• My experience as Director of New Media/Astrophysicist at the Space Transit Planetarium, Miami Museum of Science

      • Dear Friends,

      I found my stint as Director of New Media and Astrophysicist at the Space Transit Planetarium at the Miami Museum of Science (www.miamisci.org) an extremely rewarding experience. Working with Dr. Jack Foley Horkheimer, Executive Director of the Space Transit Planetarium and creator and host of the syndicated PBS series "StarGazer" (www.jackstargazer.com), was one of the most remarkable experiences I have ever had. Dr. Horkheimer is knowledgeable, gracious, creative, enthusiastic, and, well, you get the idea. Thank you Dr. Horkheimer!

      During my term I put together educational and entertainment programs, developed new educational content, and lectured on a regular basis. Here is a summary of my accomplishments there:

    • Wrote, developed, and produced a new planetarium show called "Stars of the Season / Stars of the Sea," which premiered at the Museum's "Members Night Opening" and opened in conjunction with the new exhibit "SHARKS! FACT & FANTASY."


    • Organized, and emceed "National Astronomy Day." Events included lectures by astronomers and experts from NASA; skits taking the audience back in time to the dawn of astronomy; and two new planetarium shows. We had telescopes available for free viewing of the stars and planets and offered visitors a chance to win a state-of-the-art Meade telescope.


    • Spoke and presented a multimedia lecture at the summer Camp-In and related events for the "Girls in Science" program.


    • Arranged and coordinated author's events, such as David Bodanis speaking about his book E=MC2.


    • Worked on the Museum's grant-based programs, including one from NASA to deliver earth/space science online for high schools called "Space Ole." This online expedition to space used a mission-based Web interface and targeted 9th-grade students and science teachers at two Miami-Dade high schools, reaching a total of 600 students.


    • Spoke at "Winter Star Party," to the Florida Planetarium Directors Association, and at the international State of the World Forum in New York. Also spoke at Digital Hollywood.


    • Coordinated with local schools and universities, such as Barry University and FIU, to bring students to special presentations at the Planetarium and Museum.


    • Conducted public outreach, including contact and development with the Youth Activities Committee Chairman for the Astronomical League, Cosmica Network, and Starlife Galactic.


    • Met with NASA Headquarters and National Air and Space Museum personnel in Washington, D.C. in order to develop contacts to support our space enrichment.


    • Participated in planning and development meetings for the new Science Museum. The Miami Museum of Science, an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, is in the process of creating the Science Center of the Americas, a world-class public attraction providing exciting learning experiences while celebrating and promoting exchange among the United States, Latin America, and the Caribbean. As envisioned, the Science Center of the Americas will be a new, state-of-the-art, 365,000 square foot facility situated in Miami's high-visibility, prime tourist corridor.


    • Developed a platform for streaming video at the Space Transit Planetarium.


      • I am a scientist who is moved by an artistic sensibility and an artist who relies upon science and technology to inspire crowds with the beauty and significance of space. I hope I achieved this goal during my time at the Planetarium. In addition, I will feel that I really accomplished something if I inspired just one of you to pursue an education in science. There's so much still to know and enjoy and do. Thank you for welcoming me into your community. I think we made a difference.

      Sincerely,
      Dr. Fiorella Terenzi
  • My experience as Professor of Astronomy at Glendale Community College and Los Angeles Pierce College


      • Dear Students,


      I am so pleased to be able to teach Astronomy and Laboratory Astronomy at Glendale Community College and Pierce College in Los Angeles.


      I am a scientist, an astrophysicist who believes in the power and importance of a broad education that involves looking at the world from a variety of angles. In my class, you will acquire scientific knowledge, but we will also explore the creative side of science. My lessons are, in fact, based on a unique blend of science and art, knowledge and emotion--a concept I call "Emotional Learning," since it is based on the 4 "E"s: Entertain, Educate, Enlighten, and Enthrall. When you are engaged on these multiple levels, learning finds an emotional home, and it is remembered forever.


      This approach has grown out of my own experiences with science and astronomy and the joy that has come from pursuing it. As a young child, I spent the summers in the countryside outside Milan with my grandmother. It was she who first introduced me to the wonders of the night sky and showed me how many things become possible when we allow our imaginations to fuel exploration. She encouraged me to observe carefully, but always with a sense of wonder and appreciation.


      Ever since then, I have considered learning exciting and as necessary as air. To learn is to grow, and the result is not only personal fulfillment, success in life but also the enrichment and elevation of humankind. I carried these ideas with me while studying physics at the University of Milan and while conducting my doctoral research at the University of California at San Diego; they helped make learning a fun and active experience for me.


      Perhaps, there is another "E" which belongs among the four "E's:" EMPOWER. Education empowers us. It is the most powerful springboard for opening our minds and our hearts and guiding us to a greater understanding and appreciation of the universe and our place in it. It is when we understand that we possess the power to act.


      As I have written in several articles, "I enthusiastically embrace the fabulous new discoveries of astrophysics, but I do not want to stop there. I want these discoveries to swim in our imaginations, and to open our hearts and minds to new ways of thinking and feeling about life."


      The biggest challenge todays for an educator is to engage the students, to capture their attention by customizing the learning process. I have observed that when students personally identify with the subject matter, they learn better. This is why I like to expose students to new tools for learning like, when possible, the use of multimedia tools, interactive CDs, DVD and the Internet.


      As your Professor of Astronomy, I will bring all of my knowledge, enthusiasm, and dedication to the task of insuring your understanding and basic skills, fostering enthusiasm and love for astronomy, and encouraging a desire to pursue and use it to achieve your own personal goals. I want to make your learning as exciting and significant as the Universe itself.



      Prof. Fiorella Terenzi
      Los Angeles Pierce College, http://www.lapc.cc.ca.us/usr/terenzif/
      Glendale Community College, http://www.glendale.edu
  • About "THE BUSINESS OF SPACE" forum

    • Project Director: Dr. Fiorella Terenzi

      DESCRIPTION:

      "The Business of Space" forum will investigate the possibilities for commercialization of space ranging from reusable rockets to commerce and tourism, from space entrepreneurs and alternative programs to lunar colonies and asteroid-based mines, from stock market-style investing in new spacecraft designs to private enterprise opening the solar system to human exploration.

      The $100 billion rocket launch industry, presently based on commercial communications systems and satellite delivery and servicing, is quickly privatizing. The cheaper space transport becomes, the more jobs and investment created. Satellite delivery systems, space repair specialists, space-waste disposal, space tourism, and the numerous medical and commercial uses of the International Space Station are just a few of the many emerging industries.

      Reduced launch costs also open exciting possibilities for space tourism. The Space Tourism Society says nearly 100 million people attend science and space museums annually and, though little is known about the possibilities and pitfalls of space tourism, a 1997 NASA study reported public desire to travel through space is growing. Space travel involves grave risks, but with increased demand for its benefits, a new era of space exploitation is emerging. The citizens of this planet can capitalize on these and other space-based ventures.

      Who will profit from the commercialization of space? Those ready to explore the market frontier. At The Business of Space Forum, those frontier leaders will begin to show and share their space-centered store-fronts.
  • About "Music From the Galaxies"



      • Every day that our sun shines upon us, it is offering a wonderfully close view of a star, but we can barely stand the sight of it. Yet at night, from our tiny perch in the Milky Way, we can gaze and marvel at billions of stars. It is not a star that impresses us, it is the expansive darkness--it is what we don't see that can matter most.

      We think of the universe as a cold and silent place, but it calls to us everyday in a voice that seems to be without timbre, and so deeply silent that we cannot hear its song. Yet the voice of the universe is around us every day, in an everlasting cosmic embrace. The universe throbs with cosmic dust, and beats with atoms and molecules. It is everlasting, but fleeting.

      The cosmic radiation are precious data that are impossible to repeat. They comes from the past and soars by us to a distant future. These traces of the primordial universe are received as waves, vibration. Radio waves. like gamma, X-rays and others are not a part of the visible universe, their domain is the radio universe. Seeing without sight.

      Optical astronomy started when man first looked up at the sky. Since ancient times we have investigated life and science visually, with drawings, charts, and pictures of every kind. Now we measure position, brightness, and we take photos of the night sky. When we receive electromagnetic emission from celestial objects, we create graphs and maps. Man "sees" and "watches" science, "observing" the universe. We have always demanded an image.

      But, not very long ago, in about 1933, faint radio noises were found coming from the center of our galaxy. This science grew up and was called radio astronomy. Today we detect cosmic radio waves from many unusual celestial objects such as pulsars, quasars and the "so called" radio-galaxies.

      The radiation that washes over us every second speaks of catastrophic phenomena in turbulent galaxies far away in both space and time, perhaps reaching back to the first instant of universal life. We are poor explorers if we do not consider listening to the pulsation of the cosmos. Through Acoustic Astronomy we can marry the knowledge of the visible universe with the sonorous universe to form a greater whole.

      Do we receive a musical signal from the stars? Not exactly. Every celestial object emits radiation based upon its unique nature. If these signals are elaborated into sound rather than graphs, every star in the sonorous universe can be recognized based upon its special sound.

      The Procedure.

      As part of my doctoral research in Physics, working at the University of California, San Diego, Center for Music Experiment, and at the University of Milan, I developed a way to transform galactic radiation into sound, using a computer music system. The basic process is to shift the very high frequency vibrations down to the human hearing range, to create for the first time a Sonorous Universe.

      "Acoustic Astronomy" is the first experiment that allows us to transform radiation from deep space into something that we recognize as sound. It started by observing the close analogy between galactic radiation and musical notes -- both of which are decoded by intensity and frequency (or wavelength).

      The intensity represents how strong the signal is. A sound, for example grows louder with greater intensity, and softens with less intensity. Radiation waves striking Earth also occur in varying degrees of intensity.

      Frequency represents the cycles per second, or in simple terms, how many times the radiation goes back and forth in one second. This is measured in Hertz. One cycle-per-second equals 1 Hertz, 100 cycles equaling 100 Hertz and so on. In music, our familiar "A", that we tune all instrument to, vibrates at 440 Hertz. The human voice ranges from 27 to 4,186 hertz. The voices of the galaxy, however, are incredibly high. They range from one billion to one-thousand- billion of Hertz. To have galactic radiation fall into the human hearing range, a mathematical reduction of the high frequency waves is required.

      The first experimental "subject" was a galaxy invisible to our eyes that hides in the darkness, far away into the direction of Coma Berenices, between Virgo and Leo, under the handle of the Big Dipper. Galaxies we cannot see rarely earn beautiful names, and this one is known simply as radio galaxy UGC 6697. After it had traveled 180 million light years, the radiation from UGC 6697 was collected in huge radio and optical telescopes by staffs of researchers and astrophysicists. These radiation were turned into a radio photograph of the galaxy, forming an image. I decided to try to play them - to represent the same data in the acoustic domain.

      The natural radio waves from stars and galaxies are produced by the chaotic motion of high energy electrons: countless "particle collisions and accelerations" not synchronized with each other.

      Every kind of celestial radiation can be represented as a stream of numbers. To convert the radiations' frequency and intensity to audible form, I needed a special computer sound synthesis program called "cmusic", which I used to elaborated the signal in terms of sound.

      After a variety of processing, this signal can be sent to a digital-to-analog converter and played through conventional loudspeakers, or recorded onto digital tape or CD, to bring you the sound of UGC 6697 from 180 million light years away.

      Scientific Considerations.

      This new possibility for investigating the cosmos, which I call Acoustic astronomy, allows astronomical data to be represented using computer music procedures. These techniques are able to transform every kind of radiation coming from celestial objects into sound.

      My aim is to develop an alternative way to represent celestial radiation based on sound, to use in addition to other techniques. In this way, an observed emission from a celestial object, besides having a graphical representation, can also have an audible one.

      The celestial sound could reflect physical and chemical properties of the information source and may bring to light information that might exist but which is not easily observed by other means.

      Musical Considerations.

      The global sound of UGC 6697 is made by low and dark frequencies looping for all the duration of the sound. Upon this background, high and light frequencies appear, simulating a circular sound dynamic. The sound is very complex and is not regular.

      There are some interesting musical aspects to the galactic sounds. Some parts seem to be well tuned around B flat or D minor. We can observe new accords and harmonies, linked together following their special sidereal rules.

      The predominant microtonality of the galaxy is another fascinating aspect that could be explored during research, by creating new scales. In fact, the galaxy itself can be used as a musical instrument if it is broken into fragments, or it can be associated with classical instruments to perform an orchestral style of song.

      These galactic sounds originated 180 million years ago, before humanity even existed. Yet when we hear them, they can have a powerful impact on our minds. The galactic sounds can be relaxing and ethereal, but they also have the potential to provoke deep sensations, sometimes effecting us even when we do not consciously hear them.

    Updates by Jim