Eight Forty-Eight - Seeing Clearly into Space

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Seeing Clearly into Space

Photo credit: NASA, ESA, L. Bradley (JHU), R. Bouwens (UCSC), H. Ford (JHU), and G. Illingworth (UCSC)

The next couple of nights, if you look up into the sky you might be able to see a fuzzy patch of greenish light zip past Earth. That’s the Comet Lulin which is getting close to our planet…38 million miles away, more or less. Author Evalyn Gates says astronomers are poised to see deeper into space than ever before. She writes that the discoveries awaiting us there could fundamentally change the way we see the universe.

Evalyn Gates is an astrophysicist at the University of Chicago, and author of the new book, Einstein’s Telescope: The Hunt for Dark Matter and Dark Energy in the Universe. She explains why it’s important to learn how to see in the dark.

Stephen Pordes, Glen Ellyn // Thursday, February 26, 2009 @ 9:54 PM

This was by far the clearest explanation of dark matter and the best interview on a scientific topic I have heard in a long time. The explanations from Dr. Gates were clear and the intelligent way Gabriel Spitzer repeated them in his own words showed his obvious interest and understanding. I found the program a delight to listen to and you may have found a real science reporter in Mr. Spitzer.