A conversation with Dr. Jeff Hall, Director
That Frequently Asked Question, ‘Where is God?’, is one of many the staff hears at the Lowell Observatory, especially during astronomy nights. In this wide-ranging conversation with Lowell’s Director, Dr. Jeff Hall, we talk about everything from that to Venus and Mars, space debris, the connection between music and astronomy, and much, much more.
The Lowell Observatory is a time machine, from its study of the origins of the universe, to a future of life on other planets, to the hurdles we may be putting up with so many spacecraft in the sky. To learn more and support the observatory, go to Lowell.edu.
And here’s a story about the total solar eclipse discussed in this episode.
Transcript
Intro with music: Welcome to the StoriesHere Podcast
Dr. Jeff Hall, Director, Lowell Observatory:
I had several people come up to me literally in tears. They were so overwhelmed, particularly if they’ve never seen a total eclipse before. It’s a pretty amazing experience. And I think it’s that absolute wonder and awe of what we see when we look into the cosmos.
Wayne Parker, Host, StoriesHere Podcast
That’s Dr. Jeff Hall, director of the Lowell Observatory, talking about the 2017 total solar eclipse which he hosted on a live program with the Science Channel that was viewed by 1.6 million people. That group was gathered in Madras, Oregon on a high school football field and it was reported that after the eclipse passed, they cheered, “Do it again.”
Wayne Parker:
This is Wayne Parker, host of the StoriesHere Podcast. And on that day, I was about 100 miles to the west in Corvallis, Oregon and experienced totality about three minutes before it reached to Jeff’s Science Channel group. So at 10:18 that morning of August 21st, 2017, we stood in a public park and watched as the sun was totally blocked by the moon plunging our world into darkness. Streetlights came on, and it was truly one of those feelings were words can’t do justice.
In addition to things like explaining eclipses on television, as the director of Lowell Observatory, Jeff helps lead a center that Time magazine named one of the world’s 100 most important places. Are you surprised that this place outside Flagstaff, Arizona, is on a list of the world’s most important places along the Great Wall of China and the Roman Colosseum?
There are many more surprises in today’s StoriesHere episode. Thank you for joining us. I’m your host, Wayne Parker, our adviser is museum expert Alice Parman, and original music is by George Davidson.
And did you know the Planet Pluto was discovered at Lowell? More on that to come. It’s also a major education center and has been called America’s observatory. So in their education role, I asked next about any visitor comments that Jeff particularly remembers.
Jeff Hall:
An email will land in my inbox from a mom somewhere and saying literally, you changed my kid’s life because of the experience they had here and the high opening of views they got and the exposure they got to astronomy and science. And knowing that we have positively impacted a young life and maybe inspired a scientist of the next generation, that’s amazingly satisfying and definitely part of why we do what we do.
Wayne Parker:
And how do you look at that bridge between the research and the outreach, because you have a big staff there, you have all these research going on and historically, Lowell is known for real breakthroughs, the discovery of Pluto, really crucial background in understanding the Big Bang. And yet, you do a great conjunction at Christmas last year. There were 75,000 people live paying attention to that and over two million views on YouTube. Jeff, what’s the source of all that interest in astr...
