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by Dana DuGan We are made of stardust,” says Elkhorn resident and stargazer Dr. Stephen Pauley, as he related theories on how human beings eventually evolved from the accretion of cosmic matter that formed the earth about 4.6 billion years ago. “All the elements in our bodies come from the stars, from previous supernova explosions,” Pauley explained in an interview. “Those are our ancestors out there.” A retired ear, nose and throat physician, Pauley, 59, is a self-described amateur astronomer and cosmologist. He was the instigator of Ketchum’s Dark Sky Ordinance, which seeks to reduce nighttime light pollution so residents and visitors can see the stars. “The dark sky is a natural resource which we need to protect,” he said. Using celestial navigation, the family didn’t demolish any records, but the astronomy seed was planted. “When you steer by the stars and constellations, you have to know them,” Pauley said. “They become your friends.” During his retirement years, Pauley has not been idle. He gives astronomy presentations to schools and community groups. For the past seven years, he and his wife have spearheaded Operation Esperanza, an annual charitable trip to operate on poor Ecuadorians with facial defects. But Pauley’s ongoing love of exploration always entices him back to the night sky. With his Meade LX 200 telescope he explores deep-sky objects, planets, constellations and moons from his porch. His house is situated fortuitously high in Elkhorn, in Sun Valley, with magnificent night sky views. “When everybody goes to bed and turns off their lights, my backyard is pretty good for viewing,” he said. The open star cluster Seven Sisters is one of Pauley’s favorite constellations to observe. The stars in the relatively young cluster formed at the same time, he said, and haven’t had time to separate far. Pauley said they are easy to find with binoculars, especially during the winter. Orion is another favorite of Pauley’s, and is one constellation that can be viewed from both hemispheres. In the southern hemisphere, he pointed out, the constellation appears upside down.
A dedicated student of the field of astronomy, Pauley’s favorite authors include Carl Sagan, Stephen Hawking, Cornell astronomy professor Tom Gold and paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould. Pauley said that Sagan, whose television program Cosmos had a “big effect” on him, introduced a generation to space. “He brought the stars to the common man,” Pauley said. Pauley admits that he is fascinated by how the earth was formed and life began here. Citing Tom Gold’s theory, Pauley said that after interstellar clouds of dust and gas accumulated to form the earth, primitive bacteria formed deep in the hot interior from carbon and hydrogen molecules contained in that matter. According to the theory, the bacteria then migrated through fissures into deep ocean vents. The presence of water, originally brought by comets in the form of ice, permitted the formation of higher forms of life. The rest, as the saying goes, is history. Pauley said astronomers are now looking for places beyond earth where conditions may exist for similar processes to have occurred. “It’s exciting stuff that’s just being worked out,” he said. “Whenever there’s heat and a water source, bacteria could exist.” Those places could include Jupiter’s moon Europa and the interior of Mars, where water ice was recently discovered. It’s all very heady stuff, and for Pauley it’s the stuff of life itself. “The more that people understand [the universe] the better we can understand ourselves and large issues,” Pauley said. A highlight of Pauley’s amateur career as an astronomer was a visit to the California Institute of Technology’s Palomar Observatory outside San Diego. Palomar has a 200-inch Hale telescope, beneath a 1,000-ton rotating dome. Because it’s a research facility, the observatory is only available by permission. Pauley is also an activist. He tirelessly visits towns with proposals of dark sky ordinances and travels to many parts of Idaho to give his well received talks on the subject. He has spent the past four years working on the issue. “And not having to burn the extra fossil fuels (oil and coal),” Pauley said, that “generate that wasted light, cuts down on greenhouse gases and global warming.” Connecticut, New Mexico, Texas and Maine have all passed state laws protecting dark skies. Several other states have bills pending. The city of Sun Valley is still considering its position on the subject. “I think there’s more awareness,” he said hopefully. “Once they hear my talk they change the way they think about it.” Ketchum’s ordinance calls for a decrease in street light by requiring residential outdoor lighting and commercial lighting to shine only downward, and landscapers to eliminate upward tree lighting. Pauley suggested that home and business owners elsewhere can use shields and lower-watt bulbs as a good start. Pauley made the point that astronomers, whether amateur or not, cannot study a sky that is not dark. In fact, he advised enthusiasts who want to view the dark sky, even with a naked eye, to go up into the Sawtooth Mountains for a good look at what the skies should be. It’s “as good as you’re going to get,” he maintained. The local canyons can also provide lovely vistas of the sky once the viewer is away from the effect of city lights, he added. Looking upward, Pauley envisions a sky whose stars shine brighter than the neighbor’s porch lights and where infinite conundrums have possible answers. What to look for...The true millennium begins January 1, 2001. At the same time the winter sky is full of wonders to behold. Start with Orion, the Hunter, as the center in the southeastern sky, which is easily spotted by picking out his three starred belt. Below the lowest of these stars and at a right angle is the Orion nebulae, a huge new star formation.
To the left and above Sirius are the stars Procyon and the Gemini twins Pollux and Castor. Continuing up is Capella, a yellow star much like our own Sun. It resides in the constellation of Auriga. In the horns of Taurus down a bit to the right is the orange star Aldeberan, while further up is a cluster of stars, Pleides. It’s often mistaken for the Little Dipper, and is also known more commonly as The Seven Sisters. As for planets, Jupiter and Saturn will be visible in the southern sky in the region of Taurus near the orange star Aldeberan. Jupiter is very bright while Saturn is a fainter yellow. Jupiter will be moving into Gemini. These two planets will not come together in this way again for another 20 years. With a telescope Saturn’s rings can be seen, and Jupiter’s four biggest moons will be visible with binoculars. Early Christmas morning, Dec. 25, there will be a partial eclipse of the sun by the moon’s shadow. On January 20 a total eclipse of the moon will occur at 8 p.m. In February and March Venus is visible at sunset in the western sky. Write to: Abrams Planetarium, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI. 48824-1324. It costs $9 a year. Copyright © 2000 Express Publishing Inc. All Rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Express Publishing Inc. is prohibited. |
Pauley is so congenial and easy to spend time with that a virtual lecture on astronomy feels like a visit with one’s very engaging uncle.
In a straight line down to the left from Orion’s belt is Sirius, the sky’s brightest star. Only about nine light years away, this is a very young and highly energetic star. This star is the nose of the Canis Major, Big Dog constellation.