Jan 21 2021 56 mins 6
Today we interview Dr. Jackie Faherty of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City! Our conversation runs wild (and a bit longer than normal!) where we cover everything from Jackie's favorite rock, the overlap between geoscience and astronomy, to the BackYard World Citizen Science project that Dr. Faherty launched several years ago. Dr. Faherty is an observational astronomer, meaning that she uses telescopes to study our universe, and she specializes in studying brown dwarfs, which she describes as misfits! Brown dwarfs are somewhere between a planet and a star, and they provide important information about how solar systems ultimately form! Jackie also tells the incredible story of the Apollo 11 Lunar Landing with Neil Armstrong piloting the Lunar Lander safely down to the moon's surface, and she tells us that her favorite rock is in fact a sample from Apollo 17! Jackie and Chris also have a great discussion of astronomy education and how best to convey the inherent interest in astronomy to students. Check it out to learn more!
