‘The night sky is the shared heritage of humanity’: catching up with Dr. Saurabh Jha
This Friday, April 12, you’re invited to an astronomy adventure at Liberty Science Center!
Our new monthly series, Friday Nights @ LSC, continues on this night as the building stays open till 10:00 pm. Enjoy an evening of planetarium shows, telescope viewings, a David Bowie Laser Show, and special activities. All ages are welcome, all our exhibitions will be open, and guests 21 and over can enjoy space-themed cocktails.
Certainly one of the most unique parts of the evening is a FREE presentation led by Dr. Saurabh Jha, professor of physics and astronomy at Rutgers University. The presentation, held at 8:00 pm in our planetarium, will explore the topic of exploding stars and the accelerating universe.
In the days leading up to Friday Nights @ LSC, we caught up with Dr. Jha about the future of astronomy research, the highlights of his career, and more.
What do you think the future of astronomy research looks like?
One thing I love about astronomy is how much things change: the universe changes and our understanding of the universe changes, often driven by changing technology and techniques. New discoveries, like today’s first picture of the silhouette of a black hole, are always around the corner!
To make such discoveries, it’s good to have clear big questions driving research: for example, is there life elsewhere in the universe? What are dark matter and dark energy? How do galaxies, stars, and planets form and change?
What has been the most exciting moment of your career?
The most exciting scientific endeavor I’ve been involved in has been the discovery that the expansion of the universe is going faster and faster: we live in an accelerating universe!
I was just a graduate student when I was part of one of two teams to make this discovery using measurements of exploding stars. We’ve named the cause of the accelerating expansion dark energy, but we really don’t know what it is!
So that discovery, just as I was starting my scientific career, has led to a lot of follow-up work to figure out one of the biggest mysteries in astrophysics, and perhaps all of science.
Can you share one cool fact that you’ll discuss in your presentation on Friday?
The expansion of the universe is accelerating. That means galaxies are moving away from us faster and faster. Eventually (though not for hundreds of billions of years) we won’t be able to see any other galaxies! Future astronomers might not know there is a vast universe beyond our own galaxy.
Why do you think it’s important for the public to take an interest in astronomy?
The night sky is the shared heritage of humanity. We all live under the same sky. It unites us. Our ancestors in every culture in the world had a strong connection with the night sky, using that starry canvas to reflect what was important to them. I lament how many people, living near bright city lights, have lost this connection. That’s one reason why it’s so important to have spaces like the Jennifer Chalsty Planetarium to remind us of that night sky, rekindling that connection to the stars, our ancestors, and all of humanity.
Meet Dr. Saurabh Jha this Friday night at 8:00 pm during our next Friday Nights @ LSC event! Click here to learn more and get tickets.
