Starmus Festival
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. The Starmus International Festival is an international gathering focused on celebrating astronomy, space exploration, music, art, and allied sciences such as biology and chemistry. It was founded by Garik Israelian, an astronomer at the Institute for Astrophysics in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, and is unique among scientific and artistic conferences.
The Festival has included such scientific and artistic luminaries as Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong, Richard Dawkins, Stephen Hawking, Alexei Leonov, Jim Lovell, Brian May, Jill Tarter, Kip Thorne, and Rick Wakeman.
Contents
History
The origins of the Starmus Festival date to 2007. In that year, May, founding guitarist of the celebrated rock band Queen, completed his PhD dissertation, which was left unfinished in 1974 when Queen began to achieve overwhelming success. May’s work focused on zodiacal dust in the solar system. He had studied at Tenerife earlier through Imperial College in London, and resumed work there more than 30 years later. In 2007, his new advisor was Garik Israelian, and the two struck up a friendship, Israelian also being a musician. This led to the founding of the Starmus Festival — the name paying homage to stars and music — and the stage was set for the first Festival, which would occur four years later.
Concept
The festival has occurred twice, once in 2011 and again in 2014. A third Starmus festival is slated for June 2016 in Tenerife, Spain.[1][2]
The festival is described as an event where "the greatest minds in space exploration, astronomy, cosmology, and planetary science get together for a week of incredible talks, sharing of information, and appreciation of the knowledge we have of space and the universe."[3]
2011 Starmus Festival, “Starmus 1”
The first Starmus Festival took place June 20–25, 2011, on Tenerife, and La Palma, Canary Islands. The primary site of the event was the Ritz-Carlton Abama Hotel in Tenerife. The theme was “50 Years of Man in Space,” and featured as speakers a blend of astronaut-explorers, astronomers, biologists, chemists, and artists. The Festival presented the rare opportunity for delegates, as the attendees were called, to share time, speak with, share refreshments, and converse with the speakers. Events generally began in the afternoon through the early evening, so that delegates had plenty of time to also enjoy the volcanic beauty of the islands, which featured beaches, geological wonders, and — on La Palma — the largest optical telescope in the world, the 14.2-m Gran Telescopio Canarias, as well as other instruments. About 200 people attended Starmus 1.
The talks were many: Neil Armstrong talked about Starmus and our future on Earth; Buzz Aldrin spoke about possible future missions to Mars; Alexei Leonov described the early days of the Soviet space program and his historic first spacewalk; Brian May asked about future human exploration in space and whether humans should first clean up their act here on Earth. Further exploring themes of space exploration, Cosmonaut Viktor Gorbatko recalled early Soviet missions; Apollo 8 astronaut Bill Anders related details of the early American space program; Apollo 13 astronaut Jim Lovell described the harrowing mission he endured returning that crippled spacecraft to Earth; and Apollo 16 astronaut Charlie Duke described his adventures in the Apollo program.
Covering themes of life in the universe, Nobel Prize winning chemist Jack Szostak outlined the origin of life on Earth; Richard Dawkins described evolution and exobiology; astronomer Michel Mayor recalled extrasolar planets including his own first discovery; and Jill Tarter explored extraterrestrial intelligence in the universe.
Astrophysics and cosmology received straight coverage in a variety of talks, as with descriptions of supernovae and gamma ray bursts by astrophysicist Adam Burrows; the acoustic nature of the universe by Garik Israelian; black holes by astrophysicist Kip Thorne; the creation of the universe by cosmologist Joseph Silk; cosmic signals from the beginning by cosmologist George Smoot; and five cosmic breakthroughs of the past 50 years by astronomer Robert Williams.
Talks involving technology were also given, as with technologist Rich Goldman’s description of the relationship between space exploration and technology; physicist Sami Solanki’s exploration of whether the Sun is causing global warming; and astronomer Leslie Sage’s description of how astronomy has changed what it means to be human.
Finally, several talks focused on the new era of spacefarers, with cosmonaut Sergei Zhukov’s presentation on the future of Russian space exploration; Swiss astronaut Claude Nicollier’s recollections of orbiting on the space shuttle; and cosmonaut Yuri Baturin’s plea for space explorers to help to change Earth and its inhabitants for the better.
The event also highlighted a “108 Minute Round Table Discussion” with several of the speakers, seated underneath the 10.4-meter Gran Telescopio Canarias, in homage to the length of the first space mission, flown by Yuri Gagarin.
Starmus 1 also featured a spectacular concert event featuring Edgar Froese and Tangerine Dream, along with Brian May who joined the concert for several songs. The show was recorded.
An astrophotography competition was opened for astronomy enthusiasts, and Alex Cherney won the prize, on the Gran Telescopio Canarias to make an image with the world’s largest optical telescope.
In 2014, Canopus Publishing Ltd. produced a book consisting of the transcripts of the Starmus talks, numerous illustrations, and other materials. Titled “Starmus: 50 Years of Man in Space,” the volume featured a foreword by Stephen Hawking. Editors in Chief Garik Israelian and Brian May were assisted in the book’s production by Executive Editor David J. Eicher and by Editorial Director Robin Rees. The volume was dedicated to Alexei Leonov and to Neil Armstrong, who died a year after the Festival took place but before the book was released.[4]
2014 Starmus Festival, “Starmus 2”
The second Starmus Festival occurred September 22–27, 2014, again on Tenerife, and La Palma, Canary Islands. This time the theme was “Beginnings: The Making of the Modern Cosmos.” Again, the primary site of the event was the Ritz-Carlton Abama Hotel in Tenerife.
This time aided by greater publicity, the number of Starmus delegates swelled to nearly 1,000. Talks at Starmus 2 included Nobel Prize winning astronomer Robert Wilson describing his joint discovery of the cosmic microwave background radiation; Astronomy Magazine Editor in Chief David J. Eicher asking whether the revolution in factual knowledge about the universe is being swamped by sci-fi and entertainment nonsense; Alexei Leonov speaking to the crowd about his space exploration experiences; and Richard Dawkins outlining what potential alien life forms might be like.
Talks also included an address by Brian May on stereo imaging of astronomical objects, with 3D glasses; and Stephen Hawking lecturing on the origin of the universe. Nobel Prize winning astrophysicist John Mather then foreshadowed science to come with the James Webb Space Telescope. The audience then screened a film, 51 Degrees North, with words by the film’s director, Grigorij Richters, who received musical contributions by May in the film. Hawking later delivered a second lecture on black holes.
More presentations followed, with Apollo 16 astronaut Charlie Duke describing his scientific procedures on the lunar surface during the mission; Nobel Prize winning chemist Harry Kroto then described his career and development of carbon nanochemistry; and Apollo 7 astronaut Walt Cunningham wondered about the future of exploration and the lack of a risk-taking, adventurous culture in the current world.
As with Starmus 1, Starmus 2 also highlighted a “108 Minute Round Table Discussion” with several of the speakers, seated underneath the 10.4-m Gran Telescopio Canarias, in homage to the length of the first space mission, flown by Yuri Gagarin.
The second Starmus also featured a Sonic Universe Concert, this time featuring Rick Wakeman, celebrated for his years in the rock band Yes, and his current band. They were joined for several songs by Brian May, and again the whole performance was recorded.
A final celebration occurred as a tribute to Alexei Leonov, and featured Leonov writing and explaining some of his work on a large auditorium chalkboard. Moreover, the event also featured musical contributions by Cypriot soprano Katerina Mina and Greek composer and musician Alexandros Hahalis.
2016 Starmus Festival, “Starmus 3”
At a press conference on April 28, 2015, in London, England, Garik Israelian, Brian May, and Stephen Hawking announced the third Starmus Festival, slated for June 2016, in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain.[2]
Sonic Universe Concerts
Open to the general public at large as well as the Starmus Festival delegates, the two Sonic Universe Concerts were held at the Magma Arte & Congresos, an arena in Tenerife. The first concert in 2011 featured Edgar Froese and Tangerine Dream, along with Brian May. Their performance was recorded and produced into a CD entitled "Starmus - Sonic Universe" in 2011 and is the only album to highlight both Tangerine Dream and Brian May.[5] The second concert in 2014 featured Rick Wakeman and his band, accompanied by May. Progressive rock band Nosound also performed in 2014 at Starmus 2, with this show recorded and produced into a CD/DVD set entitled "Teide 2390".[6] The Starmus 2 performance was special as it is the band's first full, live, recorded album.
Star Party
Each of the first two Starmus Festivals featured a star party with many participants traveling to the summit of Mt. Teide on Tenerife for dark sky observing. In addition to observing a variety of deep-sky objects with an array of telescopes, participants were entertained by the Italian progressive rock band Nosound.
Astrophotography School
The 2014 Starmus featured a small astrophotography school for enthusiasts who wanted to learn about imaging the sky and also have access to one of the darkest skies on Earth with their own equipment. For three days following the main Festival, September 28–30, 2014, participants stayed at the observatories on Mt. Teide on Tenerife, and seminars took place featuring noted astroimagers Damian Peach and Rogelio Bernal Andreo, along with Astronomy Magazine Editor in Chief David J. Eicher.
Board of Directors
The Starmus Festival Board of Directors consists of:
- Garik Israelian, Astrophysicist, Director & Founder
- Richard Dawkins, Evolutionary Biologist
- David J. Eicher, Editor, Astronomer, and Author
- Peter Gabriel, Musician and Human rights activist
- Stephen Hawking, Theoretical Physicist
- Harry Kroto, Nobel Prize winning Chemist
- Alexei Leonov, Cosmonaut
- Brian May, Queen founding Guitarist & Astrophysicist
- Jack Szostak, Nobel Prize winning Biologist
- Jill Tarter, Astrophysicist
- Robert Williams, Astrophysicist
References
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