Click to listen! (7MB MP3, right-click to save)
Transcript (Text, PDF)
Earlier this summer, Nobel Laureate Dr. John Mather told us that data are beautiful when they have meaning. Astronomical images communicate information about the way the Universe works and how we know what we know. But can a pretty picture be just as lovely even if you don’t know what it’s about?
We interviewed Dr. Randall Smith of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, a collaborator on the Aesthetics & Astronomy project that is looking into how the public perceives multi-wavelength astronomical imagery. A team of scientists, educators, and psychologists are examining the intersection of science and art in the processing of astronomical data. In this conclusion to our summer series on data, Dr. Smith shares some surprising early results from the project that may change the way we communicate with images.
Read more »
Click to listen! (7.5MB MP3, right-click to save)
Transcript (Text, PDF)
The Hubble Space Telescope is famous for its beautiful images of celestial objects – from planets in our own Solar System to far away galaxies. The Orion Nebula (known to astronomers as Messier object 42, or M42) is a cloud of dust, gas, and stars. It’s actually visible with the naked eye, located in the “sword” of the constellation Orion. The nebula contains both an open cluster of stars known as the Trapezium, and many stellar nurseries. Because of this, it’s of interest to scientists who want to learn more about how stars are born. And we don’t mean the kind out in Hollywood! (We know, that’s a terrible joke.)
Astronomer Massimo Roberto from the Space Telescope Science Institute has dedicated a lot of his research to the Orion Nebula, and he talked to us about the creation of a breathtaking mosaic of it made with data from the Hubble Space Telescope.
Read more »
Click to listen! (7MB MP3, right-click to save)
Transcript (Text, PDF)
It’s easy to think of a satellite as a fancy digital camera – just point, shoot, and look at the pretty picture that emerges. But it’s not that simple. Astronomical data has a far longer journey to make it from the satellite to end users. Bounced between satellites, sent to Earth, processed, networked, and archived… each observation has to pass through several steps before it can be analyzed by scientists. And that’s not even considering the further effort required to make a pretty picture!
This episode follows data from NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope on its odyssey from space to Earth, interviewing key personnel along the way.
Read more »
Click to listen! (7MB MP3, right-click to save)
Transcript (Text, PDF)
To kick off our special summer series about data, we interviewed 2006 Nobel Laureate John Mather about the importance of imagery in communicating science and sharing data with the public. More than just “pretty pictures,” data can be used to tell a story and explain the mysteries of the cosmos. Not every piece of data would be considered a work of art, but the information contained is at the very heart of NASA science.
Working with COBE and the James Webb Space Telescope, Dr. Mather is no stranger to the power of data and the importance of scientific imagery. We got the scoop on how data is used in communication and why every bit of data is beautiful in its own way.
Read more »
Click to listen! (5.5MB MP3, right-click to save)
Transcript (Text, PDF)
Have you ever wondered where Google Sky gets the data that lets you pan and zoom your way around the cosmos? Much of it comes from NASA’s SkyView Virtual Observatory, a database of astronomy data from a variety of different sources. Google Sky and WorldWide Telescope are two sites that access the database for users, but anyone can use SkyView directly with just a web browser! It’s like having a powerful – and versatile – telescope at your fingertips, ready to show you whatever you’d like to see in the Universe.
We interviewed Tom McGlynn, the creator of SkyView, about what this powerful virtual telescope can do and how people are using it. Hunt for near-Earth asteroids, research a homework assignment, check out multiwavelength data… or just play!
Read more »
Podcasts | Maggie Masetti | 
August 31, 2009 4:20 pm | 
Comments (0) 
Subscribe