Comment – Page 14 – A Darker View

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Science Illiteracy at the Star-Advertiser

We do like it when Keck Observatory is featured in the local papers. We are proud of the ‘scopes and take notice when we get some good press. The Star-Advertiser is the major daily paper for Honolulu and much of the state. I have even had some of my photographs published in the paper. Another article about Keck appeared today, but this time they simply display their ignorance of basic science.

Keck telescope helps discover 3 small planets outside Milky Way

The headline quickly had my attention. Exoplanet discoveries are coming fast with the Kepler Spacecraft / Keck Observatory team confirming alien worlds at a breakneck pace. It was the “outside the Milky Way” part that had my attention. I had no idea our current technology was capable of that! KOI-961 is a red-dwarf, a small, fairly dim class of star. It is difficult to even detect these stars at great distances, much less get the data needed to confirm orbiting planets. Something wrong here.

I double checked other sources… KOI-961 is actually fairly close to us in galactic terms, a mere 130 light years away. Given that the Milky Way Galaxy is well over 100,000 light years across, it puts KOI-961 well inside our galaxy. The article is actually reasonable, it appears to have simply taken the information from a press release, hard to screw up a cut and paste job. The headline however is where they stumbled hard.

Someone at the Star-Advertiser needs to take a basic astronomy course. Or maybe, simply check Wikipedia!

Update… They have fixed it. I forwarded the link to Larry O’Hanlon, the Keck PIO, whom I work with regularly. He called the S-A and apparently pointed out the issue. I would have loved to listen in on that conversation. The headline and text are edited now on the S-A website, but I kept a screenshot…

Lasers and Aircraft

Those of us who use green lasers for astronomy outreach are always worried about law enforcement cracking down on these devices. As the lasers get cheaper and more available they inevitably get into the hands of those who do not use them responsibly. Worse, the lasers are easily available at power levels that are truly dangerous.

Laser and Stars — Deb pointing out the star βPhoenicis to VIS volunteer Joe McDonough

The problem has continued to escalate, each year there are more reported incidents of aircraft being illuminated by the laser of some idiot (yes, the correct term) who thinks it might be cool to tempt fate and the law. In 2010 there were 2836 incidents reported to the FAA, up from only a few hundred a few years before. With this sort of trend it seems inevitable there will be some sort of official reaction.

Illuminating an aircraft with a laser can be prosecuted under federal law. Not because there is any specific statute addressing lasers, but as it is deemed “Interference with a Crewmember” using an interpretation of a pre-existing 1961 federal law, specifically 14 CFR 91.11.

The FAA has put together a new webpage on lasers and aircraft safety. The page organizes and links some informative resources. This includes a couple reports on the possible effects of laser illumination on aircraft crew, as well as the legal and regulatory recommendations of the FAA. I urge anyone who uses these devices to follow the link and do a little reading.

Used responsibly these lasers are extraordinarily useful in astronomy education. Nothing grabs the crowd’s attention so quickly as that brilliant green beam. Everyone can follow along without confusion as objects are pointed to across the sky. From the constellations to the Milky Way, satellites, planets and zodiacal light, on to star clusters and galaxies, everyone knows right where to look. I do prefer lasers in the 20-30mW range, bright enough to be seen by a crowd, even under moonlight. Not powerful enough to easily injure in the case of a brief exposure to the beam.

Green Laser Trouble

Sounds like someone acting very foolishly has pointed a green laser at aircraft around the Hilo airport. Thanks to Baron for noting the HPD press release on the issue. I wonder if there is someone out there who is unaware that aiming a laser at an aircraft is a violation of federal law.

Lasers at the VIS — Green lasers in use at the Mauna Kea VIS nightly observing with the Milky Way high overhead

Green lasers have been in the news quite a bit over recent years, ever since they became inexpensive enough that people buy them on a whim. Lasers in the under 100mW range used to cost hundreds of dollars, can now be ordered on-line for less than fifty dollars. There have been multiple incidents of these lasers pointed at commercial and law enforcement aircraft. Fortunately the usual result is simply distraction for the pilot and no accidents have been reported from laser interference with flight operations.

These lasers are also immensely useful. At the VIS and other local star parties we use green lasers to point out the constellations and to educate our visitors about the sky. There is nothing like being able to point out a specific star, nebula or galaxy directly, you can instantly connect an entire audience with the sky without the usual confusion. Friday night it was a green laser that served as a link to the stars when I used it on the patio of the Mauna Kea VIS.

I use a laser under 30mW, bright enough to be seen by a large crowd, as well as being visible with a bright Moon in the sky, but with a low enough power to be reasonably safe. Above about 50mW these laser pointers become much more dangerous as the laser can inflict injury to the eye faster than you can blink and turn away. Fortunately there is almost no air traffic over Mauna Kea making this a place where you can use the lasers with little worry. Another personal rule I follow is to never let kids handle this laser, even though they always clamor to see this bright wonder of technology.

I can only hope this issue does not attract the attention of our reactionary county council, they have a tendency to ban anything that even seems dangerous. This would be another classic case of one stupid person creating problems for those of us who use a technology responsibly.