Q&A with Astronomers
A webpage where astronomers address questions from secondary school students. Popular questions so far have asked about the future of astronomy, whether artificial intelligence can have a sense of curiosity, whether it’s rational to believe the Universe is created and what is the value of collaborating with other disciplines.
How real is this?
This video presents a conversation between an astronomer (Natalie Lines) and a historian (Martin Watts) over images that are associated with each of their disciplines.
Once you’ve watched the video, here is a puzzle for you. To what extent is an image captured by a telescope of the birth of stars ‘authentically real’?
NASA’s commentary with the image says that this young cluster of about 3,000 stars in our Milky Way is called Westerlund 2 and contains some of the Galaxy’s hottest, brightest, and most massive stars. Hubble’s infrared vision pierced dust around this stellar nursery to reveal the dense concentration of stars in the central cluster.
Are any subjective judgements made to produce this image? What about the framing and the colours?
Questions from Secondary School Students
Here, we present some of the popular questions posed to astronomers by secondary school students during outreach events, for use by teachers in schools. If you would like to find out what astronomers have to say about these, check out our Zenodo page here for video responses! You can also view them as a YouTube playlist or click the links below to the individual YouTube videos.
Science and Becoming an Astronomer
- When did you know you wanted to be an astronomer?
Robyn Evren: (watch here) - When did you become interested in science and astronomy?
Natalie Lines: (watch here) - What is your favourite technology in astronomy?
Natalie Lines: (watch here) - What is the biggest puzzle we haven’t yet solved in astronomy?
Natalie Lines: (watch here)
Conceptual Questions
- Can an AI remote telescope have its own sense of curiosity?
Zuri Gray: (watch here) - Does space have a smell?
Zuri Gray: (watch here) - Should the next James Webb Space Telescope have sensory equipment to help it to ‘smell’ space?
Zuri Gray: (watch here)
Technology and the Future of Astronomy
- How do Astronomers use GenAI?
Ayham Yousif: (watch here) - What technology are you using that you are excited about, and what technology will astronomers have in future?
Marc Sarzi: (watch here) - What will it be like to be an astronomer in future?
Marc Sarzi: (watch here) - Are there skills we already have will be useful in future?
Marc Sarzi: (watch here)
Menu of linked pages
These Q&A videos were produced as part of the outreach activities for the Epistemic Insight’s STFC Astronomy and AI Summer School with Public Engagement. Follow the links below to learn more.
