We all share the same sky

Most amateur astronomy clubs have made public outreach a primary goal, as members seek to share their passion for the stars with others. Such associations typically focus on work in their own home towns, but Mike Simmons, founder and president of Astronomers Without Borders (AWB), has turned the notion of “think globally, act locally” upside down.

“Think about what it is you do here and act on a global scale,” Simmons advised members of the Seattle Astronomical Society at its annual banquet earlier this month. “That’s what we’re doing. That’s possible now because of the technology we have. It has become a global village; we’ve created that through astronomy.”

The author, left, and Astronomers Without Borders founder
Mike Simmons showed off their snazzy astronomy neckties
before Simmons spoke at the Seattle Astronomical
Society’s annual banquet Jan. 19. Photo: Greg Scheiderer.

AWB has an ambitious portfolio of projects centered on an online community that allows members to share tips and experiences, do tutoring, and share materials, resources, and gear with other astronomy amateurs all over the world. For all that technology helps happen, it’s the personal human contact that makes AWB special.

Simmons made his first trip to the Northwest in 1979 to view a total eclipse of the Sun, the last one to be visible from the U.S. He’s seen a half-dozen other total eclipses, and it was his travel to do so that sparked his interest in doing astronomical outreach around the world. He is arguably the hobby’s top international ambassador. Simmons particularly likes to visit Iran, a nation whose people shattered a public perception that many westerners likely share.

“Iran is perhaps the most pro-American country I’ve ever been to,” Simmons said. “The governments don’t get along, but people-to-people we do.”

Sometimes astronomy proves to be the great diplomat. Simmons described a star party in Iran that brought together friends from both sides of the border between Iran and Iraq.

“Iranians and Iraquis generally won’t talk to each other,” Simmons explained. But in this case, a mutual friend and mutual interests erased the line in the sand and helped create new friendships.

“Astronomy did this,” Simmons said. “It ended up happening because they realized they were doing the same thing and were only a few miles apart.”

That’s the “wow” factor amateur astronomers are looking
for when sharing celestial delights with others. This young
man was using a solar telescope at an event in
Romania. Photo: Astronomers Without Borders.

Simmons viewed the 2004 transit of Venus from Iran, setting up in the town of Pasargad near the tomb of Cyrus the Great. Americans with telescopes were such a draw that the event attracted news media coverage. Simmons said the television satellite uplink station was an interesting contrast to the 2,500-year-old monument in the background.

Simmons said there is tremendous interest in amateur astronomy in Iran, but they just don’t have the gear. Telescopes are very expensive, and many amateurs cannot afford them. Simmons said that AWB would love to help, but that U.S. government restrictions prevent any sort of aid to Iran.

“I can’t give them a toothbrush,” he said.

During his presentation Simmons showed numerous photos from The World at Night, an AWB-affiliated effort through which expert landscape photographers share their images of the night sky paired with landmarks from around the globe. These images have often made it onto the popular Astronomy Picture of the Day site.

“It is the best demonstration that you could possibly have that we share the same sky,” Simmons said. “Often you don’t know what that foreground is, or you recognize it as being a church or a mosque or a synagogue. It could be anything, but the sky is the same. We’re just looking at the same sky from different places on this world, like having different windows that the universe passes by.”

Simmons said that’s the main point behind Astronomers Without Borders, whose motto is “One People—One Sky.” Astronomy is a universal interest.

“It’s been in every culture throughout time,” he said. “We all share the same sky. We’re sharing what we do when we look out at the rest of the universe.”