One of my favorite classes at the University of Iowa was Astronomy. Remember, the University of Iowa boasts of James Alfred Van Allen of Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, born in 1914, died in 2006.
He was the one-time head of the University of Iowa Department of Physics and Astronomy and the man who discovered, wait for it… Van Allen radiation belt.
He’s also a teacher who made physics and astronomy comprehensible for this math-challenged student. I got an A+ in his class. Whoa… A teacher worthy of the title teacher. Because if anyone can teach me math he or she is a TEACHER.
Anyway, late one night he took a few of us to the observatory. We got to peer through this giant telescope. We looked at:
Jupiter
Pretty Saturn
Beautiful icy Neptune
It was all good, it was cool, and I was feeling fine until we looked beyond our own solar system. That’s when things got weird.
I was okay with this:
Alpha Centauri - the closest double star
But I started feeling funny when I saw this:
The Crab Nebula
And when I saw this I had to sit down. I felt faint. I wasn’t supposed to be seeing this. It felt like I was spying on my neighbor, like I was looking at the universe through the eyes of God. I wasn’t entirely sure I was doing the right thing.
Andromeda Galaxy, or peering through my neighbor’s bathroom window
Whenever I view images from the Hubble telescope I get the same feeling in the pit of my stomach, like I have to sit down. My dad sent me this:
As a physicist, I bow before you: you were taught by Van Allen? I’m so impressed.
It does that to you, doesn’t it? Knowing the size of the Universe - after seeing such a tiny piece of it.
IF you ever want to learn math, I offer to teach you. Math is one of the few certainties in life, at least at the lower levels: it doesn’t matter how you get an answer, it is THE answer, and it will be the same for all observers (except, as my smartalec kids say, 2 + 2 = 5, for large values of 4).
Alicia
I believe we appreciated it more when we could walk away from our houses-maybe ten minutes away-and see the full glory of the Milky Way. Now, thanks to light pollution, we rarely have that opportunity. It’s a glorious sight.
We can see the Milky Way here, Anny. And up in Montana? Amazing!
Yeah, he was really nice, Alicia. And for some weird reason I understood the math. My issue is always this - I can sometimes get the answer, just can’t work the problem. For more complicated mathematics that is. My professors always wanted me to show my work. There was no work to show.
I would have loved having a tutor like you!
Interesting where you started feeling, “funny.” That is where I start getting really excited. I always intuitively figured that so called black spot had other stars, planets, and galaxies in it. Made sense knowing what we know about other areas of universe.
Wonderful, fantastic to see it. Where does it lead? It is as if there is no end, or leads no where. Just goes on and go and goes on and on and on and on. ………………..
Just for the record: Except for 1st and 2nd grade math I don’t know anything math wise.
I know, Roberta. But I’ll never forget that sensation. It was just so surreal. I felt totally outside of myself for a few moments. Yes, all those questions… Where does it end? What’s at the end? How can it end? How can it be infinite?
For me I’m NOT a religious man but when I think of the vastness of the universe the incredible beauty, the order of it all and how much we have discovered and still not know so much it’s hard to believe there isn’t a incomprehensible power (God?) responsible for it all. (Just sayin)
What an awesome sight.
I had a similar experience the first time I saw the Hubble image called the “Jewel Box” deep field photograph. When I realized what I was looking at I had a few moments of vertigo and something close to “Aesthetic arrest” Couldn’t breath or think for a moment. I was completely overwhelmed.
I’m not religious religious Ray, as in I don’t go to a synagogue, but I am a true believer in God. Makes a whole lot of sense to me.
It is, Amber.
Yes yes, Kat. When I saw the Hubble’s view of The Hand of God I felt the same way. What a great descriptive phrase - aesthetic arrest. That’s it exactly.
Breathtaking. Thanks for sharing.
Love this post Missy, bet ya didn’t know I have a large telescope in my garden shed that I get out occasionally to stargaze. I often just sit in the back garden looking up. As for maths, well you know I can only count to nine anyway ……. xxxxxxx