JC Holbrook, Chair 

Before CASS, I thought ancient astronomy was only something that modern astronomy grew from. After CASS, I realized that other ancient cultures had completely different concepts of astronomy and there are branches of cultural astronomy throughout history that need to be respected for their individuality and their own circumstances…not just in relation to my culture’s modern astronomy.” - Christine Johnson

The Cultural Astronomy and Storytelling  (CAST) Group of the International Year of Astronomy 2009 USA (IYA2009USA) organized the first Cultural Astronomy Summer School as part of the weekend activities of the American Astronomical Society’s (AAS) Summer meeting in Pasadena, CA. Professor Thomas Hockey of Northern Iowa University was the creative force and lead organizer of the Summer School. His vision was to provide two days of lectures and activities that would introduce participants to the field of cultural astronomy. 

Cultural Astronomy is an interdisciplinary field that traditionally included archaeoastronomy and ethnoastronomy, but now includes the history of astronomy, historical astronomy, and contemporary studies of astronomers. In a nutshell, cultural astronomers study all aspects of the way that humans interact with the sky. The discipline is too broad to cover in two days, so for the Summer School three topics were chosen along with three instructors: Associate Professor of Astronomy (Chaffey College) Joann Eisberg taught history of astronomy, Professor Emeritus (University of West Virginia) Stephen McCluskey taught indigenous astronomy, and Griffith Observatory Director Ed Krupp focused on time keeping, navigation, and calendars.

 

Sixteen people participated in the Summer School. I interviewed two participants about their experiences and the highlights of the two days.

Dr. Olga Kuhn holds a Ph.D. in Astronomy and is currently an astronomer with the Large Binocular Telescope, Mt. Graham, Arizona. Johnson is a producer for “Known Universe” an National Geographic Channel program.

Early in 2009, Kuhn traveled to Mexico to learn more about the indigenous culture there and had the opportunity to visit the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Palenque in Chiapas, Mexico. She was fortunate to be traveling with someone who had a deep understanding of Maya cosmology. Kuhn says, “I think that my interest in ancient astronomy derives from a wish to understand better the indigenous culture and peoples and the conflict that may sometimes arise between their ways and those of ‘modern’ society.” She saw the Cultural Astronomy Summer School as a way to meet more people that were interested in Cultural Astronomy as well as to learn more.

Johnson says: “I was field producing a show for National Geographic called, “The Known Universe,” and I attended the workshop to learn about archaeoastronomy subjects for an episode about how ancient cultures first started observing and utilizing the stars and sky in their daily lives, and how tracking the stars helped lay the foundation for modern civilization. [At the Cultural Astronomy Summer School] I expected to learn about ancient astronomy and archaeoastronomy sites around the world. My expectations were met and exceeded. I walked out with about 15 pages of typed notes.” 

There was an unscheduled excursion to Griffith Observatory in which Kuhn had a revelation about the connection between the design and layout of observatory buildings and their functions. “[Dr. Krupp] discussed the fact that the buildings are designed to be instruments for example the Meridian Arc building. Not only had I not really thought too much of buildings as instruments, but I was impressed by the elegance of the concept. The simplest things (e.g this arc, the solstice markings, a prism or the Foucalt pendulum) can sometimes leave the greatest impact.

 McCluskey’s lectures on ancient astronomy in other cultures inspired Kuhn: “I was impressed by the ancient cultures’ attentiveness to the sky. They watched the skies and the tracks of the stars and planets carefully, and these played a significant role in their lives, not only in marking time and determining the times for important events, but also giving them a sense of their place in the cosmos. While our culture also measure time and events by the cycles in the skies, in general I don’t think that we are so attentive to the sky from night to night —the familiarity which I imagine the early astronomers and others had with the skies struck me.”

I asked both Kuhn and Johnson if they thought that the Cultural Astronomy Summer School should be offered again. 

Kuhn: “If there could be a new rotation of subjects every year then I think it should be offered every year.”

 Johnson: “I definitely think CASS should be offered every June and promoted to more of the general public. It’s the perfect way to educate non-scientists about how astronomy affects all cultures through all time.”

IYA2009USA would like to see this unique opportunity offered beyond 2009. The Cultural Astronomy Summer School was financially supported by the Historical Astronomy Division of the American Astronomical Society. The participants only had to pay a $50 registration fee. For future Cultural Astronomy Summer Schools other sources of funding will be needed to keep participant costs to a minimum.

Tucson, AZ

Two Tucson Indian Center vans full of community members traveled caravan style from the downtown office to Saguaro West Park to the Red Hills Visitor Center for an evening of storytelling and telescope viewing. Celestial storytelling was provided by Susanne Lasseter. She kept everyone riveted with Turkish, Snohomish, Abenaki and Filipino stories about the sky. They included tales of how the moon and the stars got in the sky, and a Coyote story! Coyote volunteered to become the moon. But, Coyote being Coyote watched the lives of the people below and could not keep his mouth shut about what he saw. He shouted out advice and secrets for all the world to hear. He made people so mad that they brought him back down to Earth. Coyote was unhappy about being back on the ground and cries to the Moon every time he sees it.

As the sun was setting University of Arizona professor Thomas Fleming and his two undergraduate assistants, Kevin Hardegree-Ullman and Pye Pye Zaw, set up telescopes in the parking lot. Though the night was not completely free of clouds, Jupiter, the moon, the Ring Nebula and the globular cluster M13 in Hercules were viewed through the telescopes. Though all the celestial bodies were enjoyed, the moon which was in its first quarter phase was a favorite. There were many comments about the craters that were visible along the terminator – the line between light and shadow on the surface of the moon. The other favorite was Jupiter because all four of its bright moons were visible: Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto.

Special thanks go to Pam Bennett the Wellness Specialist at the Tucson Indian Center and a graduate student in the History Department at the University of Arizona. A special thanks to Ranger Brian Rutledge of Saguaro National Park. More IYA2009USA, University of Arizona and Tucson Indian Center events are planned for the fall.

J.C. Holbrook

In 2007 and 2008, UA astronomer Bill Keel was sent to Havana to help support a new planetarium and science-outreach center being built as art of the renovation of the historic old city (Habana Vieja). This project is spearheaded by astronomer Oscar Alvarez, of the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Environment (CITMA: CIencia, Tecnologia, y Medio Ambiente), an IAU member and the national coordinator for IYA2009 activities The well-known city historian, Eusebio Leal Spengler, who is in charge of the overall restoration in the area, not only supported the idea but allocated a building on the 17th-century Plaza Vieja, one of the most historic and well-visited parts of the old city, which is also seen by many school groups. The location is the pink building to the right in this view of Plaza Vieja.
Alvarez’ vision for the project centers on a traditional planetarium projector in an unconventional dome. The dome will be a full sphere, with the outside painted to resemble the solar surface when viewed under UV illumination, and surrounded by scale models of the planets. Visitors will take a helical ramp to the seating level, and along the way will see images marking a timeline of evens in cosmic history. The drawing at left is from the construction site.

Construction has been underway for 2 years now, with opening tentatively set for June 2009. The old building was reduced to a shell to allow use of the full height, after which much progress has been made (which is notable given the economic conditions in Cuba, and a sign that the project enjoys considerable support).  In mid-2008, the walls were being built up and concrete was poured to support the planetarium structure.

By December 2008, the steel supporting framework for the dome and seating level was in place, along with steel supports for the double roof (with an internal level allowing access to ceiling lighting).

Inner and outer spheres of the projection/sun dome have been fabicated locally, at the Chullima boat works – anything they could make a mold for, they could blow in fiberglass. Here are some views when the project staff visited the plant in May 2008.

There are several international partners in this project. A grant from the Japanese government has underwritten the purchase of a Goto projector system. The Spanish firm of Kelonik has been contracted for the interior lighting, allowing a starry background with realistic constellations in the main exhibit hall, and sound system. The University of Alabama, in addition to informational support, is providing the large image prints for the “Powers of 10” exhibit and to illustrate the cosmic timeline. We have also acted as liaison for an installation of the From Earth to the Universe exhibition which will open the new center. A selection of 33 images from the exhibition has been produced and carried to Havana in December 2008. These will be followed later in 2009 by a set of large images to illustrate a “Powers of 10” exhibit and the cosmic timeline. Here we see delivery of the FETTU poster prints being taken by Alvarez and Pepe Vasquez, of the Colegio de San Geronimo. (Trained as a solar astronomer, Alvarez couldn’t resist expounding on some of the solar images, right).

We plan a coordinated FETTU exhibition, with the same image selection, on the University of Alabama campus in Tuscaloosa (in one of the gallery spaces, we hope) timed to coincide with the opening in Havana. This will act both as astronomical outreach and as a very public sign of the Cuba Initiative. Afterward, the image prints will reside in the Physics and Astronomy building on campus, provoking the same sense of wonder in students and visitors for years to come.

Oscar has more in mind. There is an observatory atop the mathematics building at the Universidad de La Habana, which could be renovated and added to their outreach facilities. He has had meeting about working with students to make this happen (and for that matter there have been discussions about making some of the challenges of dong this with locally available materials UA engineering assignments, as well).

NAUTICAL STARS, selected as one of the 100 Best Quilts of the 20th Century, was inspired by an anonymous pen and ink drawing at the Henry Ford Museum, possibly from the late 1800s.  It is thought to be a fraktur drawing–German fancywork—and who is to say it wasn’t created by a talented sailor with time on his hands who based his drawing on the heavens he observed nightly while sailing the seven seas?
VIEW FROM TABLE MOUNTAIN was created to celebrate a site in eastern Washington where many star parties take place and where the  quilt artist, her husband, and daughter go each August to watch the Perseid meteor showers. At an altitude of 6000 ft., the nights are usually cold and clear while overhead stars, planets, the moon, shooting stars and occasionally the Northern Lights fill the sky. Mt. Rainier and other peaks in the Cascades are visible on the horizon. The artist made this quilt for her husband, to honor his interest in astronomy and a special place in their lives.

SEARCHING FOR INTELLIGENT LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE is a humorist story quilter’s depiction of those thoughts we usually keep tucked away in the back of our minds about “little green men” being out there somewhere, and the idea that possibly, maybe even probably, we aren’t the only ones in this awe-inspiring endlessness we call space.  We know it is filled with a myriad of mysteries and marvels which those in the field of astronomy are working tirelessly to understand and interpret for us.

The Pajaro Valley Quilt Association, County of Santa Cruz, California, is grateful to IYA for the theme of our 2009 Quilt Show, The Universe of Quilts: Yours to Discover.  We look forward to having an outstanding array of astronomy-inspired quilts starring in our show and several faculty members of the UCSC Astronomy /Astrophysics Department will serve as judges to each select a quilt as their “Faculty Favorite”.  We are thrilled to be able to support the IYA in this manner, and if you happen to be in the Monterey Bay area on February 21-22, 2009, we invite and encourage you to attend our Quilt Show. For additional information, visit www.pvqa.org.
Legends for photos:
Figure 1 – NAUTICAL STARS by Judy Mathieson, Sebastopol, CA, 73” x 88” (www.judymathieson.com)
Figure 2 – VIEW FROM TABLE MOUNTAIN by Marie O’Kelley, Seattle, WA, 97” x 98”
Figure 3 – SEARCHING FOR INTELLIGENT LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE by ellen edith, Santa Cruz, CA, 45” x 45” (www.ellenedith.com)
Submitted by:
Iris Frank, Co-Chair
PVQA 2009 Quilt Fair
The Universe of Quilts: Yours to Discover
(Celebrating the International Year of Astronomy)
Phone – 831.475.0402
Fax – 831.475.0420
Email – iriscfrank@earthlink.net
Mailing address:
5023 Thurber Lane
Santa Cruz, CA 95065-1152

The next part would be to develop those ideas and concepts into public events, with the above motivation, and then implement them.

Please join us in this effort to reach out to the local communities, underserved audiences, Native American peoples and to the public at large where we hope to start with a grassroots approach and that will lead to an increased understanding between those communities by keeping these traditions alive and what they might mean to you or your children.

Please post any ideas you might have in the forum page of this website or email to dlamenti(at)astro.indiana.edu.