[Nfbf-l] Can Blind People be Astronomers?

[Alan Dicey]

Can Blind People be Astronomers?
by Bernhard Beck-Winchatz - DePaul University
Wisconsin School for the Blind
Have you ever wondered how the universe began, how Sun and Earth formed, how 
life got started on our planet, and if there are worlds similar to our own 
somewhere else in the universe? Throughout our history we as humans have 
asked questions like these to understand our place in the cosmos. Some turn 
to religion for answers. Astronomy addresses these questions from a 
scientific point of view. Maybe you feel excited when you think about the 
vastness of space, or the possibility that someday human beings may be able 
to communicate with other intelligent civilizations across our galaxy. As an 
astronomer with a strong interest in education, I know firsthand that many 
students from elementary school through college are fascinated by astronomy.
Some of them may choose astronomy as a career, but for the majority it is 
simply an exciting gateway to other areas of science and technology.
I am not blind or visually impaired, and neither are any of the members of 
my family or friends. But I do feel strongly that the questions addressed in 
astronomy are important for everyone, whether they are sighted or not. We 
all want to know who we are, where we come from, and where we are going.
After all, this is everyone's universe!
In this article I would like to share some of my thoughts on engaging blind 
and visually impaired students in astronomy.
When I started to work on Touch the Universe  A NASA Braille Book of 
Astronomy, I soon realized that there is a basic misconception about 
astronomy: Many people believe that it is a visual science. They think of an 
astronomer as someone who looks through a telescope, and takes notes on what 
he or she observes in the sky. This may have been the way Galileo conducted 
his observations almost 400 years ago, but modern astronomy is very 
different. Digital cameras are vastly superior to our eyes (and even 
photographic film) and have long since replaced them as detectors of the 
light collected by telescopes. They are more sensitive than our eyes, allow 
us to precisely measure subtle differences in brightness, position and 
shape, and permit the long exposures necessary to detect objects that are 
many billion times fainter than what our eyes can see. Once digital cameras 
have recorded the light from astronomical objects electronically, it is 
transferred to a computer and processed using specialized software.
Astronomers use their eyes to read numbers, words, and sometimes graphs on 
the computer screen, but never as scientific instrument to make 
measurements. There is nothing a blind person could not do as well.
Another misconception is that astronomers have to travel to remote mountain 
tops to conduct their observations. Many astronomical telescopes can be 
operated remotely over the Internet. For example, I conducted the 
observations for my dissertation research with a telescope at Apache Point 
Observatory in New Mexico. But I never actually traveled to New Mexico.
Instead, I sent instructions to the telescope over the Internet from my 
office at the University of Washington in Seattle. A technician on-site was 
there to assist me in case there was a problem with the telescope. When I 
rode my bike home through the rainy streets of Seattle in the early morning 
after my observations were completed, I sometimes felt like I missed out on 
trips to the desert and long romantic nights under the stars. But my point 
is that you can be an astronomer even if you find it difficult to travel, or 
think that it might be hard for you to operate a large telescope yourself.
Another example is robotic telescopes in space. Many astronomical 
observations are conducted with such telescopes to avoid interference by 
Earth's atmosphere. For example, I use observations from the Hubble Space 
Telescope, which orbits Earth 600 kilometers above the ground. Hubble is 
operated remotely by a team of astronomers, engineers, and technicians at 
Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland. Astronomers from 
around the world send their proposals to this team, which then conducts the 
observations for them. The data is then sent back to astronomers via the 
Internet for scientific analysis. Space Telescope Science Institute also 
maintains an archive of past observations. Any astronomer can download 
archival data and use it for his or her own research.
It may surprise you to hear that frequently the most important and difficult 
part of the work of astronomers is not to answer interesting questions, but 
to ask them. This requires that they continuously read the latest journal 
articles and books to learn everything they can about the area of astronomy 
they are interested in, and to keep up-to-date on what other scientists 
around the world are working on. Once they have formulated an interesting 
question, they collect and analyze the data they need to address their 
question. Finally, they compare their results with the research of others, 
and publish articles in astronomical journals to let their colleagues across 
the world know about their findings. Sometimes they are able to answer their 
questions, but most of the time they just add another piece to the puzzle.
Astronomers must have very good math, science, and computer skills, but 
there is nothing in the work of an astronomer that prevents a blind student 
from pursuing this field.
Modern astronomy can also teach us something about the nature of blindness 
itself. Since almost all objects in space are too far away for humans to 
visit them, we have to extract everything we want to know from the light 
they send to us. Light is made of tiny waves of electric and magnetic 
fields. The length of these waves varies depending on the color. For 
example, red light has a slightly longer wavelength than blue light. White 
light is a mixture of waves of different wavelengths. You can see this when 
you look at a rainbow: when sunlight passes through water droplets in the 
air, waves of different wavelengths are deflected at slightly different 
angles. The light from the Sun is split into different colors, and the 
result is a beautiful rainbow.
But visible light is only a tiny part of what is called the electromagnetic 
spectrum. Radio waves used in radio and TV broadcasts, microwaves used to 
heat food and in cell phone communication, infrared radiation used in 
television remote controls, ultraviolet radiation used in tanning beds, 
x-rays used by orthopedic surgeons, and gamma rays used to sterilize meats 
are also part of this spectrum. But they are invisible to our eyes because 
their wavelengths are either too long or too short.
Each part of the electromagnetic spectrum gives us a different perspective 
on objects on Earth and in space. Even if we know what an object looks like 
in visible light, observing it again in invisible light almost always 
reveals new, interesting, and frequently surprising details. When 
firefighters look into a burning room with their eyes in visible light, all 
they may be able to see is that it is filled with smoke. Infrared goggles 
allow them to see through the smoke and perhaps discover people who are 
trapped inside. When orthopedic surgeons examine a leg with their eyes, they 
may only see that it is swollen, but when they use x-rays, which can 
penetrate human tissue, they can tell that a bone is fractured. Astronomers 
use electromagnetic waves from all parts of the spectrum to observe the 
universe. Every type of visible and invisible light reveals a different 
piece of the puzzle. When all pieces are put together, the whole picture 
starts to emerge.
Firefighters use infrared light to see though smoke, surgeons use x-rays to 
see through human tissue, and astronomers use all types of electromagnetic 
waves to study the universe. But do they have infrared or x-ray vision? Of 
course not! However, this does not prevent them from building instruments 
that can detect the different types of invisible light their eyes cannot 
see. When you think about it, the difference between a sighted person and a 
blind person is very small. In addition to being blind in radio waves, 
microwaves, infrared radiation, ultraviolet radiation, x-rays, and gamma 
rays, a blind person is also blind in a tiny region of the spectrum we call 
visible light. Yes, being able to see visible light is very helpful both in 
everyday life and in science. But the lesson astronomy teaches us is that if 
you cannot see visible light with your eyes, find other ways to see it, for 
example, by using technology, or by "borrowing" someone else's eyes. Never 
ever let blindness stop you from pursuing your interests and dreams! I hope 
some of you are dreaming about becoming astronomers!
Bernhard Beck-Winchatz holds an M.S. in Physics from the 
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet in Munich, Germany, and a Ph.D. in Astronomy 
from the University of Washington in Seattle. He is currently an assistant 
professor in DePaul University's Scientific Data Analysis and Visualization 
program. Bernhard has developed and taught a wide variety of undergraduate 
and graduate astronomy and physics courses, and currently teaches space 
science courses for practicing K-8 teachers in Chicago Public Schools. He 
has co-developed "Touch the Universe"  A NASA Braille Book of Astronomy 
(with Noreen Grice), which makes images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope 
accessible to people who are blind or visually impaired. He has authored or 
co-authored fifteen research publications on quasars, stellar jets, globular 
cluster stars, and variable stars. Bernhard currently lives in Chicago with 
his wife Michaela, who is an assistant professor in speech communication.
Article off the NFB site, relating to astronomy for VI/blind Persons
https://nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/fr/fr9/fr03co23.htm
Editor's Note:
Melissa Williamson:
"when it comes to blindness, some sighted people just get it."
After you read the article above, I think you will agree that Dr. 
Beck-Winchatz belongs to that special circle of those who "get it." And yes, 
this is the same Bernhard Beck-Winchatz of Touch the Universe fame. To order 
the book on line go to http:www.nap.edu/catalog/10307.html.