Hermann shares passion for astronomy

On a warm July day, 26 kids glided through the galaxy, scouted stars and planets, and came face-to-face with the sun – all without leaving Seward.

At Seward Memorial Library, Dr. Robert Hermann, professor of physics and chair of Concordia University’s Department of Natural Sciences, challenged young minds as part of the summer reading program themed “A Universe of Stories.” Together, they traveled through the solar system by means of videos, photos and a special solar telescope for sun-viewing.

That day was an elementary school crowd, but during 20 years of teaching at Concordia, Hermann’s students have ranged from freshmen who have never taken physics to seniors in capstone courses. Astronomy, as a branch of physics, has always interested him in particular.

“I like understanding how things work,” Hermann said. “What drew me to astronomy was that you get to move through scale. You'll be talking about some of the biggest things in the universe or the universe as a whole. And in the next breath, you're talking about atoms or electrons.” 

Hermann said he enjoys presenting programs outside of class because he can spread his love of science. Astronomy is unique from other areas of physics in that nearly everyone has some interest. 

“It's always fun to work with people who are interested and excited,” Hermann said. “They ask questions, and it's fun seeing how much they know and what they have left to know.”

After the library presentation, a handful of kids were anxious to talk to the Seward County Independent about their brush with outer space.

Eight-year-olds Chloe Keslar, Adalee Meier and Emma Hackbart agreed they were most intrigued by Hermann’s solar telescope that allowed them to safely view the sun.

“You would never be able to look at the sun with nothing on your eyes,” Hackbart said.

Keslar and Hackbart were expecting the sun to be a big, bright yellow blob, but were surprised when they actually saw its circular form. 

“People say it’s yellow, but when you look in the telescope, it’s really orange,” Meier said.

The sun is something kids are aware of every day, even if they can’t look directly at it. Every night, they look up and see the moon and the stars. They’re constants in their lives, so there will be some inherent wonder about the familiar celestial bodies, Hermann said. That, and astrophysics is just plain cool.

“Seeing pictures of the moon and pictures of Saturn are just intrinsically interesting – intrinsically beautiful and exciting,” Hermann said. “So everybody ends up being at least a little bit interested in (astronomy).”

This goes for everyone – you don’t have to have the curiosity of a child to be interested in the universe. In his talks, Hermann’s goal is not to dive deep into the physics that surround the topic of astronomy. Rather, he would like to inspire anyone to pursue further study, even if they have to work at it a little bit.

“The two things that I try to convey are a sense of excitement and wonder – that they should be motivated to want to learn more – and a sense that this stuff is understandable,” Hermann said. “In any one talk, I'm not going to explain to anybody how a galaxy works. But if I can convince them that they can do it, and it's exciting to do it, then my work is done. And they'll go learn it themselves.”

Youngsters have their whole lives to figure out what they want to discover, but it doesn’t hurt to think about it now. At the end of Hermann’s presentation, he flips through ethereal slides of Jupiter and Mercury, nebulas and galaxies, pausing on each to suggest that maybe someone in the room will be the next space pioneer.

“Next time you go outside at night, I hope you look up and see the stars,” Hermann told the children. “Just imagine how much there is up there that you can explore.”