The TV Column

Nova show marks Hubble telescope anniversary

Bee Branch native Dr. Amber Straughn joined the Laboratory for Observational Cosmology as a civil servant in March 2011, after spending 2.5 years at Goddard as the NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellow for the James Webb Space Telescope. Her current research involves star formation in intermediate redshift galaxies (z~2) and galaxy morphologies. In addition to her research, Amber also serves as the Deputy Project Scientist for JWST Science Communications, and as the civil servant lead for Astrophysics Science Division EPO & Communications.
Bee Branch native Dr. Amber Straughn joined the Laboratory for Observational Cosmology as a civil servant in March 2011, after spending 2.5 years at Goddard as the NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellow for the James Webb Space Telescope. Her current research involves star formation in intermediate redshift galaxies (z~2) and galaxy morphologies. In addition to her research, Amber also serves as the Deputy Project Scientist for JWST Science Communications, and as the civil servant lead for Astrophysics Science Division EPO & Communications.

Most everyone has heard the expression, "It ain't rocket science." In this case, however, it's precisely rocket science.

And it's breathtakingly beautiful.

In celebration of the 25th anniversary of the launching of the Hubble Space Telescope, Nova presents a visually stunning special, "Invisible Universe Revealed." The hour airs at 8 p.m. Wednesday on PBS and AETN.

On April, 24, 1990, NASA launched Hubble, one of the most productive scientific instruments ever made. The telescope, named for legendary astronomer Edwin P. Hubble (1889-1953), has forever changed our understanding of the cosmos and mankind's place in it.

But it almost didn't happen.

Not long after the telescope was in orbit, it became obvious that there was something seriously wrong with the optical system. Unbelievably, the giant mirror, crucial to the mission's success, had been ground too flat by an infinitesimal amount, but enough to distort the images.

Hubble was a billion-dollar white elephant floating along at 17,000 mph in near-Earth orbit.

How NASA fixed the problem and rescued the mission is at the heart of "Invisible Universe Revealed." The special showcases the scientists and engineers on the front line who tell the amazing Hubble story.

What has the telescope, about the size of a school bus, accomplished in 25 years? Nova informs us, "It has helped astronomers pinpoint the age of the universe, revealed the birthplace of stars and planets, advanced our understanding of dark energy and cosmic expansion, and uncovered black holes lurking at the heart of galaxies."

As with most documentaries such as this, a number of experts are interviewed to help explain the frequently complex concepts.

Adding her expertise to the mix is Bee Branch native Amber Holley Straughn, a research astrophysicist -- just like Raj on The Big Bang Theory. Straughn can no doubt watch the sitcom and understand all of Sheldon's and Leonard's arcane physics references without the footnotes.

Prepare to be impressed and a bit inspired. And feel like a slacker.

The 35-year-old Straughn works at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, where she uses data from Hubble to study how stars form and how those processes change over time.

To get technical, her current research involves "star formation in intermediate redshift galaxies and galaxy morphologies."

That information is found on her website, amberstraughn.com. That same site lists her as "Dr. Amber Straughn: NASA Astrophysicist, Arkansas farm girl, pilot, yogini, homebrewer, Great Dane mom and Razorback football fan."

"A big part of my job at NASA," Straughn says, "involves working with the successor to Hubble, the James Webb Space Telescope, which is currently being assembled, and will allow us to peer farther than ever into the depths of space, to see things like the very first galaxies that were born after the Big Bang."

Straughn is featured several times in the Nova special, but her longest segment, where she explains the intricacies of one of the more famous Hubble photos, comes about the 31-minute mark in front of an impressive screen called the B28 hyperwall.

How does one get from Bee Branch to the Big Bang? Evidently it takes a lot of study.

Straughn started out at South Side High School in Bee Branch (graduating in a class of 29), and went on to the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville for a degree in physics (2002), graduating magna cum laude.

She earned her master's (2005) and doctorate (2008) in physics at Arizona State University before then joining Goddard.

While in Fayetteville, Amber (nee Holley) met Matt Straughn, a 1995 graduate of Little Rock Central who has his own impressive list of degrees and is senior director of Global Operations Services, Engineering and Facilities at Marriott International. The couple married Dec. 23, 2000.

But it all started on the cattle and pig farm in Van Buren County and a little girl with her eyes on the skies.

"Growing up in rural Arkansas is definitely what got me started on my path to becoming an astronomer," Straughn says. "The beautiful, dark Bee Branch skies still make me dream about what's out there."

Straughn adds, "I love telling people about the amazing work I get to do. I do extensive public speaking, which has taken me to some exciting venues and allowed me to meet some remarkable people over the last several years.

"But a little of the Southern farm girl remains because I still love growing my own vegetables and watching college football (and some people tell me I still have an accent)."

Watch the Nova special with your kids or grandkids and maybe they, too, will be inspired to reach for the stars.

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Style on 04/21/2015

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