Category Archives: Outreach

“Stargazing at The Calyx”, new science communication event series at Sydney’s Botanic Gardens

Posted on July 8, 2017 | Leave a comment

Article originally written by Ángel R. López-Sánchez for the “AAO Observer” 132, August 2017.

In June 2017 the Australian Astronomical Observatory (AAO) started a new Science Communication collaboration with historic Sydney’s Royal Botanic Gardens. The events “Stargazing at The Calyx” combine a short talk given by an astronomer followed by a stargazing session with amateur telescopes.

People are enjoying the view of the sky through amateur telescopes during the “Stargazing in the Calyx” science communication event at Sydney’s Botanic Gardens on Tuesday 4th July 2017. Credit: Christina McGhee (Sydney’s Botanic Gardens).

The first of these events was held on Monday 19th June 2017. It was so successful that the following “Stargazing in the Calyx” session, scheduled on Tuesday 4th July, was sold out in just 8 minutes after the tickets were available.

The organization of these events have received a hugely positive feedback, both about the venue (the brand-new “The Calyx” building at Sydney’s Botanic Gardens) and the atmosphere (people enjoyed dinner with drinks under the stars) and the entertaining and knowledgeable talks about the Southern Sky (given by AAO and Macquarie University astronomer Ángel López-Sánchez).

AAO/MQU astronomer Ángel López-Sánchez giving his talk “Introduction to the Southern Sky” as part of the “Stargazing at The Calyx” event at Sydney’s Botanic Gardens on Monday 19th June 2017. Credit: Christina McGhee (Sydney’s Botanic Gardens).

Besides some clouds and Sydney’s light pollution, participants really enjoyed the views of planets Jupiter and Saturn and the Moon through the telescopes, as well as observing globular cluster Omega Centauri and the famous “Jewel Box” star cluster in the Southern Cross, as well as learn to recognize the constellations of the winter nights at the southern hemisphere. Some of the telescopes were kindly provided by CSIRO, Sydney University, Macquarie University and some amateur astronomers who were also invited to these events.

The next “Stargazing at The Calyx” event is scheduled on Tuesday 3rd of October. We expect they will be repeated each 1 or 2 months.

“The Story of Light: Surveying the Cosmos”, in Vivid Sydney Ideas 2017

Posted on June 5, 2017 | Leave a comment

Article originally written by Ángel R. López-Sánchez for the “AAO Observer” 132, August 2017.

Following the success of our sold-out Event “The Story of Light – The Astronomer’s Perspective” for ViVID Sydney Ideas 2015, and “The Story of Light – Deciphering the data encoded on the cosmic light” (see photos and the video of this event), the Australian Astronomical Observatory (AAO) continued its collaboration with ViVID Sydney 2017 organizing “The Story of Light – Surveying the Cosmos”.

This successful science communication event was held at the Powerhouse Museum (Sydney) on Sunday 4th June 2017. Having an audience of 300 people, it was sold out more than two weeks before the event.

“The Story of Light – Surveying the Cosmos” was connected to the 2017 Southern Cross Astrophysics Conference: Surveying the Cosmos, the Science from massively multiplexed surveys, that was held in Luna Park, Sydney, between 5th and 9th June 2017.

Poster for the AAO’s “The Story of Light – Surveying the Cosmos” Science Communication event for Vivid Sydney Ideas 2017. Credit: Angel R. Lopez-Sanchez.

In this event, five professional astrophysicists discussed how astronomers map the Cosmos using the big data collected with optical and radio telescopes by large astronomical surveys.

How do astronomers explore the Universe? Astrophysicists use extremely sensitive telescopes and instruments to collect the light emitted by stars, gas and galaxies. The analysis of this data provides the information needed to unlock the mysteries of the Cosmos.

However, this is not an easy task. Over the last two decades large international collaborations have been formed with the aim to map the skies, catalogue celestial objects, extract their properties and perform statistical analyses. These large astronomical surveys are now providing major advances in our understanding of the Cosmos at all scales, from searching for planets around other stars to detecting gravitational waves.

Australia is at the forefront of these collaborations thanks to the unique instruments at the Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT) and the development of radio-interferometers as the Australian SKA Pathfinder (ASKAP).

Panel members and MC of AAO’s “The Story of Light – Surveying the Cosmos” Science Communication event for Vivid Sydney Ideas 2017. From left to right: Katie Mack, Alan Duffy, Simon O’Toole, Tara Murphy and Ángel López-Sánchez. Credit: Duncan Wright (AAO/UNSW).

The panel members were Dr. Simon O’Toole (Australian Astronomical Observatory), who talked about surveying stars and exoplanets, Dr. Ángel R. López-Sánchez (Australian Astronomical Observatory / Macquarie University), who discussed how we surveying the galaxies, A/Prof. Tara Murphy (University of Sydney / CAASTRO), who invited us to surveying the invisible Universe, and Dr. Katie Mack (University of Melbourne), who talked about surveying the deep Universe. The event was hosted by famous astrophysicist and science communicator A/Prof. Alan R. Duffy (Swinburne University).

After short (15 minutes) talks, the panel answered questions about the Universe and challenging Physics questions as the nature of the dark matter and the dark energy. They also received some more philosophical questions that engaged the audience.

More information:

AAO joins organization of International Science Communication Festival “Pint of Science”

Posted on May 20, 2017 | Leave a comment

Article originally written by Ángel R. López-Sánchez for the “AAO Observer” 132, August 2017.

In 2017 the Australian Astronomical Observatory joined the international Science Communication festival Pint of Science. The festival started in the UK and runs every May in over 150 cities across 12 different countries, including Australia. This year Pint of Science took place in 13 cities across Australia (including Sydney) over 15, 16 and 17 May 2017.

The Pint of Science festival aims to promote Science and Science Communication in a very relaxing atmosphere: in a pub with a drink. It brings scientists to a local pub to discuss their latest research and findings with the public.

Poster of Sydney’s “Atoms to Galaxies” for Pint of Science Australia 2017. Credit: Ángel R. López-Sánchez.

The Australian Astronomical Observatory joined CSIRO, the ARC Centre of Excellence CAASTRO, and the Spanish Researchers in Australia-Pacific (SRAP) association as a sponsor of Sydney’s Pint of Science Festival in 2017. Our astronomer Ángel López-Sánchez (AAO/MQU) co-leaded the organization of the “Atoms to Galaxies” talks. These sessions included talks about Physics, Math, Chemistry and Astronomy and were hosted at Bar Cleveland, in Surry Hills.

Sydney’s “Atoms to Galaxies” program (which was the largest for Pint of Science Australia 2017) included talks about applied maths, search for exoplanets, explore quantum computing, play with the light, learn the origin of the chemical elements, map distant galaxies and challenge the laws of Physics.

Angel López-Sánchez during his talk “The Cosmic Origin of the Elements”.

The first night, “Elements in Space”, included talks by AAO astronomer and engineer Kyler Kuehn, who talked about astronomy neutrinos presenting the work he conducted in Antarctica for his PhD Thesis, and by AAO and Macquarie University astronomer Ángel López-Sánchez, who transported the audience to distant stars and galaxies to know when and how the atoms that compose our body were created.

Kyler Kuehn (AAO) before starting his talk “Pint of neutrinos”. Credit: Ángel López-Sánchez.

In the third night, “Decodifying the Light of the Cosmos”, AAO astronomer an eResearch administrator Simon O’Toole described how we use the light collected by optical telescopes to search for planets around other stars, with the ultimate aim of finding an “Earth 2.0”.

Simon O’Toole during his talk for “Pint of Science” festival “Searching for Earth 2.0”. Credit: Angel López-Sánchez.

Astronomers George Hobbs (CSIRO), Luke Barnes (University of Sydney) and Baerbel Koribalski (CSIRO), as well as physicists Dr. Sergio León-Saval (University of Sydney) and Prof. Jason Twamley (Macquarie University), and mathematician Emi Tanaka (University of Sydney) completed the “Atoms to Galaxies” program.

Rebecca Brown during her talk for “Pint of Science” festival explaining how the Starbugs developed for the new TAIPAN instrument at the UKST work. Credit: Rebecca Brown.

Besides organizing Sydney’s “Atoms to Galaxies” talks for Pint of Science Australia 2017, the Australian Astronomical Observatory was also present in the “Tech me out!” session Space Oddities on Wednesday 17th May. AAO’s optical engineer Rebecca Brown gave the talk “Capturing the Light of the Universe“, where she summarized the technologies used in optical telescopes, how they work and what we can learn, including example technologies developed at the AAO.

Addendum:

The details of the talks for the “Atoms to Galaxies” events in Pint of Science Sydney 2017 (info extracted from this AAO website) were:

Monday 15th May: Elements in Space

Tonight we will explore the conjunction between math, chemistry and astronomy. First Dr. Emi Tanaka (University of Sydney) will talk about how statistics feeds us, introducing the basic mathematical tools of statistics and their application in agriculture. Then Dr. Lamiae Azizi (University of Sydney) will be talking about how mathematical sciences coupled with computing have the potential to improve our lives. Finally, astrophysicist and science communicator Dr. Ángel López-Sánchez (Australian Astronomical Observatory / Macquarie University) will transport us to distant stars and galaxies to know when and how the atoms that compose our body were created.

More details and tickets for “Elements in Space” in the Pint of Science website.

Tuesday 16th May: Challenging the Laws of Physics

Tonight we will aim to change the Laws of Physics. Our first speaker, Prof. Jason Twamley (Macquarie University), will talk about quantum computing and why this research is so important. Then, astrophysicist Dr. George Hobbs (CSIRO) will explain what mysterious pulsars are and why their study is so important for physicists. After the break, cosmologist Dr. Luke Barnes (University of Sydney) will challenge our understanding of the physical constants to demonstrate that we live in a finely-tuned Universe.

More details and tickets for “Challenging the Laws of Physics” in the Pint of Science website.

Wednesday 17th May: Decodifying the Light of the Cosmos

Tonight we seek to get a better understanding of what the light can tell us about the Universe. Our first speaker, Dr. Sergio León-Saval (University of Sydney) will show us some of the photonic instruments that are now used in optical telescopes to direct the light of the stars from the optics to the detectors. In the second talk Dr. Simon O’Toole (Australian Astronomical Observatory) will describe how we use the light collected by optical telescopes to search for planets around other stars, with the ultimate aim of finding an “Earth 2.0”. Lastly, Dr. Baerbel Koribalski (CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science) will describe how radio-astronomers study the light of distant galaxies emitted in radio waves using facilities as the new “Australian SKA Pathfinder” (ASKAP) interferometer.

More details and tickets for “Decodifying the Light of the Cosmos” in the Pint of Science website.

Successful BBC and ABC Stargazing Live TV events at Siding Spring Observatory

Posted on April 20, 2017 | 2 comments

Article originally written by Ángel R. López-Sánchez for the “AAO Observer” 132, August 2017. Credits of all the photos: Ángel R. López-Sánchez.

Colorful lights in dome of our Anglo-Australian Telescope in preparation for the Stargazing Live TV shows.

During two weeks in late March and early April 2017, famous physicist and TV presenter Professor Brian Cox co-hosted two “Stargazing TV” shows emitted live from Siding Spring Observatory in the BBC and in the ABC. The stage of these major TV events was our Anglo-Australian Telescope, (AAT) at Siding Spring Observatory, on the edge of the Warrumbungle National Park near Coonabarabran, NSW.

BBC Stargazing Live shows at Siding Spring Observatory were emitted on the early morning of Wednesday 29th, Thursday 30th and Friday 31st March 2017 (evenings of the previous days in the UK). BBC Stargazing Live TV shows were hosted by Professor Brian Cox and TV presenter and comedian Dara Ó Briain, with the participation of biologist and BBC presenter Liz Bonnin and Broome-based amateur astronomer Greg Quicke (who was very popular in social media, receiving the nickname of #SpaceGandalf).

During BBC Stargazing Live astrophysicist and science communicator Lisa Harvey-Smith (CSIRO) was also interviewed. Astronomer and journalist Chris Lintott (Oxford University) was in charge of reporting the news of the citizen science project “The Search for Planet 9“, led by astronomers at the Australian National University and launched in the first episode of BBC Stargazing Live. This citizen science project uses images taken with the Skymapper telescope at Siding Spring Observatory to search for a new planet in our Solar System.

#StargazingABC live episodes were emitted the following week (Tuesday 4th, Wednesday 5th and Thursday 6th April 2017). Hosts Professor Brian Cox and TV presenter Julia Zemiro were joined by astronomers to inspire Australia to explore our Universe and tackle astronomy’s most intriguing questions. Astronomer Lisa Harvey-Smith (CSIRO) also participated as TV presenter for the #StargazingABC shows.

AAO’s Fred Watson, Steve Lee and David Malin were interviewed several times during the ABC and BBC Stargazing Live shows.

SAMI observers at the Anglo-Australian Telescope shared the dome with ABC crew while preparing instrument and telescope for observations on the afternoon of Sunday 2nd April.

For #StargazingABC first episode, the Milky Way, AAO astronomers Ángel López-Sánchez and Steve Lee prepared a new astronomical color image using data taken with the CACTI auxiliary camera of the AAT, which was broadcasted in the episode. This image shows Diffuse gas and dust in the heart of the Carina Nebula. The bright star is Eta Carinae, a massive double star at the end of its live that will soon explode as a supernova. The “Keyhole” is the dark cloud in the centre of the image.

Both Stargazing Live ABC events were very successful. #StargazingABC live episodes reached 2.7 million viewers across metro and regional Australia. They also had a huge impact in social media. ABC 1st TV episode reached over 240K people and had more than 8K reactions in Facebook, comments and shares, similar numbers to those obtained with ABC TV’s New Year’s Eve Family Fireworks stream. Regarding Twitter, the #StargazingABC hashtag reached 18.4 million users and produced 16.8K tweets from 6.3K unique contributors. 12.8K of these tweets were produced during the broadcasts, making #StargazingABC trend no.1 in Australia.

Credits of all the photos: Ángel R. López-Sánchez.

More information: AAO news: ABC Stargazing Live at the AAT.

2 Comments

Posted in Observatories, Outreach

Tagged 2017, AAT, astronomy, Outreach, Siding Spring Observatory, StargazingABC, StargazingBBC

Timelapse: A SAMI night at the AAT

Posted on April 5, 2017 | 1 comment

See below the new Media Release published by the AAO. This new timelapse video has been also used for StargazingBBC and StargazingABC on March and April 2017.

This new astronomical time-lapse video features the unique SAMI (Sydney-AAO Multi-object Integral-field unit) instrument at the Anglo-Australian Telescope and the beauty of the dark sky over Siding Spring Observatory.

One of the most powerful instruments at the Anglo-Australian Telescope (Siding Spring Observatory, NSW) is the Sydney-AAO Multi-object Integral-field unit (SAMI). SAMI provides 13 fibred based IFUs called “hexabundles” that can “dissect” astronomical objects using spectroscopy. This instrument is used by the SAMI Galaxy Survey, that aims to “dissect” 3000 galaxies in different environments to help astronomers understand galaxy evolution and the tight relationship between gas and stars in galaxies.

However, unlike what the 2dF robot does, SAMI hexabundles must be plugged and unplugged manually very carefully by an expert user.

This video tells the story of a typical observing night with SAMI at the Anglo-Australian Telescope. In the first part, observers carefully prepare the SAMI instrument unplugging the plate they observed the previous night and plugging a complete new plate to be observed that night. SAMI observers usually need half an hour to complete this task, but in this timelapse video it is done in just a minute. Later they move to the AAT Control Room and start observations just as the sun sets. The twilight moves to a moonless, dark night, when only the stars shine over the Anglo-Australian Telescope, providing an spectacular view of the night sky from the Southern Hemisphere, and clear skies for the SAMI Galaxy Survey team to dissect distant galaxies.

In this timelapse you will see the Milky Way rising and setting, the Southern Cross with the Coalsack, the globular cluster 47 Tucanae near the Small Magellanic Cloud, the Large Magellanic Cloud with its strong star-forming region the Tarantula Nebula (30 Doradus), star clusters like the Pleiades moving behind the AAT, Orion rising and setting, the Carina Nebula rising, the magestic Emu in the Sky, and circumpolar stars (with the International Space Station) turning above the dome of the Anglo-Australian Telescope.

All the sequences have been filmed and processed in high resolution (4K) by astronomer Ángel R. López-Sánchez (Australian Astronomical Observatory / Macquarie University) while observing at the AAT for the SAMI Galaxy Survey, between September 2015 and March 2017. He used a CANON 5D Mark III with different lenses, all at f2.8. The night sequences tipically have 24 frames per second, each frame lasting 30 seconds in real time. Therefore 1 second of the night sequences corresponds to 12 minutes in real time.

To enjoy this video, watch it in full screen and at least in Full-HD (4K resolution recommended), in a dark room. As in real live, the details in the sky appear when we are far from the light pollution.

Credits of the video: Ángel R. López-Sánchez (Australian Astronomical Observatory / Macquarie University)
Featuring: Luca Cortese (ICRAR-UWA), Jesse van de Sande (University of Sydney) and Steve Chapman (Night Assistant at the AAT)
SAMI plugger: Ángel R. López-Sánchez (AAO/MQU)
Music: It’s personal (World in flames, 2011), Celestial Aeon Project.

1 Comment

Posted in Astrophotography, Outreach, Timelapses

Tagged 2017, AAO, AAT, astronomy, astrophotography, SAMI, Timelapse