University meets Universe
Zoe Nikakis
reproduced with permission, MUSSE original article
Zoe Nikakis talks to Professor Rachel Webster about things both earthly and celestial, and the possibility of alien life.
2009 is the International Year of Astronomy and leading astrophysicists such as the University of Melbourne's Professor Rachel Webster are using the occasion to excite young people about science.
For instance Professor Webster is developing a website for students to access local highlights of the International Year of Astronomy such as the 1:1000000 scale model of the solar system that the city of Port Phillip has built along the foreshore at St Kilda.
The International Year of Astronomy is a global celebration of astronomy and its contributions to society and culture.
Professor Webster said the website will collate all the activities available for school students - in an effort to get more students interested in Science. "This will make it much easier to see what's happening locally," she explained.
"It's widely acknowledged that scientific literacy is lower than we would like, and it's a tough ask for teachers to be on top of all the scientific issues. We want students to learn not just facts and figures, but to learn the scientific method, to learn to ask questions."
The Year is also about developing greater networks between people who are joined by their love of all things astronomy. National nodes have been established which will facilitate collaborations between professional and amateur astronomers, science centres, educators, and science communicators.
Mostly though, the Year is a celebration of astronomy.
"Astronomy is perhaps the oldest of the sciences and yet the progress in the last 100 years has been remarkable. We now have this radically different idea of the Universe. There's no question that the changes have been massive," Professor Webster said.
"We can see further, which is also further back in time... We can see many wavelengths of light through satellite technology, and the sheer amount of data requires massive computing. That is now allowing us to take huge steps."
With this growth in the possibilities of astronomical research and the possibilities of seeing ever further into the cosmos, the question of alien life was inevitable.
"Most of us actually believe there is alien life out there," Professor Webster admitted. "One of the things you learn very quickly in astronomy is that there's nothing very special about Earth ... except that we happen to live there, so it seems there should be other Earths and, if there are other Earths, then..."
Maybe on some alien world, little green men are celebrating the International Year of Astronomy too.
