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10 February, 2010
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The Stars are Comforting
The letters of Beatrice Hill Tinsley (1941-1981)
The Stars are Comforting will be rebroadcast in 2011
A 20 part series based on the internationally-recognised New Zealand scientist’s letters to her family.
Beatrice Hill Tinsley was a world leader in modern cosmology especially noted for her study of Evolution of Galaxies. Her research on how galaxies evolve over time changed the standard method for determining distances to far galaxies, which, in turn, is significant in determining the size of the universe and its rate of expansion.
Beatrice was an accomplished violinist who was a foundation member of the NZ National Youth Orchestra. Throughout her busy life she always made time to practice and play chamber music with her friends and attend concerts. Music was an important counterbalance to her extraordinary passion and achievements in cosmology.
Please note the audio for these programmes is unavailable for copyright reasons.
Wednesday 05 August 2009
1958-1959: Cambridge Music School and off to university in Christchurch
“It gives one the courage to think originally and that is the beginning of research. Of course I’ve known in theory for a long time how this is – but it’s marvellous to be in a position to think and experiment myself.”
Beatrice at her debutant ball in 1959
Wednesday 12 August 2009
1959-1960: National Youth Orchestra and General Relativity Theory
“The fascinating thing about theoretical Physics is that you can never learn about it fast enough because there’s always more being discovered to learn! And you have to specialise as soon as possible, otherwise you never get to the frontier of any branch of knowledge and so be able to have some new ideas.”
The National Youth Orchestra 1959. Beatrice is in the second row from the front wearing a black high-necked top.
Wednesday 19 August 2009
1960-1961: Physics, philosophy, love and marriage to Brian Tinsley
“We’re having the most marvellous times together, getting to know each other and so much pleasure in each other’s company … The boys in the Physics class think it’s highly amusing the number of times I look in on Brian after lectures – but I try to redeem my reputation by working extra hard in class.”
A vast nebula called NGC 604, which lies in the neighbouring spiral galaxy M33, located 2.7 million light-years away in the constellation Triangulum. This is a site where new stars are being born in a spiral arm of the galaxy. www.nasaimages.org
Wednesday 26 August 2009
1962-1963: Twenty-first, Nuclear proliferation and M.Sc.
“The answer to not going crazy with worry is to me to think on a much larger scale than the Earth; the stars are comforting in the standards of relative importance they set. Yet the little, Earthy things seem so much more valuable when they are at stake!”
Extract from a letter, 1962.
Wednesday 02 September 2009
1963-1964: Dallas, Astrophysics symposium, concerts, Austin
“It’s great to be among people working on the things I’ve always so enjoyed studying –the stimulus to work hard is terrific! Hope I’ll be able to tell you more about the parks, walks and music in Dallas after a while. Settling into the apartment and starting study has had the priority. The Dallas Symphony Orchestra has its headquarters in the grounds of the SMU, two hundred yards odd from here. So we’ll be making the best of that!”
Approximately 100 million years ago, a smaller galaxy plunged through the heart of Cartwheel galaxy, creating ripples of brief star formation. www.nasaimages.org
Wednesday 09 September 2009
1964-1966: Commuting between Dallas and Austin, Ph.D and baby
“I don’t believe I have told you what my thesis is going to be about yet. Really I will be studying a whole lot of different theories of cosmology, to see which one is best able to explain the observations made with optical and radio telescopes on different galaxies … An answer would have a lot of information about the past and future of the universe. Already it looks like a very interesting subject, because there are serious difficulties in trying to make any of the theories fit!”
Gas has been heated to millions of degrees by the violent outflow of matter blasting out of the galaxy. The eruption can be traced back to the central regions of the galaxy where stars are forming at a furious rate, some 10 times faster than in the Milky Way Galaxy. Many of these newly formed stars are very massive and race through their evolution to explode as supernovas. Vigorous mass loss from these stars before they explode, and the heat generated by the supernovas drive the gas out of the galaxy at millions of miles per hour. It is thought that the expulsion of matter from a galaxy during bursts of star formation is one of the main ways of spreading elements like carbon and oxygen throughout the universe. www.nasaimages.org
Wednesday 16 September 2009
1967-1968: Cosmology in New York, motherhood, orchestra and mother’s death
“Meanwhile there’s still time to practise regularly, and to do cosmology in the evenings or during Alan’s two to three hour naps after lunch. Last week I had a very interesting hour at the airport with a distinguished Swedish astronomer who was passing through. Brian came home to stay with Alan. That sort of thing helps me not to feel like a house-bound mother.”
Wednesday 23 September 2009
1968: Two children, chamber music, orchestra, and a little astrophysics
“I spent two whole days and several halves downtown at the astrophysics meeting, talking to lots of interesting people and old friends and hearing some very interesting papers. Brian did hours of baby-sitting, and finally Terry realised she’d have to take her food from someone other than me – she’s got much more dependent than Alan did because I haven’t tried to do so much away now there are two of them. So that was my year’s effort at astrophysics.”
Beatrice and her children, Alan and Terry, 1970
Wednesday 30 September 2009
1969: Husband away, concerts, a cosmology paper and weather extremes
“It’s been dreadfully hot here, over 100 in the afternoons and over 80 all night. Mostly one has to be inside if not to be totally lethargic. I’m sleepy anyway because I’ve been up very late for a week, writing a paper. It’s impossible to concentrate during the day, and when an idea is developing I feel impelled to go on for hours even after playing quartets till ten thirty. I think it’s a good idea and hope to get it published.”
Galaxy NGC 2976, located approximately 10 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major near the Big Dipper. Unlike other spiral galaxies where the star-forming and dusty regions highlight spiral arms, this galaxy has a rather chaotic appearance. www.nasaimages.org
Wednesday 07 October 2009
1970: ZPG, Cosmology in Colorado, violin, vacation, homesick for NZ
“The main efforts of ZPG are towards educating people to regard two children as enough, (or to adopt if they want more), and to influence legislation that discourages big families, like cutting off the tax deduction after the second child. I’m sure this is all essential and urgent, if the world is to be liveable for the next generation.”
String trio, 1970
Wednesday 14 October 2009
1971: Research, conservation, travel, two papers at Amherst
“Conservation is more and more discussed here, in the general context of environmental quality. Suddenly everyone realizes how terrible the air and water are, and the noise, hideous urban sprawl, acres of junk and concrete etcetera. More and more influential people are talking about the responsibility of couples to have no more than two children, adopting if they want more. I hope very much that New Zealand listens in, and does something about pollution and population before it’s too late there too!”
The galaxy cluster Abell 2125. Several massive multimillion degree Celsius gas clouds appear to be in the process of merging. Ten of the point-like sources are associated with galaxies in the cluster and the rest are probably distant background galaxies. The bright gas cloud on the upper left is the core of the cluster and envelopes hundreds of galaxies. www.nasaimages.org
Wednesday 21 October 2009
1972-1973: Three months post in Pasadena, back to Dallas, Pasadena again, home to NZ for Christmas, new position in Maryland
“I’m working very hard and enormously enjoying being surrounded by eminent astronomers and astrophysicists. This is a very prestigious place, of course, owing to the two hundred inch and one hundred inch telescopes. Lunch times are very fruitful. The astronomy department has a big table at the faculty club, where the food is excellent and inexpensive, but overlooked in the conversations. I’ll be going back to Dallas with enough ideas to last for years, not to mention many good new friends.”
Our great galactic neighbour Andromeda brims with young and old stars. www.nasaimages.org
Wednesday 28 October 2009
1973-1974: Two trips to Europe, teaching in Austin, Evolution of Galaxies project at Caltech
“I’ve just got back from a marvellous week at Caltech. Did lots of useful work, and was showered with invitations from old friends, with astronomical data, and inspiration for another year of Texas. My big project there on the evolution of galaxies, with Jim Gunn, is going to take years more yet, but the answer should be a most significant contribution to cosmology. It’s a great satisfaction to me now to go back there among all those famous astronomers and be greeted like and treated as a respected colleague.”
Located 10 million light-years away in the southern constellation Sculptor, the Silver Dollar galaxy, or NGC 253, is one of the brightest spiral galaxies in the night sky. www.nasaimages.org
Wednesday 04 November 2009
1974: Annie Cannon Prize in Astronomy, visit to sister in Huancayo, research at Cambridge, end of marriage, job offers, farewells
“Now that it’s time to leave Texas, I feel suddenly aware again of the vast change in my life. There was a little farewell ceremony when I finally left Austin last week, and the students were sorry. Here at Dallas, my friends are mostly away in San Francisco (where Brian is) so I’ll get out without nostalgic farewells. Meanwhile I’m enjoying four days with Alan and Terry. They are so full of energy and love. It hurts. But I can tell that they are O.K., and lots of people love them.”
Bode's Galaxy M81: This galaxy is tilted at an oblique angle on to our line of sight, giving a "birds-eye view" of the spiral structure. The galaxy is similar to our Milky Way, but our favourable view provides a better picture of the typical architecture of spiral galaxies. M81 may be undergoing a surge of star formation along the spiral arms due to a close encounter it may have had with its nearby spiral galaxy NGC 3077 and a nearby starburst galaxy (M82) about 300 million years ago. M81 is one of the brightest galaxies that can be seen from the Earth. It is high in the northern sky in the circumpolar constellation Ursa Major, the Great Bear. www.nasaimages.org
Wednesday 11 November 2009
1975: Six months at Lick Observatory, California, visit from father, children, 3210 mile drive to new job at Yale, a Cambridge summer
“I got here in one piece, and my car likewise! Just six days after I left Santa Cruz, but I spent a full day and two nights with friends in Chicago. I sent you a card from some place in the boondocks which I hope you got. It was three thousand, two hundred and ten miles, and about sixty-five hours on the road including stops for eating etcetera. I am rather stiff, and sunburnt on one arm – otherwise O.K. Fascinating country! I wasn’t bored at all.”
Arp 82 is an interacting pair of galaxies with a strong bridge and a long tail. For some reason, the pair didn't make their stars early on as is typical of most galaxies. Instead, they got a second wind later in life – about 2 billion years ago – and started pumping out waves of new stars as if they were young again. www.nasaimages.org
Wednesday 18 November 2009
1975-1976: At home in Yale, playing chamber music again, media attention, visit from children, growing relationship with Richard Larson, trips to Switzerland, Colorado
“Life proceeds happily here with a lot to do. I’m really enjoying the group of people here, as friends and research colleagues. Now autumn weather is setting in, and for the first time in many years I’m living with red oak leaves, chestnuts on the ground, and poplar smells in the air – all very nostalgic of Christchurch, which makes me feel happy. It’s strangely like a full circle in life – starting a new long-term life here, whereas in Christchurch every autumn felt like a new start. I have a sense of hope and power over the future that had escaped me for many gloomy years.”
Beatrice at Yale
Wednesday 25 November 2009
1976-1978: Europe, home to Yale, organises large conference in May ‘77, visits from father, children, more travel, discovery of melanoma, string trio, promotion to Professor of Astronomy
“We’ve got a batch of new students, as well as the old ones, and I’m into all sorts of research projects again; seem to have spent the summer talking about the last set of results, and now I want to find out some new things! Also I’m in charge of an international conference (only about a hundred, though) to be held at Yale next May, in my field, and that’s taking thought and time.”
Located some 13 million light-years from Earth, NGC 4214 is currently forming clusters of new stars from its interstellar gas and dust. www.nasaimages.org
Wednesday 02 December 2009
1978-1979: Continuing research, teaching, travel to NZ, music making, medical treatment, visit from children, concerts
“Even though I feel perfectly well, there is cause to doubt whether I really am, and the doctors are becoming rather more suspicious about the state of my cancer. I’m having a lot more X-rays and similar tests, but nothing has been decided about treatment yet and there isn’t likely to be any sudden change in my life. Ever since the operation thirteen months ago I’ve known there was a fifty-fifty chance of recurrence, so if it happens I feel much better prepared emotionally than I was for the original news.”
The "Whirlpool Galaxy," (NGC 5194) reveals strange structures bridging the gaps between the dust-rich spiral arms, and tracing the dust, gas and stellar populations in both the bright spiral galaxy and its companion. www.nasaimages.org
Wednesday 09 December 2009
1979-1980: 11-year-old daughter Terry comes to live with Beatrice, concerts, hospital, teaching, trip to Texas, visits from sister and father, trips to Maryland, Washington
“Last night we had another lively evening of piano quartets. Since the excellent pianist has joined us, I’ve been practising a bit and the improvement in technique is very rewarding. Work is also keeping me as busy as possible, specially with students, but I never mind spending time if they really want to learn astronomy or exchange ideas.”
While perhaps not quite as well known as its star-formation cousin Orion, the Corona Australis region (containing, at its heart, the Coronet cluster) is one of the nearest and most active regions of ongoing star formation. At only about 420 light-years away, the Coronet is over three times closer than the Orion nebula is to Earth. The Coronet contains a loose cluster of a few dozen young stars with a wide range of masses and at various stages of evolution, giving astronomers an opportunity to observe embryonic stars simultaneously in several wavelengths. www.nasaimages.org
Wednesday 16 December 2009
1980-1981: New apartment, concert, work, trip to England, spreading cancer, Yale Infirmary
“I have been one of the luckiest … really to realize my lifelong ambitions, and far more so than I could have hoped. I have vivid memories, in my early high school years, of studying the astronomy in the Oxford Junior Encyclopedia, and wanting to contribute to knowledge in cosmology in particular. Must admit I always wanted to be famous, as you and Mummy tell me from a young age! I have to thank you and Mummy for the total encouragement you always gave me; I always thought you believed that I could do practically anything I tried, and the difference that made in my life must be incalculable … I owe you a vast amount in life!”
Information
Beatrice at Yale
Produced by Adrienne Baron with engineering by Phil Brownlee. Letters read by Tina Regtien.
Email: adrienne.baron@radionz.co.nz
Music:
Get track details here.
Images:
View images of Beatrice and the universe she studied.
Supplementary audio:
Cosmologist Beatrice Hill Tinsley
Radio New Zealand National's programme Our Changing World's biographical feature on Beatrice Tinsley. Includes an interview with Christine Cole Catley, author of Bright Star.
Cosmologist Beatrice Hill Tinsley
This Our Changing World feature includes interviews with sister Theodora Lee-Smith and Brian Tinsley, and looks at Beatrice's achievements in cosmology.
Interview with Theodora Lee Smith
Beatrice Tinsley's sister talks to Eva Radich, in Upbeat.
Download: Ogg Vorbis MP3
John Hearnshaw
Professor of Astronomy, John Hearnshaw talks about the New Zealand astronomer and her contributions to cosmology.
Download: Ogg Vorbis MP3
Links:
Interview with Beatrice Tinsley - Transcript
Women in Astronomy
Women in Science
New Zealand Heroes
Bright Star
Canterbury University's Beatrice Tinsley Institute
Theodora Lee-Smith
Message from the editor of The Stars are Comforting, Beatrice's sister Theodora Lee-Smith.