The strange and familiar (BA11)

By on

(nerding out at SETI)

I hadn’t seen J and J in almost 13 years. 

The last time took place in La Serena, Chile at the end of 2011. Not only was it goodbye to Gemini South and Chile after 5 years, I said farewell to astronomy after almost 20 years.

But time is a tricky thing, and the moment had arrived: I had another promise to keep.

Fast forward to 2024, and I’m in the Bay Area. After reaching out a number of weeks ago, it’s wonderful to see them again after many years. They’ve kindly invited me to the SETI Institute where they work. I split from day-to-day science, but science never left, because I’m nerding out in a big way at the home of a big scientific effort: the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence.

Guest in Mountain View.
Cozy wide-open space, to house a number of multidisciplinary scientists to explore and study SETI themes.
Studio for SETI-hosted podcasts.
J&J, whom I met at Gemini, moved onto SOFIA: Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy, fitted into a modified Boeing 747SP.
Dr. Jill Tarter: co-founder of SETI.
Dr. Frank Drake: 1st pres., SETI trustees board.
I’m nerding out in a big way: Leonhard Euler, and the famous Euler identity: e^(i•pi) = -1.
1593: Giordano Bruno suggests possibility of life on other planets; tried & executed for heresy. 1610: Galileo Galilei discovers 4 moons orbiting Jupiter, evidence against geocentric universe; convicted of heresy & sentenced to house arrest.
I have fond memories of seeing this on the big screen. 1997: the movie “Contact” is released with Jodie Foster in the lead role as Dr. Ellie Arroway, based loosely on SETI Institute co-founder Dr. Jill Tarter.
“To the SETI Institute gang, all my best! Jodie Foster.” (Arecibo)
“To the SETI Institute: live long and prosper! Leonard Nimoy.” (Celebrating 40 Years of the Drake Equation)
2020: COSMIC SETI installed at the VLA in New Mexico. 2022: 🇨🇦 CHIME in operation at SETI Institute’s HCRO in northern California.
Model of a segment for the 6.5-metre (21.3-foot) primary mirror of the JWST (James Webb Space Telescope).
Meeting room with SETI timeline on the wall.
Dr. Frank Drake and his equation to estimate the number of civilizations in our Galaxy.
Astronomers: 2 active, 1 lapsed.

I made all photos above with an iPhone15 on 8 Nov 2024 (travel day 11 in the Bay Area). This post composed with Jetpack for iOS appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com.

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