ASTRONOMY-COLOMBIA:
Dazzled by Stars, Dreams
and Doubts
By Helda Martínez
VILLA DE LEYVA, Colombia
(IPS) - Esteban Felipe
is six years old and
wants to be a policeman
when he grows up. Or
better still, an
astronomer, he says as
he plays with a plastic
rocket that he decorated
with coloured paper at
one of the children’s
workshops at the 11th
Festival of self-taught
astronomers.
The main square of the
colonial town of Villa
de Leyva, in the central
Colombian province of
Boyacá, was the location
of the most important
annual meeting of Latin
American amateur
astronomers, from Feb. 8
to 10.
The town of white-washed
houses with dark green
doors and windows,
located 60 kilometres
northwest of Tunja, the
provincial capital, and
150 kilometres from
Bogotá, is at an
altitude of over 2,000
metres at one of the
driest spots in the
country, with excellent
night-sky visibility,
and an average
temperature of 17
degrees Celsius.
Three portable
planetariums and dozens
of 14-inch telescopes
were set up in the
cobbled central square,
the largest in the
country. There were also
reflecting mirrors for
solar observation, with
filters transmitting the
H-alpha wavelength,
"because the sun is made
of hydrogen," Eduardo
Hernández, head of the
Colombian Association of
Self-Taught Astronomers
(ASASAC), explained to
the children.
"One of the goals is to
motivate children,
because astronomy is a
combination of sciences.
An interest in the stars
leads to learning about
a host of other
subjects," Hernández
told IPS.
"It’s also moving to see
the reactions of elderly
people who look through
a telescope for the
first time and catch
their first glimpse of
deep space," added
Mauricio Castro, an
educational programmer
in Maloka, an
interactive science and
technology centre in
Bogotá which is thought
to be the largest in
South America.
Lectures and talks were
given simultaneously in
three auditoriums, with
contributions from
distinguished
astronomers like Germán
Puerta, head of the
Bogotá Planetarium, and
Raúl Joya, who helped
put the first Colombian
satellite into orbit in
2007.
Experts and amateurs
alike were eager to find
out more about the
so-called "dark energy"
of the universe, which
in spite of its name, is
not the incarnation of
interstellar evil in a
science fiction movie.
"It’s one of the most
important recent
discoveries in
astronomy, made about
five years ago. Until
then, the hot discussion
topic was whether
expansion or contraction
will ultimately
predominate in the
universe," Castro said.
"But then it was
discovered that
expansion is
accelerating, due to
‘dark energy.’ We don’t
know exactly what it is,
but it constantly
increases the distance
between stars and
galaxies, to the extent
that in about 100
million years’ time,
planet Earth will be
isolated and alone," he
said.
There were also
questions from members
of the audience who said
they frequently see
unidentified flying
objects (UFOs) in Boyacá.
There are testimonies to
the effect that
sightings have increased
over the last month in
Colombia’s western
regions, in the
provinces of Antioquía,
Cauca and Valle.
With respect to such
questions, Castro said
"It’s absurd to think
that life can exist only
on our planet."
"But science demands
evidence. The existence
of meteorites was only
accepted in the 19th
century when physical
proof was found. In the
case of UFOs, that is
still lacking, and they
might be physical or
technological phenomena,
or dirigible aircraft,
rather than
extraterrestrial
machines," he said.
"The same goes for lake
monsters and mermaids.
We have yet to see a
mermaid scale and test
its DNA," he added.
For his part Hernández,
a chemical engineer,
stressed the importance
of exploring the
remotest origins of
human beings, whom he
defines as "stardust."
"According to
theoretical physics, the
universe began with a
Big Bang which formed
the simplest chemical
element, hydrogen.
Hydrogen gave birth to
helium and these gases
formed the stars, where
heavier elements are
made by nuclear fusion,
including carbon, oxygen
and nitrogen," Hernández
said.
In their final phase, as
supernovas, stars
explode and scatter
their elements. Some of
these materials reached
Earth and became the
building blocks of life.
"That is our cosmic
origin," he said.
Astronomy, regarded as
the most ancient of all
sciences, "broadens
cultural horizons,
changes the perspective
of human beings, and
approaches science from
different points of
view, all of which are
important to overcome
underdevelopment in our
countries," Castro said.
However, the science of
astronomy does not
include astrological
predictions of the
future and its devotees
dismiss the idea of an
influence exerted by the
stars on people’s
temperaments.
"Someone born in the
slums on the southside
of Bogotá and someone
else born at the same
time on the same day in
the north of the same
city (a wealthy area)
have totally different
destinies," said
Hernández.
"That’s why astrological
charts are useless. They
are a trick," he said.
This is one reason why
first-grader Esteban
Felipe, with his
cheerful and alert
expression, who was born
in a poor neighbourhood
in Villa de Leyva, may
not become an astronomer
and is more likely to
become a policeman
instead.
But the contagious
enthusiasm of amateur
astronomers, who will be
celebrating the
International Year of
Astronomy in this same
town in 2009, to mark
the 400th anniversary of
Galileo Galilei’s first
astronomical observation
through a telescope, may
influence this boy and
take him down unknown
paths, guided by an
auspicious star. |
