E. Pérez Montero public outreach talk at the MCC

On Friday July 4th, the Severo Ochoa visitor, Dr. Enrique Pérez Montero will give a public outreach conference at the Museo de la Ciencia y el Cosmos, entitled "Astronomy, a visual science?"

Start date: 4 Jul, 2014 - 19:00
End date: 4 Jul, 2014 - 20:30
Location: Museo de la Ciencia y el Cosmos, Tenerife.
Organizer: Museo de la Ciencia y el Cosmos

Abstract:

Long before the beginning of the Human great civilizations, the night sky and the celestial objects observed with naked eye have fascinated humans. This direct observation of the stars has always raised more questions than answers. However, the development of astronomy as a science occured when optical devices were used to observe the sky, mainly bigger and bigger telescopes. Another branch equivalent to astronomy , Astrophysics, could only begin when optical elements helping to split the light in its different components were incorporated. Today, we are in a situation where astronomy is digital and our knowledge of the cosmos is based on the use of space observatories, large telescopes and detectors which analyze invisible light frequencies, meaning that the human eye has been relegated to the same role that may have in other branches of science, although this may subtract romanticism to the idea of ​​observing the sky.
This conference will review how the progressive increase of knowledge in astronomy has been due not to eyesight but to additional items, what astronomical phenomena cannot be perceived with the naked eye and those that cannot been seen at all even with instruments using the latest technology.

Dr. Enrique Pérez-Montero is tenure scientist in the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía - CSIC in Granada (Spain). He is visually impaired and he belongs to the Spanish National Organization for Blind People (ONCE) where he collaborates for the diffusion of the astronomy for the visually impaired people. >>More information (in Spanish)