Vicki Oransky Wittenstein is the award-winning author of nonfiction books that fascinate and engage young readers while helping educators address the requirements of the Common Core State Standards.
Bookslut.com gave PLANET HUNTER a shout out in the September 2010 newsletter. Check it out in Off the Map, a column written by Colleen Mondor.
One of the reasons I decided to profile Marcy, as opposed to just writing about planet hunting techniques, was because I wanted readers to see how passion and hard work are the keys to success. So, I was delighted that Colleen pointed out this theme in her review:
“What makes the book appealing for teen readers (other than the whole premise of planet hunting in the first place) is that Marcy was not an exceptional student, and questioned his own abilities for quite some time. His decision to ‘research something that I really cared about’ is an ideal anyone can embrace and will be especially reassuring to teens harboring their own insecurities.”
Here’s the link to Colleen Mondor’s column: OFF THE MAP
While I was vacationing on eastern Long Island in New York, a reporter for the SOUTHAMPTON PRESS, Phoebe Nir, wrote an article about me, my book PLANET HUNTER, and the talk I gave at The Quogue Library. Phoebe described my research at the Keck Observatory in Hawaii, Geoff Marcy’s planet hunting techniques, and the importance of quality nonfiction, particularly astronomy, for children and young adults.
In particular, Phoebe’s article points out how I wrote PLANET HUNTER to show that everything about outer space is more than just “sci-fi, aliens and ET sorts of things,” and that “there are so many amazing facts that are even more compelling than the fantasy!” Here’s the link to Phoebe’s article: CHILDREN’S BOOK EXPLAINS HOW SCIENTISTS SEARCH FOR OTHER EARTHS
What a beautiful library, and what terrific programs for children and adults! I spoke to a large group of children, teens, and adults about astronomy, planet hunting, going to Hawaii, the Kepler space telescope, and searching for life on other planets. The kids helped demonstrate lots of the concepts, and especially loved the diffraction grating glasses we used to show the properties of light waves. Thank you Marilyn Di Carlo – Ames, Head of Children and Teen Services, at The Quogue Library
Check out the wonderful new book trailer for PLANET HUNTER below!
Produced by Lisa Gottfried of DigitalWeavers, the trailer peeks inside the book and tells the story of Geoff Marcy and other key astronomers in their search for planets like Earth. The video captures beautiful images from the book. I love it!
In the pile of mail by my front door, I found the August issue of Highlights For Children magazine. Tucked among the magazine articles, was a Q & A I had written about astronaut Gregory Chamitoff (See What a Pro Knows: Gregory E. Chamitoff: Living in Space.) I’m always thrilled to see my work in print!
Chamitoff lived on board the International Space Station for six months with two Russian astronauts, Oleg Kononenko and Sergei Volkov. To write the article, I interviewed second-graders from The Packer Collegiate Institute in Brooklyn, NY. The kids had all sorts of wonderful questions, which I posed to Chamitoff for answers.
Some of my favorite questions from the second-graders were “Is there a steering wheel in the ISS?” and “When you were little did you play astronaut games with your friends?” Chamitoff gave thoughtful answers (“We don’t steer the ISS. The Control Center on Earth does,” and “I once built a flying saucer.”)
Chamitoff talked to me for over an hour, and enthralled me with his stories about space food, his living quarters, and the science experiments he conducted. Check it out!
Gregory Chamitoff playing chess on board the International Space Station.
Whew! Life is busy. I visited a wonderful book store called WORDS, in Maplewood, NJ, and signed books.
What a beautiful book store, and what nice people. Thank you to Kelsey and Jeff for your help, and for Jonah for supporting my book. I love the cap and mug you guys gave me!
I talked about planet hunting to fifth graders during Everyone Reads Week! at P.S. 87 on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. This is an annual celebration of books and authors organized by the wonderful librarians, Dawnica, Carolyn, and Maggie. The kids asked fantastic questions, like:
How will we know when we find a planet like Earth?
Will we be able to live on extrasolar planets?
How far away from Earth are extrasolar planets?
How will we know if an extrasolar planet has water? Has life?
The cutest little children were pushed in their strollers into Book Court to learn about planet hunting. Mostly, they sat in their mom’s and dad’s laps. One little boy, though, slept in his stroller, while another stuffed goldfish crackers into his mouth.
But they seemed to follow the talk. When I asked if anyone knew what pulled the planets and stars toward and away from each other, one little five-year-old girl yelled out “Gravity!” Wow, was I impressed!
They also drew some elaborate habitable planets, with trees, flowers, and water. One little girl even added big slashes of pink and blue for all the girls and boys who lived on her planet.
I was so happy to see younger children getting excited about planet hunting!
My family, friends, and colleagues, both near and far, came to a book launch party that my husband hosted in the beautiful library at the Yale Club of New York City. What a fabulous evening — the buzz, the food, the wine! So much joy was packed into one room. Geoff Marcy, the astronomer in my book, flew in from Berkeley, CA to help celebrate, and my editor, Andy Boyles, and his wife drove from Pennsylvania. Geoff gave a fascinating presentation on planet hunting and the Kepler Mission, a space telescope launched in March 2009, which is already detecting new extrasolar planets. Here are some photos of the celebration:
Artist impression of a trio of super Earths orbiting the star HD 40307. Image credit: ESO
If you haven’t read the Op Ed piece in the New York Times today by William Falk, editor in chief of The Week magazine, check it out. In bemoaning the amount of information that Americans consumed every day in 2009 (most of it junk, and absorbed at an average of 11.8 hours a day!), Falk pointed out five areas of media news worth paying attention to.
One of the significant areas is — you guessed it! — planet hunting. Here’s what Falk wrote:
“TEEMING WITH PLANETS Astronomers are closing in on identifying distant worlds that may have the right conditions to support life. Techniques for detecting “exoplanets” are becoming more sophisticated, and over 400 have been discovered so far– 30 in October alone. This year brought two particularly intriguing finds. One is Gliese 581d, orbiting a star at a distance that could indicate surface temperatures not so different from Earth’s. Astronomers also discovered a “waterworld” composed mostly of H2O, which would be a prime candidate for extraterrestrial life if it were just a little farther from its sun.
The discovery of Earth-like planets, with water and moderate temperatures, is now so likely that the Vatican held a conference of astrobiologists this year to discuss the theological repercussions of extraterrestrial life. . .
Discovering that we have company in the universe, in fact, might open our eyes to what’s important on Earth.”
Geoff Marcy, the astronomer in my book, echoes this idea. “Imagine finding another species that we can communicate with, that we can share our art, music, and literature with, and that might unite us as people.”
Finding intelligent life will profoundly affect humanity in ways we cannot even fathom. In the meantime, I’m going to try to tune out the extra noise.
This seems like the perfect day to begin this blog. Today I received the pdf of the cover for my book, Planet Hunter: Geoff Marcy and the Search for Other Earths!
After two and a half years of researching, interviewing experts, writing and revising text and sidebars, compiling the glossary and index, finding the images and arranging for permissions to use them, the book is almost in book stores. Yay! The release date is March 15, 2010.Here are some of the wonderful things that have happened as a result of writing this book:
1. I went to Hawaii! To research the book, I traveled to the summit of Mauna Kea, a dormant volcano on the Big Island, to the W. M. Keck Observatory. Keck is about 14,000 feet above sea level. It is freezing cold, but is gorgeous beyond belief. Bright blue skies hover above a blanket of thick clouds, and coffee-colored lava crunches beneath your feet. If there is a place on Earth that looks like Mars and feels as remote, this might be it.
Image credit: Sarah Anderson
2. I met Geoff Marcy, the extraordinary astronomer in my book, and Professor of Astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley. Geoff invited me to Keck, where I watched him planet hunt for several days. Hearing Geoff’s inspiring life story made me realize that the search for Earth-like planets had to be told through Geoff’s personal journey to becoming one of the most renowned planet hunters in the world.
Geoff Marcy in the control room at Keck Headquarters in Hawaii. Image credit: Sarah Anderson
3. I got to know Andy Boyles, science editor at Boyds Mills Press. Andy is not only a first-rate editor, but a scientist and educator who truly cares about teaching children about the wonders on our planet and beyond.
4. I continue to love science, especially the study of the universe, astrobiology, and the search for life on other planets. My mind is already percolating on the next book . . .
Carina Nebula Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and M. Livio and the Hubble 20th Anniversary Team (STScI)
5. Ditto for my love for research. As a former lawyer, I have always enjoyed researching and analyzing all the details of a topic. For me, there is nothing more exciting and satisfying than accumulating a roomful of research and synthesizing it down to its essence. Although when I see children reading my book, I might enjoy that most of all.
