Creative visionary of the Universe
Scientists estimate that there are over 200 billion trillion stars in the observable universe. That number is so unbelievably big, it's hard to imagine. But today we're talking with a scientist who works on ways for us to understand and visualize the universe around us. Hi, I'm Madelyn from WOW STEM. And today we're talking with Dr. Kim Arcand, a visualization scientist at Harvard Center for Astrophysics.
Madelyn: It is so cool that we get to talk to you today. Thank you so much.
Dr. Arcand: Thanks. I'm really excited to get to chat with you.
Madelyn: Okay, cool. So one of my favorite parts of astronomy is those beautiful pictures from the big telescopes. Like, I feel like I could just spend all day looking at that meeting.
Dr. Arcand: Me too. And I do.
Madelyn: You're one of the, you know, the people who help create them.
Dr. Arcand: Yeah.
Madelyn: So cool.
Dr. Arcand: Yeah. So it's a really fun process because I think there's this idea that we just hold up a selfie right to the universe where you just take a selfie. We've got a great data to capture, but it's a lot more complex than that. We send these telescopes up into outer space. They capture all of this information, all of these like packets of energy that have been traveling to us from these distant objects. And then from there there's like a data pipeline that has to occur. We packaged up the information into like a digital suitcase and send it down to Earth through NASA's Deep Space Network. And then eventually we have to unpack it.
And it's my job and some of my team's job to be able to, like, go through that data. It's like a sandbox of awesome data and make stuff out of it, right? So you can translate it into an image or into a sound or even into like a 3D model. So there's a lot of really cool things you can do with data.
Madelyn: Wow, that's so cool. Could you tell us more about the data that we're collecting from the universe?
Dr. Arcand: Yeah. Sure. So the telescope that I'm working on, primarily it's NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, so it's looking at really extreme like hot objects in the universe, things like exploding stars, things like black holes, things like colliding galaxies, you know, kind of boring stuff out there. And it's great because all of that high energy, all those photons, those little packets of energy that have been traveling to us, they're captured by the scientific instruments on board the telescope that goes about a third of the way to the moon. And then when that information is translated down to earth, we then have to take it and unpack it. And then like create the plot or the spectral information, which is like the fingerprint of the light or create an image, for example, or create some other kind of output like I've talked about.
So it's this really cool process of being able to capture information of things that we can't see, right? Because we can't see X-rays with human eyes. Right. None of us were born with X-ray Vision, not even Superman. Right. So it's this idea that we have to translate it into something that we can use.
Madelyn: So when you say X-rays, the Chandra X-ray telescope. Are those like the same X-rays that we use to look at broken bones?
Dr. Arcand: They are, actually. So you can think of it as kind of like the reverse process. So if you've ever been to a doctor or a dentist, and they take an X-ray-like machine, and they generate X-rays that then go through so that you can peer down to, say, the bone underneath your tissue or into your tooth to see a cavity right.
In the universe, it's these objects that are emitting X-rays. Right? So things like exploding stars left, things like black holes, they have this tremendous amount of energy, and they can release X-ray photons, X-ray packets of energy. And that is what's being captured by this very special telescope that was specially designed with these really cool mirrors that are like these nested barrels. Perfect to be able to capture that X-ray information.
There's all different kinds of light in our universe. There's radio light kind of on the cooler, less energetic side, all the way up to X-rays and gamma rays on the more like the higher energy side and an optical or visible light like humans can typically see is right in the middle. So you need all of these different kinds of light to be able to figure out these puzzles of the universe. You can kind of think of it like if you had a piano, and you only had middle C and a couple of keys around it. Now, try to play your favorite piece of music with just like four keys on the piano. What's it going to sound like?
Madelyn: Not very good.
Dr. Arcand: Exactly, I think, unless you're really creative, perhaps. But as soon as you look at all of those other different kinds of light in the universe, you kind of filling in the rest those keys. So if we only had that visible light, the optical light, to be able to look at our universe, it's like only having a few keys on the piano, but x-ray light and gamma-ray light and radio light and infrared light, they fill in all the rest of those 88 keys. Right. So you need the whole piano to make a really nice piece of music, just like you need all of those different kinds of light to be able to understand the universe.
Madelyn: So a lot of these wavelengths of light you said that we can't see. It's outside of the optical zone.
Dr. Arcand: Yep.
Madelyn: So how do we translate that into something that we can see? How do we make colors out of that?
Dr. Arcand: So, like, you could think of a weather map. Right. So on the nightly news or on an app on your phone, if you're looking at a weather map, and you're looking at the temperature map of the five-day forecast, and you're going to see that the blue colors are for like the cooler temperatures in whichever region you're in and the red colors are typically for the warmer ones.
In astronomy, we tend to do something similar. So we can take a map of data, and we can break it apart by the energy level, by the different kind of topographical feature or by like the chemical elements that are involved. Right. So if we're looking at something by energy we’ll cut it and use the highest energies, the hottest things in the blues and the purples, because in physics, blue is actually a higher energy and then the lower energy in like the reds. So it's just it's just a weather map so that we can really better understand these really interesting objects.
Madelyn: I'm assuming that we are interested in using these telescopes to learn more, not just make cool sounds and pretty pictures, but what are we looking for with these telescopes?
Dr. Arcand: Right. I think the cool sounds and the pretty pictures are the candy. You know, in the sundae, right? The cherry on top, I guess. I mean, they're more than that, but they are definitely a huge bonus. But really, it's all about that science-y goodness encapsulated in there. Right. An image is just this translation of information into the visual form. But even before you get to the image, there are phases of that data when you're processing it into a plot, a light curve, some sort of spectral information, and all that science-y goodness is wrapped up inside there and it's telling you really important things, right? It'll tell you that when a star explodes, it can turn itself inside out. And all of the iron that was at the very core is now along the outer edges. And that kind of evidence, I think, is really exciting. Right.
So there are all of these cool, you know, science stories that you're learning about with the data and the visual or the sonification are a means of expressing that data. And we just think of these ways to like, represent that data because again, it's something none of us are able to see naturally. Right.
Madelyn: So I've, I've read that some of the things that you look for are exoplanets. Could you tell us what an exoplanet is?
Dr. Arcand: Yeah. Exoplanets are really fascinating objects because they are essentially planets outside of our solar system so much farther than our own, you know, sun and eight planets to go with it. What's very cool about that is I started working for the Chandra X-Ray Observatory back in 1998 and exoplanets were like barely a thing then.
So this telescope, Chandra, that was built, you know, for almost 20 years, up until the time of its launch in 1999, it wasn't designed to research exoplanets. Right? And yet 20 years later, it's been in outer space for like over 20 years now. It's doing really interesting research on these types of objects, along with a host of other satellites as well. From the Kepler mission, for example, that was up and running until recently, to the test mission to Hubble and the Webb and all of that.
So there's a fleet of observatories that are able to research these new planets, new to us, I should say. And what's very cool about them is just the sheer number, right? So there are well over like 5000 of them that have been confirmed in the nearby part of our Milky Way galaxy. But mathematically, that means there's probably, you know, billions and billions more. So it's a lot of worlds to be checking out, a lot of worlds to see. Like what is happening there, a lot of worlds to explore. Like, could there be life? I don't know. That's some really cool questions.
Madelyn: I’d love to hear about how you got to where you are today. Like what brought you to science?
Dr. Arcand: I have to say, though, I just I always loved science as a kid. I just I always had a lot of questions and I always wanted to, like, save the world. So, you know, I don't, I can't say that I am saving the world, but that's what I wanted to do when I was a kid. And it always seemed like science was that sort of path to take to get there. But I also had this issue where I loved everything, I loved everything. I wanted to be a doctor, I wanted to be an environmentalist, I wanted to be a nurse. I wanted you name it, I wanted to be it. And that sounds like maybe a weakness. Maybe it is. But also it was a bit of a strength because I've been able to sort of sample interesting areas of a bunch of different fields and then like tie them up in a little bow in my existing work. And I really enjoyed, I think, getting to do that.
Madelyn: I've always hated this idea that people can't be creative and scientific. And clearly, you get to spend all day coding and working with data, but creating such visually interesting and to our ears, interesting ways of processing data. Like, what is that like?
Dr. Arcand: Yeah. Yeah, I think it's nonsense that we have to kind of like know what we want to do. We go to school for that. We do what we do, and then we're done, right? Like that to me, I don't know. I don't really work with that many people that did that perfectly straight path. Right. Myself and so many of my colleagues, like we've all taken a much more curvy path and all of those curves, all those pit stops, they kind of give you the seasoning for your dish, right? They give you the layers of flavor that you're trying to build in your career. When you relegate yourself to just one area, it can be a little bit like tunnel vision. Whereas, when you take the time to learn other things, it just lets you be more creative and connect ideas together to create something new.
I definitely didn't think that I would be doing this when I was a kid. Like, I'm going to grow up and be a science data visualizer, right? Okay. Anyone actually says that. But my job is all about finding these little pieces and then connecting them and, you know, throwing them into like a braid, essentially. And I really enjoy that. I love still getting to be creative. I mean, don't get me wrong, I still have lots of meetings and emails like anybody else, but the sort of bulk of the job, the meat of the job is still a lot of a lot of creativity. And I think we do a disservice when we only talk about science or engineering as like this cut and dry, sterile kind of feels, you know.
Madelyn: Well, you are such a huge inspiration to all young scientists. And to me, I was wondering if you have any words of advice for other young scientists who might be interested in everything.
Dr. Arcand: My gosh, thank you so much. That is really sweet to hear. And honestly, like, that's the sort of thing that I know I'm not saving the world today, but like, when you hear that you've had any sort of impact, it really does make a difference. And you know, I think I always just like to think about how it's important to just keep trying, like even when it gets hard, even when you think things are just not going well or you're not doing the best job, just keep trying and being passionate about the area that you're working in just makes it so much easier, right? Like when things get hard, if you're really just fascinated still about all of the content underneath it, it just makes it a lot easier to get through. So, just kind of keeping the focus on things that make you happy. As weird as that sounds, in a job really, really does make an impact.
Madelyn: Yeah, yeah, that's great advice. I think that's really important to maintain a sense of self in hard times. Totally makes sense.
Dr. Arcand: Right, exactly. Yeah.
Madelyn: You've done a lot of work trying to think about how we can conceptualize, like, the scale and magnitude of the universe and just how big it is. So I was wondering if you have like a universe fun fact, something that helps us understand how big the universe is and see everything in a new way.
Dr. Arcand: Yeah, the universe is unimaginably big. Like I can't wrap my brain around hardly any of it. I think human brains are not really meant to, but I can say one of my favorite objects in the entire universe is this exploded star called Cassiopeia A and it's nearby. It's in the Milky Way galaxy. It's a little over 10,000 light years away from us. And I'm holding just a tiny, tiny version of it in my hand. Like this is barely four inches across. Probably in actuality, this bad boy is about 40 million, billion times the surface area of our sun and planets. And if you're like a Pluto die-hard, you can toss that into the math. Won't make a difference. And it's scaled down like, again, just this tiny version so you can hold it in your hand so you and you know when you're doing these representations, when you're making these things of objects in the universe, understanding the scale and the size of what is around us is incredibly hard because this is just one exploded star in one little corner of our own Milky Way galaxy, and there are billions and billions of stars.
Madelyn: Thank you so much for talking with us. I feel like I have a brand-new appreciation for all of those pretty pictures of space and the way to think about how big the universe is and everything that could be out there. I feel like I learned a lot.
Dr. Arcand: Thank you so much. I'm so glad you guys came. Thanks again for stopping by.
Head Writer: Caroline Martin
Video and Sound: Taylor Contreras & Caroline Martin
Interviewer: Madelyn Leembruggen
In collaboration with AstraFemina
Comments