THE SOUTHWORTH PLANETARIUM
207-780-4249      www.usm.maine.edu/planet
70 Falmouth Street     Portland, Maine 04103
43.6667° N                   70.2667° W
Founded January 1970
Julian date:  2457710.16
        "No moment is ever truly replicated."



*THE DAILY ASTRONOMER*
*Thursday, November 17, 2016*
*Discovering the Infrared*

Math is so often like that brutally honest friend who speaks uncomfortable
truths even on beautiful weather days when such truths seem out of joint.
 Well, we crunched the numbers and realized that if we don't step up our
Pandora parchment answers post haste, we'll never attain our 100-answer
goal before the school year crashes to a bitter end.  Therefore, we reached
into the jar again and pulled out another parchment,       This one brings
us historically back into the life of one of astronomy's most celebrated
figures.


*Pandora Parchment # 8:  "I know that light is not just the light we see.
  There is infrared 'below' the red.   If it isn't visible, who discovered
it and how?"   -K. Smith, Belfast, ME*

Great question!
First, just a quick review.      The visible light spectrum is just one
small section of the electromagnetic spectrum.   We perceive different
colors because light photons have different frequencies.  Violet light is
more energetic -and therefore of higher frequency- than red light.    Light
with a lower frequency than red is in the infrared region.   Light with a
higher energy than violet is in the ultraviolet spectrum.  Refer to the
graphic below to see a diagram of the whole spectrum.


*​The Electromagnetic spectrum. ** Visible light is only a small part of
the entire electromagnetic spectrum.   Just "below" the visible light is
infrared.    Just "above" the violet section is ultraviolet.  *


The visible light "rainbow" was the only part of this spectrum with which
humans were familiar until 1800 when William Herschel (the man who
discovered Uranus in 1781) was measuring the temperatures of different
beams of light.     Herschel divided sunlight into its component colors and
used a bulb thermometer to determine the temperatures of each color.   He
compared these temperatures that of the room and found that the
temperatures of each color was higher than that of the control thermometer
away from the spectrum.   Out of curiosity, Herschel set the thermometer
just "below" the red and discovered to his shock that the temperature was
higher than in that region than it was at the red.


*​William Herschel (1738-1822) conducting temperature experiments on light.
  *
*Herschel discovered infrared "light" by measuring the temperature of the
region just beyond the red part of the spectrum.    This region was soon
called "infrared," or "below red."  Image by Cool Cosmos.     *

Herschel realized that he was measuring the temperature of light that the
human eye could not detect.     He conducted further experiments and in so
doing also realized that these rays exhibited the same reflexive properties
as visible light.       From these experiments, Herschel discovered
"infrared" radiation, the "infra" meaning "below."   This was the first
step toward the eventual discovery of the entire electromagnetic spectrum.


THE SOUTHWORTH PLANETARIUM
207-780-4249      www.usm.maine.edu/planet
70 Falmouth Street     Portland, Maine 04103
43.6667° N                   70.2667° W
Founded January 1970
Julian date:  2457710.23
                  "Speaking of what was once forbidden knowledge"

*THE DAILY ASTRONOMER  (OBVERSE SIDE)*
*Thursday, November 17, 2016*
*Paper Physics*


"Shh!  Someone's knocking… "

The professor turned away from the window.    "Come in!"

Mathias Baumgarten folded his hands calmly on the desk when the door
opened.    As was his custom, he smiled warmly at the visitor, as he
knew he/she would be ill-at-ease, what with the jungle of kinetic
displays arrayed around the office: the incessant train running along
all four walls below the ceiling; the multiple pendula oscillating with
a 4:6 resonance that, if closely watched, instilled a curious calm on
any observer; the obligatory drinking birds; the wind chimes issuing
subtle harmonies by the window; the spinning spiral fans that changed
their images with each revolution; and the clanking metallic desk toys
that seemed to be waging battle with the books to see which would
dominate the professor's desk space.     The only static things in the
entire room were the  portraits:   elegant Isaac Newton; stern Galileo;
haughty Tycho Brahe; and mystical Johannes Kepler.  all looking on from
their wall perches as Mathias prepared to counsel the next anxious
student.


"Are you the crazy (censored) who teaches my grand daughter's
introductory physics  class?"

The portraits still looked on as Mathias rubbed his eyes and leaned
forward over his desk to see a 140-year old antagonist approaching his
desk with a surprisingly swift stride.   Characteristically non-plussed,
Professor Baumgarten rose from his chair and extended his hand.
"Mathias Baumgarten.   Whom do I have the pleasure of addressing?"

"My name is of no consequence,sir," the elderly man snapped, refusing
the hand.  "This is hardly a social call."

"Very well.  Want some coffee?"

"No, I do not.  Coffee is not appropriate to this occasion."

"There is no occasion in which coffee is inappropriate."

"Are you mocking me, sir?" the visitor demanded, fixing Bamgarten in a
stare that seemed to radiate malevolence.

Baumgarten gestured to a chair.  "Certainly not.  Merely trying to
leaven the situation, without much luck apparently.   Will you be
seated?"

"Sir, I want you to explain to me exactly what you're teaching in his
alleged physics course.   My grand daughter visited me the other day and
showed me a stack of paper that she said was her  'private Universe' or
something or other.    Said she got it in her physics course and seemed
to think it funny that on her first day of class the alleged professor
handed out nothing but a stack of blank paper.    I didn't think it so
funnny and after champing on it a bit, I decided to come over and
discuss the matter with you.   You see, I taught physics for about half
a century and in all my years I never heard of any teacher handing out a
bunch of nothing and calling it a Universe.       And, I will tell you
now that if you do not answer to my satisfaction, I shall repeat this
discussion with the Dean."

After exhaling, Mathias seated himself behind the desk and lifted three
silver balls that he kneaded in his right hand.   "I am curious.
Miranda wasn't upset at all?"

"That's neither here nor…"  the old man stopped short and appeared a
bit flummoxed.

"I am assuming Miranda Peters is your grand daughter:"

"How did you surmise that?" Mr., Peters  asked, genuinely curious.

"You two draw out your s's the same way,"  Baumgarten answered
matter-of-factly.  "Now, first of all, I am always pleased to meet a
colleague, of course, especially one of your exper…"


"Mr. Baumgarten, I am not interested in…."

"And," Mathias continued without a skip, "you would like me to explain
the Universe thing. Well, I can assure you that you're not the first
person who's looked askance at that, but you are the first physicist to
have done so, thereby providing me with an uncommon, I might even say
unique, opportunity."

The professor rummaged around along his desk, looking earnestly for
something.    Mr. Peters regarded him with exasperation as he flipped
over a few books before finally withdrawing a dirty sheet of paper.
"Here," Mathias offered, handing him the paper. "Look at that and tell
me what you see."


​
Reluctantly, old man Peters took the sheet and studied it without much
enthusiasm.   "Yes, I recognize this: a solution to an Atwood machine
problem, is it?    Rather straightforward, but I fail to see the
point…"

"What do you see at the right hand corner?"


​

Peters looked again and drew the paper closer to his face.  "What is
that?  A circle with some lines above it….making it look like it's
falling."

Mathias leaned forward again,  "On some warm summer afternoon in 1443,
two pebbles fell off one of the towers on the Chateau de Vincennes.
One descended without incident, but the other managed to streak across
that very paper here in the 21st century at the moment when I was
working on a solutions manual for my class.  It then returned to its
trajectory back in 1443 and landed on the ground.  Nobody was around
when the stones fell, so as far as anybody knew, they were just two
unremarkable pebbles by the castle.   Only I was privy to the one
stone's fleeting temporal detour:  therefore I kept that paper for
myself.   I had to re-write the solution on another page, but that was
simple enough."


​
"My God, you're serious," Peters said, almost in a whisper, as the
paper fell lazily out of his band onto the floor. He instinctively
backed up a step, but remained silent and wide-eyed as Baumgarten rose.
 "Physics, Mr. Peters, is, at its core, a different way of regarding the
world.      You know this, already, of course, having devoted so much of
your life to Physics.     You understand that our science is predicated
as much on creative imagination as it is on contemplative philosophy.
And, I am certain that you, as a physicist, can appreciate the concept
of potential: from the pendulum's high point to electric voltage.
This," Baumgarten said, grabbing a blank paper stack from the desk, "is
potential.  This is creativity.   This is a Universe."

To Peters' shock, Baumgarten withdrew a pair of scissors from his
pocket and without any explanation,  deftly moved the scissors along a
single sheet.   Such was the professor's rapid hand speed that the
elderly visitor could scarcely fathom his intentions.   Only when
Baumgarten stopped, tossed the scissors onto the desk and threw up his
hands did Mr. Peters understand.  He was astonished to see a series of
small crystal-shapes rise close to the ceiling before descending in a
gentle flutter around him: as though he was suddenly in a flurry of
snow.

"Origami meets aerodynamics.    We have created page one of our
Universe."

Mathias retrieved the scissors and another sheet.   He cut a loop,
partially sliced it and twisted it back onto itself.   "On page two, the
Moebius strip: the single surface that curves back around on itself,
providing a finite space devoid of end or beginning.    Paper meets
infinity."

"Page three!" Baumgarten proclaimed as he worked, that time more
slowly, with the scissors and yet another paper sheet.     He cut his
way around the borders and made slices of ever decreasing length as he
proceeded toward the center.     The professor made a final cut and
quickly encircled himself and his guest in a closed loop.  "Today, we
stand in the middle of a piece of paper: a feat that so many deride as
impossible."

He then blew over a paper sheet, causing it to rise.  "Bernoulli's
Principle: greater air flow, reducing pressure, creating a differential
that raises the sheet even though one would think that blowing along its
top would push it down.   Paper physics meets counter-intuition…I
know..boring.."

"Dr. Baumgarten, I…"

Mathias drew a series of inverted parabolas moving from left to right,
with each peak being a fraction shorter than the one preceding it.
"Page five: a neglected ball we just swiped from somewhere in Victorian
London, bouncing on the floor and experiencing the gravitational
deceleration that dampens each successive bounce.  Page six," he loudly
added, drawing another series of diminishing parabolas, but with higher
peaks and longer arcs.  "we repeat the experiment on the Moon."

"Page seven," he shouted, as he drew a small series of short parabolas
"On Jupiter!  Page eight…." Mathias gleefully continued, as he took out
a lighter and set fire to another piece of paper.   "On the Sun.  ha
ha!"

Fortunately, as Peters had inched back toward the door, he was in no
danger of coming into the contact with the flames.

"Now, on page nine, ten, eleven and twelve, my dear friends," he said,
waving his arms toward the portraits.   "Excellent fellows, all of them,
even the astronomer Tycho, when the mood moves him to be agreeable.  To
you, perhaps, mere images, but to me, splendid friends capable of the
most scintillating conversation.  All, except, Newton, of course, who
prefers coarse humor to physics.  He claims to have had his fill of it
in life and detests it bitterly in death.      So, his friend Halley was
right: dying improved his personality.  Now, on Page 10…"

"Dr. Baumgarten!" Peters shouted with such vehemence the ceiling
spirals spun all the faster.  "I think I have had enough explanations,
actually.    I think it best for me to leave now."

Baumgarten took three quick steps toward Peters.  "Will you be seeing
the Dean?!"

"No!"  the old man promised, holding up his arms.  "I am satisfied and
I know that my granddaughter will benefit greatly from your class."

"Well, " Mathias kindly replied, placing the scissors and lighter back
in his pockets.  "I am delighted we resolved our differences."

"As am I," Peters said breathlessly, as he opened the door.   "It was a
pleasure to meet you and I wish you all the best."

Baumgarten would have offered similar solicitations had he seen more
than whisper of gray hair rushing beyond the threshold.       With a
relieved sigh, the young professor turned around.  "Well, that went
well, did it not?"

"Stupid," Kepler retorted.

"Asinine," Brahe agreed.

"Untenable," Galileo added.

"Your portrayal of me verged on the slanderous," Newton scolded.

Crestfallen, Mathias collapsed into his chair.  "Are you kidding?"

"Hardly," Brahe sternly informed him.  "This scenario was the worst
one, yet.    If you believe for a moment that the encounter will proceed
as you've imagined, you're pathetically delusional."

"You continue to believe it will be confrontational," Kepler observed,
with concern.

"Won't it?"   Mathias argued.

"Not necessarily" Newton interjected.  "You merely presume that
Jefferson Peters will be hostile toward your teaching methods.   You
cannot actually know his sentiments beforehand.       Your student just
told you that her grandfather was a physicist, and that she had
mentioned you to him."

"So," Galileo added.  "You just think he's going to confront you
demanding an explanation for your methods.    Or, to be honest, you hope
he will.    You want to be challenged and you want to impress him with
what you perceive as your brilliance and ingenuity. "

"Perceive.  Do you not find them so?

"I don't."

"Why not?"

"I'm Galileo Galilei."

"And," Brahe warned, "if he just happens to confront you so angrily, I
wouldn't take the approach you took on this page.      First, the
Sherlock Holmes trick of saying he makes the same 's' sounds as his
grand daughter will fail to engage.  For one thing, you just made that
up and, two, he will likely know that his granddaughter talked to you.

"Also," Newton said with that aggravating touch of pedantism. "If a man
is going to be so strident, he won't be mollified so easily.  A few
tricks and implied threats with scissors and a lighter won't work.
He'll be all the more adamant in his determination to confer with the
Dean.       By showing off and being obliquely hostile, you'll merely
exacerbate matters.  Incidentally, such behaviour is not in your nature.
   You may have all the thought experiments you like, provided all the
elements remain consistent.   Otherwise, you don't have science.'


"Just poor fiction." Brahe cruelly added

"And, again, you might never actually meet this gentleman. " Kepler
pointed out. "You just assume you will, hence the scenarios…"

"And our exhaustion," Galileo murmured testily.

Mathias stood up, his hands in his pockets, and for a moment remained
silent.  The usual buzzing of toys and trinkets in his office, usually a
calming noise, simply induced greater agitation.     This uneasy mood,
though, drove him to soon turn back to his posters.  "We'll try again!"

He ignored the collective moan and re-arranged his desk to make it
appear less tidy.    "Who wants the sense of humor, this time?"

Newton seethed. "Not I.  Even in ghost Universes I insist on retaining
my dignity."

"Anyone else?"

After a moment,  Mathias pleaded.  "Please?"

Kepler nodded. "Very well."

"Splendid, "Mathias happily said, as he turned toward the window.
"Whenever  you're ready."

Kepler cleared his throat.  "Three witches, a Priest and two dogs walk
into a bar.   After giving them the once over, the bartender says,  'Can
I help you folks?'  So the Priest walks up to the bartender and says."

"Shh.  Someone's knocking…."