Exoplanets, super-massive black holes, binary systems, CMEs, and on and on. My, there has certainly been a lot of astronomy news lately! It makes writing a blog on astronomy more challenging, just in terms of keeping up with the sheer amount of space exploration news that keeps on coming!

There are a lot of good astrobloggers out there. They do an excellent job of staying right on top of that flood of information. Me, not so much. Geez, some days it’s all I can do to fluff my hair. And that’s saying a lot, believe me.

I like focusing on the little things in astronomy, rather than the big things. The big things, like the discovery of the biggest black hole yet (“biggest” isn’t exactly the word for it… see why I don’t write that stuff?) should be front page news across the globe. Heck, the instrumentation and science that allowed the discovery should be front page news! Should be, but it’s not. I see a problem there. What is that problem?

Andromeda Galaxy

The problem as I see it is that we have become inured to astonishing discoveries in science in general. Medical and technological breakthroughs, advancements in space exploration (do most people even KNOW about the twin probes to the moon, GRAIL A and B?), and archeological and anthropological discoveries, just to name a few, rarely even enter the general population’s awareness. What is going on here?

The decay of education and the decline of wonder. Yep, that’s how I see it. Our science education, in particular, is alarmingly eroded and continues to decline. We are raising a new generation of children who have little to no interest in the amazing phenomenae that occur in our labs, on our planet, in our solar system and out into the observable universe. Some people will even read that last bit as “and there is more [supernatural] than we can see that is bigger than the universe” rather than “our instruments can only see so far because of the limitations of physics”. It’s not the fault of the children. It’s what the parents are wanting them to be taught. Don’t even get me started.

This is exactly why I focus on the little things in astronomy. This is why one of the things I love to do is speak at schools, libraries, public star parties, community classes and the like. Because somewhere inside us all is the spark of curiosity, of wonder of the natural world, of primal amazement at the universe all around us. If I can reach just one child who decides to study science because of something I’ve inspired in them, I will feel like I’ve changed the world just a little bit.

There is nothing more satisfying to me than giving someone the opportunity to look through a telescope, perhaps for the first time, and be truly excited at what they see. When they get even a little bit of information about whatever we’re observing, the excitement level rises. Their human experience has just been elevated.

Then I mention what, to me, is one of the most awe-inspiring bits of information I can share. And it’s this:

Millions of years ago some photons, little packets of light, left the surface of a star in a distant galaxy. They traveled in a relatively straight line across empty space at the speed of light for millions of years. The very first thing those photons hit is the rods and cones on your retina at the back of your eye as you gaze up at the night sky and spot the Andromeda Galaxy.

And that, my friend, is real magic. That is what excites me, the little things in astronomy.