The Universe is invisible to the eyes
We often discover the Universe and its many phenomena, planets, stars, and galaxies through beautiful colour pictures. However, our eyes only perceive a small fraction of the light coming from the cosmos. Moreover, the images we find while surfing on the Internet are arbitrary representations, made so as to let us understand the origin of numbers and data collected by telescopes.
In this meeting, Nic Bonne and Enrique Perez Montero, two visually impaired astronomers – respectively of the University of Portsmouth (UK) and of the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalucia (Spain) will talk with Anita Zanella (INAF, National Institute for Astrophysics (Italy) and will tell us about the Universe with words, sound and tactile tablets, leading us to a multi-sensory discovery of the sky above us.
Sense involved
Speakers
Anita Zanella obtained her PhD in Astrophysics at the Commissariat à l’Énergie Atomique (Paris, France) and later worked as a researcher at the European Southern Observatory in Germany and in Chile. Since 2019, Anita has worked at INAF as a researcher. Anita studies galaxy formation and evolution in time, giving life to the multitude of shapes and colours which we observe today. Anita Zanella is also an enthusiast of scientific popularization, and took part in and organized several festivals and International events in Italy, France and Germany.
Nic Bonne is a visually-impaired Australian astronomer. He is involved in Public Engagement and Outreach at the Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation of the University of Portsmouth (UK). He is currently in charge of the public engagement project Tactile Universe, supported by STFC. This project aims at developing multi-sensory resources so as to allow blind and visually-impaired people to approach the world of Astronomy. Nic is also involved in many other projects, both on a National and International level. His main goal consists in finding new tools to communicate Science in more accessible modes.
Enrique Pérez Montero received his PhD in Astrophysics and Cosmology in 2003 from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. He currently works as a researcher at the Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia in Granada. His research field concerns the formation of massive stars in the galaxies of the Local and early Universe. To his credit he has more than 160 articles.
He directs a project called "Astroaccessible", whose main purpose is to bring astronomy closer to blind and visually impaired people.
