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Lectures, Sky Viewings to Mark International Year of Astronomy
Physicist/singer to release ‘star-studded' EP at March concert on campus
BY ANDREW VOWLES
U of G will mark the International Year of Astronomy (IYA) 2009 with public lectures and sky viewings as well as the release of a new “star-studded” digital EP by Prof. Diane Nalini de Kerckhove, Physics, at a concert next month.
This year was chosen by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization to mark the 400th anniversary of Galileo's first use of a telescope.
On March 4, professor emeritus Jim Hunt will give a public lecture titled “A Random Walk Through Ancient Astronomy,” exploring the importance of astronomy to early societies. On April 1, Debra Fischer, an astronomy professor at San Francisco State University, will discuss “The Hunt for Extrasolar Planets.” Both lectures begin at 7 p.m. in Room 101 of Rozanski Hall.
“The first discovery of extrasolar planets in the 1990s was a landmark event,” says de Kerckhove, co-organizer of the campus events. “It captured people's imagination and really opened the public's mind to the possibility of life elsewhere in the universe.”
Under her stage name, Diane Nalini, the singer-songwriter will perform at a concert sponsored by the Office of the President March 27 at 8 p.m. at War Memorial Hall. There she will launch a digital EP of astronomy-themed songs, recorded early this year in Toronto.
Other Guelph IYA events will include observatory viewings at the MacNaughton Building telescope. A talk and observatory viewing will take place on Alumni Weekend in June. Other organizers are physics professor Bob Brooks, research associate Ed Thommes and Gilian MacPherson, senior executive officer, special projects, agri-food strategies, in the Office of Research.
The organizers plan to promote the events to local high schools and throughout Guelph.
De Kerckhove says she hopes participants will learn not just about the night sky but also how science works and about the personal side of early astronomers, including Galileo, Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler. She adds that visitors might learn something about themselves, too.
“Astronomy to me has a beautiful purity. It's about understanding how we fit into the world.”
The idea for the EP about star- and sky-gazing came out of de Kerckhove's appearance on CBC Radio's Sunday Edition late last year.
Besides discussing astronomy, she sang one of her own compositions, Kiss Me Like That. The title comes from a memory aid (“Oh, be a fine girl, kiss me like that”) for names of star classes, from O-type hot stars to more recently discovered brown-dwarf types.
She'd written that piece shortly after arriving at Guelph, while teaching first-year astronomy in 2006.
“So many people wrote in asking where they could get the song. So I decided to record it and ended up doing a whole project of astronomy-themed songs.”
Called Kiss Me Like That, the EP features six songs written by de Kerckhove. For clips and a discussion of the physics behind the songs, visit www.kissmelikethat.com.
During the concert, she will also perform other star-themed songs, including Blue Moon, Sting's Valparaiso, Hoagy Carmichael's Stardust and even Sweet Baby James by James Taylor (“Good night, you moonlight ladies”).
Every song offers an entry point into discussing an aspect of astronomy, says de Kerckhove. Take the blue moon. Does the phrase refer to disagreement between the lunar and solar calendars? Selective absorption of light waves by emissions from volcanic eruptions? Illustrations of moons in the Farmer's Almanac?
Other songs de Kerckhove wrote for the CD include Winter Eclipse, inspired by last year's lunar eclipse, and Love in Outer Space. She describes the latter as a nod to her Indian roots — “It's like raga meets reggae” — and as an homage to the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) project made popular by the late Carl Sagan.
“Are we alone? Searching for signals is like looking for a needle in a haystack, but it's one of the most fundamental questions we can ask.”
Thinking about astronomy helps us understand something of our place in nature, says de Kerckhove.
Referring to Stardust, she says: “We're all made of stardust. Nearly every atom in our body was manufactured inside a star that exploded in a supernova.”
The IYA organizers are also planning fall lectures and hope to hold a Café Astronomique modelled after the University's current Café Scientifique lecture series.
For more information, check out the website www.physics.uoguelph.ca/outreach. Concert tickets are available at the University Bookstore and Ground Floor Music.