Astronomical Tunes

As mentioned in my last post, Tom Noe performed a few songs about Galileo's impact on our view of the universe at the January Texas Astronomical Society meeting. Listening to Tom sing brought to mind one of my favorite songs, one that also has an astronomical theme (though more science than history). 

Back in 2000 our twins, Brian and Chris, and I made a trip with others from their Boy Scout troop to Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico. For the first few days on the trail we were led by a ranger, a kid from the University of Florida the boys called Scuba Steve. While hiking, Steve taught the boys a few songs to pass the time. One called Why Does The Sun Shine? was particularly fun. We found out later that it is from a 1950s album called Space Songs performed by the folk singer Tom Glazer and later popularized by the group They Might Be Giants. 

Why Does The Sun Shine? doesn't highlight Galileo so it isn't as fitting for the celebration of IYA2009 as the pieces Tom sang, but given the main presentation of the meeting (David Dooling's talk on the Advanced Technology Solar Telescope) it might have also been an appropriate theme song for the evening. On second thought, a better choice would have been another TMBG song,  Why Does The Sun Really Shine? (The Sun Is A Miasma Of Incandescent Plasma), one they wrote to address the inaccuracies identified in the lyrics of the original, 1959 version.

The TMBG songs seem as popular today as they were when they were released. Here is a YouTube video that looks like a mash up of Why Does The Sun Shine? and spaceweather.com:

 

New Texas Astronomical Society Member

One of the first goals I set for this year and for participation in the International Year of Astronomy 2009 was increased networking with other amateur astronomers, in part through membership in the Texas Astronomical Society. Well, meet the newest member of TAS!

I attended my first TAS meeting tonight (well, first one as a member) and had the pleasure of listening to guest speaker David Dooling, Director of Education and Outreach for the National Solar Observatory in Sunspot, New Mexico, talk about the next big NSO project, development of the Advanced Technology Solar Telescope (ATST). When built, it will be the world's largest optical solar telescope with a 4 meter primary mirror. David also talked about his plans for the Sunspot Solar System Model, a 1:250-million-scale model of the solar system with the sun located at the NSO site in Sunspot and other planets and solar system bodies leading back along the highway towards Cloudcroft and spread across much of New Mexico. Both talks were engaging, informative and entertaining.

Speaking of entertainment, after the break one of the members, Tom Noe, provided music in the spirit of the International Year of Astronomy 2009, singing Did Galileo Pray? (by Paul Ellis) and Do You Really Wanna Know (by Peter Mayer). I didn't expect to hear music tonight but it was great fun. Listening to Tom sing brought to mind a favorite song of mine that also has an astronomy theme... more on that in a future post. Meanwhile, in addition to his involvement in house concerts I understand that Tom is a telescope maker - see his Teleport Telescopes web site for more information on what he calls the LTFWT (largest telescope factory in Wylie, Texas).

As for networking, I didn't get very far tonight - though I did run into someone I know, Chaz Hafey. Chaz was director of the Science Place Planetarium (now the Dallas Museum of Nature and Science Planetarium) back when Linda first started working there. It was good to see Chaz again, but at the next meeting I look forward to meeting other members who I haven't met before.