00:05:58.269 them what was going on. So they were very useful 00:05:58.269 --> 00:06:01.410 assets for me. I find Melton really interesting 00:06:01.410 --> 00:06:04.930 because like a lot of universities years ago, 00:06:04.930 --> 00:06:07.230 they would build their observatories right here 00:06:07.230 --> 00:06:10.649 on the campus and we're in the middle of a major 00:06:10.649 --> 00:06:13.910 metropolitan area. So clearly this isn't an ideal 00:06:13.910 --> 00:06:17.319 place for an observatory, but what role does 00:06:17.319 --> 00:06:20.019 a historic observatory like this play in the 00:06:20.019 --> 00:06:22.279 community? Yeah, yeah. Our light pollution is 00:06:22.279 --> 00:06:25.100 pretty dreadful. Just a few years ago, they upgraded 00:06:25.100 --> 00:06:28.540 all the street lights on campus and used brighter 00:06:28.540 --> 00:06:33.230 ones. Okay. They just made it worse. But we could 00:06:33.230 --> 00:06:36.069 still see bright objects. It serves a role as 00:06:36.069 --> 00:06:38.970 part of the science outreach. I mean, I think 00:06:38.970 --> 00:06:41.410 that's why the university wanted to keep it going 00:06:41.410 --> 00:06:43.970 with the public viewing sessions, which we hold 00:06:43.970 --> 00:06:47.430 every clear Monday night. And we invite the public 00:06:47.430 --> 00:06:50.509 and we get a lot of outsiders come in. And we 00:06:50.509 --> 00:06:53.310 also get contacted throughout the year by different 00:06:53.310 --> 00:06:56.410 schools and scouting groups and other organizations. 00:06:57.019 --> 00:07:01.019 wanting a private tour, and so we do our best 00:07:01.019 --> 00:07:04.100 to meet that need as well. Well, it's a beautiful 00:07:04.100 --> 00:07:07.899 building. It looks like a classic observatory. 00:07:07.980 --> 00:07:09.620 When you see it, it's very striking, and you 00:07:09.620 --> 00:07:11.720 want to stop and know, hey, what goes on inside 00:07:11.720 --> 00:07:14.779 of there. Yes, it is the best part of the fun. 00:07:14.839 --> 00:07:18.339 It is a really cool old building. Often I'll 00:07:18.339 --> 00:07:19.980 have students come through here and they say, 00:07:20.120 --> 00:07:22.180 you know, I'm a senior. I've walked by this building 00:07:22.180 --> 00:07:25.040 for four years. I thought it was just some kind 00:07:25.040 --> 00:07:28.160 of monument. I didn't know it was in use. Right, 00:07:28.160 --> 00:07:30.379 right. You know, and the other interesting thing 00:07:30.379 --> 00:07:33.879 is this being an urban observatory, it's not 00:07:33.879 --> 00:07:36.759 even the only one of its kind within about a 00:07:36.759 --> 00:07:39.019 two mile radius. If you go down the road a little 00:07:39.019 --> 00:07:41.779 bit, the state museum has the Boeing observatory, 00:07:41.899 --> 00:07:45.060 which is another really nice facility. in the 00:07:45.060 --> 00:07:48.399 midst of light pollution. Yeah, yeah. They also 00:07:48.399 --> 00:07:50.980 have an old telescope. They have an old Alvin 00:07:50.980 --> 00:07:54.899 Clark refractor. And my understanding is it was 00:07:54.899 --> 00:07:57.240 originally owned by Columbia University long 00:07:57.240 --> 00:08:00.220 ago and had been mothballed for a long time. 00:08:00.800 --> 00:08:03.079 And somehow they convinced them to donate it. 00:08:03.300 --> 00:08:07.100 They received a donation of a lot of classic 00:08:07.100 --> 00:08:09.839 old telescopes. It's really a really cool exhibit 00:08:09.839 --> 00:08:12.540 that they have there. Right. And I know you mentioned 00:08:12.540 --> 00:08:15.680 this before, but even though we are in this heavy 00:08:15.680 --> 00:08:18.439 urban area, there are still things that are worth 00:08:18.439 --> 00:08:22.000 looking at. I'm sure the moon, the planets, what 00:08:22.000 --> 00:08:24.279 do people enjoy looking at even in these types 00:08:24.279 --> 00:08:26.519 of urban environment? Well, of course we always 00:08:26.519 --> 00:08:29.360 do planets. I think the most interesting is Saturn 00:08:29.360 --> 00:08:31.819 is to watch people's reaction because one thing 00:08:31.819 --> 00:08:34.740 I've learned, there are a lot of people who come 00:08:34.740 --> 00:08:37.340 here and it's the first time they've ever looked 00:08:37.340 --> 00:08:40.620 through a telescope. And I forget that sometimes 00:08:40.620 --> 00:08:42.820 that there are people who've just never had that 00:08:42.820 --> 00:08:46.860 opportunity. And when we had Saturn up, More 00:08:46.860 --> 00:08:49.919 than one night there there students to say oh 00:08:49.919 --> 00:08:53.539 wow you can see the rings right that can't be 00:08:53.539 --> 00:08:57.139 real they didn't know that. you could do that, 00:08:57.179 --> 00:08:59.259 that they thought you needed a space telescope 00:08:59.259 --> 00:09:02.500 or some mountaintop massive instrument to see 00:09:02.500 --> 00:09:04.960 the rings of Saturn. No, you can see it in a 00:09:04.960 --> 00:09:07.360 small telescope and it's beautiful. Yeah, one 00:09:07.360 --> 00:09:10.679 of my favorite stories from history is Galileo 00:09:10.679 --> 00:09:13.700 building his own telescope and drawing Saturn 00:09:13.700 --> 00:09:17.320 with rings. So even in those times, we've been 00:09:17.320 --> 00:09:19.399 able to see that. But people don't realize that 00:09:19.399 --> 00:09:22.759 today, do they? There's a lot of folks who haven't 00:09:22.759 --> 00:09:25.059 had that opportunity to look through a telescope. 00:09:25.320 --> 00:09:28.360 I think that's part of the purpose of the campus 00:09:28.360 --> 00:09:32.200 for the arts and sciences is to educate people 00:09:32.200 --> 00:09:36.440 about science, to promote scientific knowledge 00:09:36.440 --> 00:09:38.940 and understanding. The universe is amazing. It's 00:09:38.940 --> 00:09:41.419 beautiful. There's a lot to learn. There's a 00:09:41.419 --> 00:09:44.659 lot we're still learning, and it's fun. It's 00:09:44.659 --> 00:09:46.440 beautiful. Come have a look. What can people 00:09:46.440 --> 00:09:48.539 expect when they come on a Monday night? Well, 00:09:48.620 --> 00:09:50.799 so, of course, we just had a time zone change, 00:09:50.940 --> 00:09:53.110 so that will move our our starting time back 00:09:53.110 --> 00:09:55.590 to nine to 11, but we have a two hour viewing 00:09:55.590 --> 00:09:59.750 window and, um, we always try to find at least 00:09:59.750 --> 00:10:02.730 three different objects. So we'll put the big 00:10:02.730 --> 00:10:05.649 scope on whatever's good right now. Jupiter is 00:10:05.649 --> 00:10:08.850 good. So, uh, or sometimes we'll put it on the 00:10:08.850 --> 00:10:11.710 moon. Right. And then we have two C eights that 00:10:11.710 --> 00:10:14.230 we'll set up on two other objects. The Orion 00:10:14.230 --> 00:10:16.399 Nebula is still up. So that's, that's worth a 00:10:16.399 --> 00:10:18.799 look. You can see the trapezium and you can see 00:10:18.799 --> 00:10:21.419 some of the nebula around it. Right. Um, but 00:10:21.419 --> 00:10:23.379 we invite people to come up, have a look. I have 00:10:23.379 --> 00:10:26.100 some great student assistants that help. run 00:10:26.100 --> 00:10:28.539 some of the instruments. And we invite people 00:10:28.539 --> 00:10:30.419 to have a look, discuss. Some people like to 00:10:30.419 --> 00:10:32.700 stay and talk and they have questions and they 00:10:32.700 --> 00:10:34.879 want to discuss it. We kind of touched on this 00:10:34.879 --> 00:10:36.700 before when you were saying people looking at 00:10:36.700 --> 00:10:39.620 Saturn, what sorts of reactions do you see from 00:10:39.620 --> 00:10:41.919 people the first time they look through some 00:10:41.919 --> 00:10:44.000 of these telescopes here? Well, you know, it's 00:10:44.000 --> 00:10:47.820 funny because anyone who does imaging learns 00:10:47.820 --> 00:10:50.460 to avoid the moon because when the moon's up, 00:10:50.519 --> 00:10:53.320 it's like it lights up the sky, it makes it harder. 00:10:54.360 --> 00:10:57.139 Craters on the moon are easy target, and they're 00:10:57.139 --> 00:10:59.929 actually quite. pretty. And there are a lot of 00:10:59.929 --> 00:11:01.690 folks, they look at craters on the moon, they're 00:11:01.690 --> 00:11:04.269 just blown away. They had no idea. They thought 00:11:04.269 --> 00:11:06.769 you had to be in orbit around the moon to see 00:11:06.769 --> 00:11:10.490 something like that. And Saturn and Jupiter are 00:11:10.490 --> 00:11:13.049 always beautiful as well. Some people are just 00:11:13.049 --> 00:11:16.269 stunned. Some people said, that's not real. You've 00:11:16.269 --> 00:11:19.149 got a sticker in there. You can't be looking 00:11:19.149 --> 00:11:21.610 at it. And I have to say, no, you see that bright 00:11:21.610 --> 00:11:23.690 light right there that looks like a bright star? 00:11:23.889 --> 00:11:26.480 That's Saturn. You're looking at it. That's incredible. 00:11:26.919 --> 00:11:31.179 You really do forget that people maybe don't 00:11:31.179 --> 00:11:33.080 think about these things, and like you said, 00:11:33.259 --> 00:11:36.000 they assume you have to have Hubble or Voyager 00:11:36.000 --> 00:11:39.279 2 or something to see these places. Yeah. Since 00:11:39.279 --> 00:11:41.440 the inception of Melton, have there been any 00:11:41.440 --> 00:11:44.159 big research projects, big discoveries made here? 00:11:44.220 --> 00:11:47.059 I don't know if they've had any discoveries with 00:11:47.059 --> 00:11:50.700 data collected from here. I do know at one time 00:11:50.700 --> 00:11:52.580 they've had different student projects. There 00:11:52.580 --> 00:11:55.570 was a some kind of spectroscope that someone 00:11:55.570 --> 00:11:59.529 made trying to get stellar spectra. I've worked 00:11:59.529 --> 00:12:02.049 with some students doing special projects like 00:12:02.049 --> 00:12:05.549 variable star study, building a light curve of 00:12:05.549 --> 00:12:09.629 stars, but I don't know of any new discoveries 00:12:09.629 --> 00:12:13.029 made from data here. I do know some of the faculty 00:12:13.710 --> 00:12:17.090 are very actively involved in research and get 00:12:17.090 --> 00:12:20.429 time on the Hubble or the Webb telescope as part 00:12:20.429 --> 00:12:23.450 of their research projects. So there is active 00:12:23.450 --> 00:12:26.210 research done by some of the faculty members, 00:12:26.250 --> 00:12:29.909 but I'm not aware of any data taken from this 00:12:29.909 --> 00:12:32.250 instrument that went into a study, but there 00:12:32.250 --> 00:12:34.870 could have been. You kind of mentioned it just 00:12:34.870 --> 00:12:36.710 then, you said some of the faculty out here are 00:12:36.710 --> 00:12:41.519 using some remote. observing or Hubble or Webb 00:12:41.519 --> 00:12:44.539 or, you know, Atacama, places like that. What 00:12:44.539 --> 00:12:48.120 is the value of a hands -on, like in -person 00:12:48.120 --> 00:12:51.460 facility like this today? You know, it's interesting. 00:12:51.539 --> 00:12:54.159 I had this discussion with some of the professors 00:12:54.159 --> 00:12:57.659 here, the astronomy professors, that professional 00:12:57.659 --> 00:13:01.220 astronomers don't do hands -on because they just 00:13:01.220 --> 00:13:04.830 submit a proposal. They get time and then someone 00:13:04.830 --> 00:13:06.990 mails them a pointer to their data. Here's how 00:13:06.990 --> 00:13:09.730 you download your data. But there is value in 00:13:09.730 --> 00:13:13.450 hands -on. I think that's still useful. It's 00:13:13.450 --> 00:13:18.169 helpful to understand how the sky moves, how 00:13:18.169 --> 00:13:22.610 objects move within it, how the telescope works 00:13:22.610 --> 00:13:26.049 and to learn your way around the sky. And the 00:13:26.049 --> 00:13:28.230 best way to do that is to get down and dirty, 00:13:28.289 --> 00:13:30.230 get your hands on a scope and start pointing 00:13:30.230 --> 00:13:33.789 it and through it. I think there's still value 00:13:33.789 --> 00:13:37.309 in that, and certainly from a hobbyist's point 00:13:37.309 --> 00:13:40.750 of view, just appreciating the beauty and wonder 00:13:40.750 --> 00:13:44.929 of the sky and the objects in it. Getting personally 00:13:44.929 --> 00:13:48.570 involved by actually operating a telescope is 00:13:48.570 --> 00:13:52.110 a part of that. It helps you become connected 00:13:52.110 --> 00:13:55.850 to it. If someone listening wants to start observing, 00:13:56.629 --> 00:13:59.549 what should they do? You know, I get that question 00:13:59.549 --> 00:14:02.649 a lot because especially a common problem is 00:14:02.649 --> 00:14:05.570 you get a parent who has a child who's very interested 00:14:05.570 --> 00:14:08.789 in astronomy and they want to buy a telescope 00:14:08.789 --> 00:14:11.990 for them. And the problem is if you go too cheap, 00:14:12.149 --> 00:14:14.789 you'll get an instrument that's so frustrating 00:14:14.789 --> 00:14:17.250 to use, you'll just crush the joy out of your 00:14:17.250 --> 00:14:20.289 budding young scientists there. And yet you don't 00:14:20.289 --> 00:14:22.590 want to spend a lot of money on a scope that 00:14:22.590 --> 00:14:25.230 maybe they'll use a few times and then lose interest. 00:14:25.769 --> 00:14:30.100 So the best advice is join the local astronomy 00:14:30.100 --> 00:14:33.100 club. Locally the Midlands astronomy club is 00:14:33.100 --> 00:14:37.860 here in Columbia. There you'll meet a bunch of 00:14:37.860 --> 00:14:40.419 enthusiasts who are very knowledgeable users 00:14:40.419 --> 00:14:43.179 with a lot of telescopes. You can go to their 00:14:43.179 --> 00:14:46.019 star parties, look through their equipment and 00:14:46.019 --> 00:14:49.289 get an idea of what how much things cost, how 00:14:49.289 --> 00:14:51.669 they work, what you think might be useful for 00:14:51.669 --> 00:14:54.750 you. Some people never even buy their own telescope. 00:14:54.830 --> 00:14:56.570 They just go to the club and look through the 00:14:56.570 --> 00:14:59.909 club scopes and come to our Melton Monday night 00:14:59.909 --> 00:15:02.350 public viewing events. And we'll show you some 00:15:02.350 --> 00:15:04.470 views through scopes and talk to you about it. 00:15:04.929 --> 00:15:06.529 There are a lot of options. It all depends on 00:15:06.529 --> 00:15:09.870 how much money you're willing to spend. And like 00:15:09.870 --> 00:15:12.470 I say, the best way is to get into it with the 00:15:12.470 --> 00:15:15.379 club and, or come to our meetings. You spend 00:15:15.379 --> 00:15:18.279 a lot of time helping people out here and introducing 00:15:18.279 --> 00:15:20.860 them to the universe. What do you think astronomy 00:15:20.860 --> 00:15:24.220 does? To the way people see their place in the 00:15:24.220 --> 00:15:28.259 in the world Well, you know it it's funny you 00:15:28.259 --> 00:15:30.840 were talking about, you know Galileo and in the 00:15:30.840 --> 00:15:34.899 early days of telescopes Today what we know is 00:15:34.899 --> 00:15:40.460 the the universe is vastly stupefying Lee immense. 00:15:40.779 --> 00:15:46.049 Yes much bigger in its extent than our predecessors 00:15:46.049 --> 00:15:48.769 could have possibly imagined. And we're learning 00:15:48.769 --> 00:15:52.750 it's filled with amazing things and they're beautiful. 00:15:53.289 --> 00:15:56.789 And it's part of the wonder to understand just 00:15:56.789 --> 00:16:01.909 how enormous, incredibly enormously huge the 00:16:01.909 --> 00:16:05.830 universe is and how beautiful it is and all the 00:16:05.830 --> 00:16:07.750 things we're still learning about it. That's 00:16:07.750 --> 00:16:11.259 part of the joy and wonder of I mean, that's 00:16:11.259 --> 00:16:14.580 that's why it's been a hobby for me is it's exciting. 00:16:14.779 --> 00:16:19.899 It's beautiful. And it's fun. And so that's why 00:16:19.899 --> 00:16:23.120 I do it. And that's what I'd like to share with 00:16:23.120 --> 00:16:26.539 our guests. Hey, look at something amazing. I 00:16:26.539 --> 00:16:29.340 love that. Martin, thanks so much for being on 00:16:29.340 --> 00:16:31.600 the show. This has been enlightening and it's 00:16:31.600 --> 00:16:33.850 always a pleasure to come visit Melton. You're 00:16:33.850 --> 00:16:36.490 welcome any time. You and your listeners to come 00:16:36.490 --> 00:16:39.129 to the Melton Observatory on a clear Monday night. 00:16:39.549 --> 00:16:42.529 We post our status every Monday morning on the 00:16:42.529 --> 00:16:44.570 Melton Facebook page. Okay. Going to be open 00:16:44.570 --> 00:16:47.669 or not based on the weather or any other events 00:16:47.669 --> 00:16:50.110 going on. Appreciate it. Thank you. Yes, sir. 00:16:53.900 --> 00:16:56.879 I'd like to thank Martin for giving us that interview, 00:16:57.240 --> 00:16:59.720 and I'll include links to Melton in the show 00:16:59.720 --> 00:17:02.259 notes if you happen to find yourself in Columbia, 00:17:02.419 --> 00:17:05.400 South Carolina on a Monday evening and want to 00:17:05.400 --> 00:17:10.359 come visit. After a quick break, I'll be back 00:17:10.359 --> 00:17:13.599 to discuss some historic observatories and their 00:17:13.599 --> 00:17:16.579 discoveries, and we'll check in with this week's 00:17:16.579 --> 00:17:32.740 night sky. Stay with us. Welcome back. Before 00:17:32.740 --> 00:17:35.980 we had massive domes perched on mountaintops, 00:17:36.279 --> 00:17:39.500 before we had radio dishes the size of stadiums, 00:17:39.539 --> 00:17:43.259 and before we sent telescopes into orbit, astronomy 00:17:43.259 --> 00:17:47.140 was much simpler, and a much more personal endeavor. 00:17:48.099 --> 00:17:52.940 In 1609, Galileo Galilei pointed a small handmade 00:17:52.940 --> 00:17:56.279 telescope toward the night sky, and everything 00:17:56.279 --> 00:17:59.880 changed. He saw mountains on the moon, proving 00:17:59.880 --> 00:18:03.720 it wasn't a perfect celestial sphere. He discovered 00:18:03.720 --> 00:18:06.819 four moons orbiting Jupiter, showing that not 00:18:06.819 --> 00:18:09.900 everything revolved around the Earth. And he 00:18:09.900 --> 00:18:13.180 discovered the phases of Venus, which supported 00:18:13.180 --> 00:18:16.839 the idea that planets orbit the Sun. With a device 00:18:16.839 --> 00:18:20.119 no more powerful than a modern pair of binoculars, 00:18:20.579 --> 00:18:23.640 Galileo helped overturn centuries of belief. 00:18:24.240 --> 00:18:27.119 And for a long time, astronomy stayed close to 00:18:27.119 --> 00:18:31.059 that spirit. small telescopes, individual observers, 00:18:31.599 --> 00:18:35.079 and handwritten notes and sketches. But as our 00:18:35.079 --> 00:18:37.680 questions about the universe grew bigger, our 00:18:37.680 --> 00:18:40.980 tools had to grow with them. By the 17th and 00:18:40.980 --> 00:18:43.920 18th centuries, dedicated observatories began 00:18:43.920 --> 00:18:48.160 to appear. Places like Paris Observatory and 00:18:48.160 --> 00:18:51.920 Royal Observatory Greenwich. Astronomers used 00:18:51.920 --> 00:18:55.059 them to map the sky, track planetary motion, 00:18:55.220 --> 00:18:59.210 and even define time itself. The line running 00:18:59.210 --> 00:19:01.609 through Greenwich became the prime meridian, 00:19:02.029 --> 00:19:05.450 the reference point for global navigation. And 00:19:05.450 --> 00:19:08.470 as telescopes improved, observatories became 00:19:08.470 --> 00:19:12.109 more ambitious. Bigger lenses and larger mirrors. 00:19:12.869 --> 00:19:16.109 Eventually, these quiet domes would reshape our 00:19:16.109 --> 00:19:19.450 understanding of the cosmos. Let's take a quick 00:19:19.450 --> 00:19:23.009 tour of a few of the heavy hitters. High above 00:19:23.009 --> 00:19:26.789 Los Angeles sits Mount Wilson Observatory, and 00:19:26.789 --> 00:19:29.710 this place fundamentally changed how we see the 00:19:29.710 --> 00:19:33.950 universe. In the 1920s, astronomer Edwin Hubble 00:19:33.950 --> 00:19:37.970 used the 100 -inch Hooker telescope here to prove 00:19:37.970 --> 00:19:41.250 that spiral nebula weren't clouds inside our 00:19:41.250 --> 00:19:44.829 galaxy. They were entire galaxies of their own. 00:19:45.329 --> 00:19:49.009 That one discovery expanded the universe overnight, 00:19:49.029 --> 00:19:53.009 and it didn't stop there. Hubble also discovered 00:19:53.009 --> 00:19:56.250 that galaxies are moving away from us, which 00:19:56.250 --> 00:20:00.069 means the universe is expanding. That realization 00:20:00.069 --> 00:20:04.269 is the foundation of modern cosmology. A few 00:20:04.269 --> 00:20:08.210 decades later, just down the road, Palomar Observatory 00:20:08.210 --> 00:20:12.690 took things even further. Its 200 -inch HAIL 00:20:12.690 --> 00:20:16.109 telescope was, for a long time, the most powerful 00:20:16.109 --> 00:20:20.000 telescope on Earth. Palomar helped map the large 00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:22.859 -scale structure of the universe, contributed 00:20:22.859 --> 00:20:26.279 to the discovery of quasars, those bright distant 00:20:26.279 --> 00:20:29.339 objects powered by supermassive black holes, 00:20:29.880 --> 00:20:32.599 and played a role in refining how we measure 00:20:32.599 --> 00:20:36.059 cosmic distances. For much of the 20th century, 00:20:36.319 --> 00:20:38.660 if something big was discovered in astronomy, 00:20:39.140 --> 00:20:42.490 there's a good chance Palomar was involved. On 00:20:42.490 --> 00:20:45.809 the summit of a dormant volcano in Hawaii sits 00:20:45.809 --> 00:20:49.089 one of the best observing sites on Earth, Mauna 00:20:49.089 --> 00:20:52.369 Kea Observatories. This is home to some of the 00:20:52.369 --> 00:20:55.390 most advanced telescopes ever built, including 00:20:55.390 --> 00:20:59.029 the Keck Observatory. From here, astronomers 00:20:59.029 --> 00:21:02.529 have studied the atmospheres of distant exoplanets, 00:21:03.009 --> 00:21:05.549 measured the motion of stars orbiting the black 00:21:05.549 --> 00:21:08.630 hole at the center of our galaxy, and pushed 00:21:08.630 --> 00:21:11.490 deeper into the early universe than ever before. 00:21:11.880 --> 00:21:14.660 It's one of the places where modern astronomy 00:21:14.660 --> 00:21:18.859 is happening right now. And then we left Earth 00:21:18.859 --> 00:21:22.299 entirely. The Hubble Space Telescope removed 00:21:22.299 --> 00:21:25.420 the atmosphere from the equation. Hubble gave 00:21:25.420 --> 00:21:28.359 us the deep field images, revealing thousands 00:21:28.359 --> 00:21:31.160 of galaxies in what looked like empty patches 00:21:31.160 --> 00:21:34.900 of sky. It helped determine the age of the universe, 00:21:35.380 --> 00:21:38.359 refined the expansion rate, and gave us some 00:21:38.359 --> 00:21:41.750 of the most iconic images ever taken. For many 00:21:41.750 --> 00:21:46.309 people, Hubble made the universe feel real. High 00:21:46.309 --> 00:21:49.509 in the Atacama Desert, one of the driest places 00:21:49.509 --> 00:21:53.910 on Earth, sits Paranal Observatory. This is home 00:21:53.910 --> 00:21:57.029 to the Very Large Telescope, operated by the 00:21:57.029 --> 00:22:00.910 European Southern Observatory. Here, astronomers 00:22:00.910 --> 00:22:04.609 combine multiple telescopes to act like one giant 00:22:04.609 --> 00:22:07.490 instrument, allowing them to peer deeper into 00:22:07.490 --> 00:22:11.180 space with precision. From Paranol, we've studied 00:22:11.180 --> 00:22:13.960 distant galaxies, explored the structure of the 00:22:13.960 --> 00:22:17.519 Milky Way, and even helped image exoplanets around 00:22:17.519 --> 00:22:21.240 other stars. All the observatories we've mentioned 00:22:21.240 --> 00:22:25.559 in this episode are for visual astronomy, stargazing, 00:22:25.900 --> 00:22:29.819 photon by photon. We'll get into radio astronomy 00:22:29.819 --> 00:22:32.640 and other methods of data collection later this 00:22:32.640 --> 00:22:42.890 month. This week the moon starts off bright as 00:22:42.890 --> 00:22:46.029 a waning gibbous washing out much of the sky 00:22:46.029 --> 00:22:49.970 early on But night by night it rises later and 00:22:49.970 --> 00:22:53.170 fades giving us gradually darker skies as the 00:22:53.170 --> 00:22:57.329 week goes on In the evening, you can't miss Venus 00:22:57.329 --> 00:23:00.470 blazing in the western sky after sunset. It's 00:23:00.470 --> 00:23:03.809 the brightest object out there by far Jupiter 00:23:03.809 --> 00:23:07.250 is still hanging on in the southwest almost directly 00:23:07.250 --> 00:23:11.029 overhead If you're up before sunrise, Mercury, 00:23:11.109 --> 00:23:14.450 Mars, and Saturn are in a tidy line, but they're 00:23:14.450 --> 00:23:17.230 sitting very low on the horizon and clustered 00:23:17.230 --> 00:23:20.049 near the morning sun, so they'll be a bit of 00:23:20.049 --> 00:23:23.549 a challenge. Overhead, we're now fully in the 00:23:23.549 --> 00:23:26.650 spring sky. Leo is prominent, with its bright 00:23:26.650 --> 00:23:30.369 star, Regulus, while Virgo begins to rise later 00:23:30.369 --> 00:23:33.829 in the evening. Cancer sits between them, faint, 00:23:34.150 --> 00:23:36.529 but home to one of the best binocular targets 00:23:36.529 --> 00:23:39.970 in the sky. That's the Beehive Cluster, also 00:23:39.970 --> 00:23:43.690 known as Messier 44, an excellent target this 00:23:43.690 --> 00:23:46.470 week, especially with the bright moon early on. 00:23:47.190 --> 00:23:50.569 You can also try for the Globular Cluster M3, 00:23:50.829 --> 00:23:53.750 and later in the week, as skies improve, galaxies 00:23:53.750 --> 00:23:58.509 like M81, M82, and even the Whirlpool Galaxy 00:23:58.509 --> 00:24:03.650 M51 come into reach. And there's a bit of a wild 00:24:03.650 --> 00:24:10.089 card this week, a potential comet. C2026A1 may 00:24:10.089 --> 00:24:13.089 be visible low in the western sky just after 00:24:13.089 --> 00:24:17.170 sunset. This one is really dim right now at magnitude 00:24:17.170 --> 00:24:21.670 13 .6. If it survives its journey around the 00:24:21.670 --> 00:24:24.730 sun, it could brighten dramatically. Check an 00:24:24.730 --> 00:24:28.410 app like Stellarium for the exact location. We'll 00:24:28.410 --> 00:24:30.549 be keeping an eye on it in the coming weeks. 00:24:31.000 --> 00:24:33.960 As I record this, the crew of Artemis II has 00:24:33.960 --> 00:24:37.099 been in space for nearly 24 hours, on a journey 00:24:37.099 --> 00:24:40.539 around the moon and back. Humanities return to 00:24:40.539 --> 00:24:43.900 deep space after more than half a century. While 00:24:43.900 --> 00:24:46.519 we observe the stars from here on Earth, they're 00:24:46.519 --> 00:24:49.720 out there experiencing it directly. For most 00:24:49.720 --> 00:24:53.700 of us, astronomy begins by looking up, but it 00:24:53.700 --> 00:25:01.420 doesn't always end there. That's going to do 00:25:01.420 --> 00:25:04.259 it for this week. If you found this episode interesting, 00:25:04.460 --> 00:25:06.480 please share it with a friend who might enjoy 00:25:06.480 --> 00:25:09.279 it. The easiest way to do that is by sending 00:25:09.279 --> 00:25:13.779 folks to our website, StarTrails .Show. And if 00:25:13.779 --> 00:25:16.000 you'd like to support the show, use the link 00:25:16.000 --> 00:25:19.119 on the site to buy me a coffee. That really helps. 00:25:19.680 --> 00:25:22.640 Be sure to follow Star Trails on Blue Sky and 00:25:22.640 --> 00:25:25.960 YouTube. Links are in the show notes. Until we 00:25:25.960 --> 00:25:29.099 meet again beneath the stars, clear skies everyone.