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The Cosmic Jigsaw: are there pieces missing?
Science in the Pub Number 69 With panellists John Sarkissian and Michael Burton Compered by Lisa Hampshire and Fred Watson Friday, October 25th 2002, 7:00pm Imperial Hotel John Street, Coonabarabran Science in the Pub takes a look at how astronomers conduct their quest to understand the Universe. Modern astrophysics has a lot to tell us about the Cosmos, and astrophysicists have many different tools to explore it. Radio telescopes, millimetre-wave telescopes, infrared and optical telescopes–to name but a few. But are astronomers missing out by concentrating only on their particular bit of the electromagnetic spectrum? Are they just 'wavelength-chauvinists'? This year's panellists for the annual Festival of the Stars are Michael Burton, a leading astronomer from the University of New South Wales, and John Sarkissian, well-known operations scientist from the CSIRO Parkes Radio Telescope, will discuss these and other current topics in astronomy. And to keep it all under control will be special guest compere Lisa Hampshire–star presenter of the ABC's Morning Show in the Central West and Western Plains area. Lisa will be aided and abetted by Coonabarabran's own crooning astronomer, Fred Watson of the Anglo Australian Observatory. Admission free with the purchase of $5-worth of raffle tickets. And remember, the SciPub raffle has the most memorable prizes in the Universe! Come early to make sure of a seat........ John Sarkissian is an Operations Scientist with the CSIRO Parkes Radio Observatory. His main responsibilities include the operations and systems development at the radio telescope, and the support of visiting astronomers with their observations. He supplied background research material for the production of the film, "The DISH". John is a member of a team involved in the timing of a bright millisecond pulsar that has allowed astronomers from Swinburne University to independently test General Relativity. He is also involved in the timing of young pulsars and has discovered several radio counterparts to X-ray pulsars in supernova remnants. John is actively involved in characterising Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) at all the ATNF observatory sites, and has contributed toward the site selection process of the proposed Square Kilometre Array (SKA) radio telescope. In addition, John is a Board Member of the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Australia Centre. John originally came to Parkes to work on the Galileo mission to Jupiter, and eventually managed the tracking operations at the observatory. John has a long and keen interest in amateur astronomy. He is a founding member and current President of the Central West Astronomical Society. Michael Burton is one of those astronomers who is not quite certain what he's doing, so he sits in the middle. He does infrared astronomy, which is a bit like, but different from, optical astronomy. And he does millimetre astronomy, which is also a bit like, but different from, radio astronomy. He started his astronomical life as an infrared man, glowing in the dark, and sitting on high mountain tops under the light of the full moon, peering out into the night. He was studying shock waves in interstellar space, bursts of infrared photons which are produced when streams of particles from baby stars smash into the natal cocoon in which they are formed. But time moved on, and the infant stars weren't revealing all their secrets, so Michael switched bands and became a millimetre-man. No, he didn't shrink himself, but instead expanded his sight to wavelengths some thousand times larger - to the millimetre spectrum. Here molecules from cold dark clouds, the sites where stars decide to form, signal their presence through a rich spectrum of emission lines. So Michael moved down the mountain at Siding Spring, to the Mopra Telescope at its base. Surely the most scenic site for a telescope in the world, Mopra allows us to study millimetre radiation - its the largest dish in the Southern hemisphere which can do so. When Michael is not pondering his astronomical fate he is a lecturer in Physics at the University of New South Wales, and also heavily involved in Australia's Antarctic astronomy program. Lisa Hampshire spent two tough years broadcasting in Renmark, living in a farmhouse on a vineyard by a bend on the Murray River. Local fame came when she distinguished herself in her first rowing regatta by sinking a single scull ten metres short of the finish line. Another few years as ABC Hobart's roving reporter followed, and then the big move back to Sydney for two years as presenter of the national early morning show. During this time, Lisa's brother Mike made a startling discovery while salmon fishing in Alaska - he picked up Lisa's show as clear as a bell, using a battery powered clock radio. The world is an amazing place. Despite the draw of international broadcasting, Lisa returned to her first ABC - in Orange, where she is now the Morning Show presenter. Fred Watson is part alien. His name is an acronym for Forgotten Relic of Extraterrestrial Deportation. He is also Astronomer-in-Charge of the Anglo-Australian Observatory at Siding Spring near Coonabarabran, and a regular broadcaster on celestial topics. Sometimes, he tries to sing in public.
...true to the tradition of Science in the Pub, our panellists have written their abstracts in verse. Michael offers the following two poems: Ode to the Millimetre Photon A cold dark cloud, all alone in space, Ode to the Infrared Photon The gas collapses, the protostar turns on,
Lisa managed to come up with three poems for the occassion: Ode to John There once was a Sarkissian named John Ode to Michael Michael Burton is his name Lisa's Welcome to Coonabarabran Science in the Pub We think tonight of space There's Fred, and Michael, and John, It took infinity to do Optical, Wave, Radio & Infrared These wavelength chauvinists agree So tonight we seek some answers
Astronomical Society of Coonabarabran-why not join us? Science in the Pub™ is the Eureka Award winning endeavour in science communication. Regular sessions are generally staged 3-4 times per year, (generally 7-9pm on Wednesdays) at the Harlequin Inn, 152 Harris Street, Pyrmont in Sydney. Admission costs $5 worth of raffle tickets, your chance to win one of many excellent prizes! We can organise Science in YOUR Pub anywhere in Australia, or the world, when commissioned! Please contact Robyn Stutchbury, phone: 02 9427 6747; fax: 02 9427 6767; email: Robyn Stutchbury on rstutch@bigpond.net.au. Visit our website at http://www.scienceinthepub.com/. Future Science in the Pub sessions (see the website for full details):
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in the Pub™, © 2000. Stutchbury, R, Burton, M. |
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