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Show great pictures
Kim Burtnyk
Astronomy writer, science communicator and astronomy program and exhibit developer and evaluator, South Pasadena, California, USA
Don't underestimate the value of beautiful pictures. Education research continues to show that one of the strongest keys to learning something is having a personal and emotional connection to the topic. There is perhaps no other science that can evoke such emotional connections as well as astronomy.
Astronomy is truly a beautiful science. It is elegant, it is philosophical, it is mysterious, and above all else it is aesthetically pleasing. It possesses all the characteristics that can greatly help astronomers promote their research and also to provide a doorway to learning. Beauty and mystery are perfectly paired to evoke curiosity, and curiosity promotes learning. Beauty is astronomy's greatest strength and it should be taken advantage of. Not to do so would be doing the public and the universe itself a disservice. A picture is not only worth a thousand words; it's worth a thousand emotions as well.
But be careful to thoroughly explain the difference between visual wavelengths of light, and non-visual and artificially colour enhanced images. The public really doesn't understand these differences, to the extent that "colour enhanced" images have sometimes been considered controversial or spurious and suspect to people who don't understand the reasons for processing images that way.
Try as hard as you can to remember what it was that first struck you about your field. What was it that first caught your imagination; that sparked your interest? What did you struggle to understand? And how did you feel about it when you were learning? That is the experience and emotion that you want your audience to also have.
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