Interview with Dr. Roy Gal

Dr. Roy Gal, surveyor of the Universe!

Charae’ interviews assistant astronomer, Prof. Roy Gal, from the Institute for Astronomy at the University of Hawaii, Manoa.  Roy works on sky surveys, which are essentially a closer look at the whole sky than is possible with the naked eye. Astronomical surveys generally involve imaging or “mapping” of regions of the sky using telescopes. It’s important to know that a sky survey isn’t always just a picture, like the ones you take on your camera.  There are infrared surveys, radio surveys, and much more too.  These images allow other scientists, who want to know more about any given star in the sky, a starting point in finding the information they need. What job could be better than observing the sky?

Listen here [15:48m]:

Download the audio file

Original air date 19 July 2009.

Interview with Prof. Robert Jedicke

Astronomer Robert Jedicke: killer asteroid hunter!

Charae’ interviews Prof. Robert Jedicke from the Institute for Astronomy at the University of Hawaii, Manoa.  Robert works with the Pan-STARRS project, a survey that plans to image the whole sky repeatedly to search for moving and variable sources, from nearby asteroids and comets to the most distant supernovae in the Universe.  Robert is manager of the Pan-STARRS moving object processing system that will discover more asteroids and comets each month than have been found in the past two centuries, including ones that may get dangerously close to the Earth (such as Apophis).  He’s also had a very non-traditional career path, going from professional football to particle physics to software engineering to astronomy.  Robert describes how he got interested in astronomy, and what the chances are that we might get hit by the “big one” in the next century.

Listen here [15:48m]:

Original air date 16 July 2009.

Interview with Professor B!

Professor B!

Charae’ interviews Professor Adam Burgasser – that’s right, Professor B! – about his research and how he first got into astronomy and science.  Adam is a Professor of Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and University of California, San Diego, and studies the lowest mass stars and brown dwarfs in his research.  He lives part time in Maui, part time in Boston, part time in Southern California, but spends most of his time travelling (no duh!) all over the world for his research.

Listen here [18:57m]:

Original air date 7 July 2009.

Interview with Harriet Witt

The best way to enjoy the night sky

Charae’ interviews local Maui astronomer Harriet Witt, an international award winning writer and speaker.  She has been teaching astronomy since 1980 and offering astronomy-as-entertainment at Maui resort hotels and teaches “Making Friends with the Night Sky” classes at Maui Community College.  Harriet is also the official astronomer to the annual Maui Film Festival.  Find out more about Harriet at her site, http://www.passengerplanet.com.

Listen here [18:47m]:

Original air date 26 June 2009.

Interview with Dr. Gary Greenberg

Microscopic image of a Moon dust grain taken by Dr. Gary Greenberg

Charae’ interviews Dr. Gary Greenberg, a Maui photographer and filmmaker who combines a unique artisitic vision with a love for science.  Dr. Greenberg talks about his microphotography work, using specially-designed microscopes and cameras to capture the otherworldly beauty of lunar dust grains.  You can see more pictures of these grains and other parts of the microscopic universe at http://www.sandgrains.com.

Listen here [14:53m]:

Original air date 12 June 2009.

Also, check out Dr. Greenberg’s Grain of Sand video on Youtube: