When most people are tucked up in bed, Macau-born astronomer Tania Sales Marques likes to turn her eyes to the sky. Marques, Senior Astronomy Manager for Participation and Engagement at the UK’s prestigious Royal Observatory Greenwich, London, says her obsession with the stars began when she was five years-old.
Growing up in the former Portuguese enclave, an island 40 miles west of Hong Kong, Marques and her family had a weekly nighttime ritual. Every Sunday they would drive away from the city’s bright lights to the nearby village of Coloane to explore the night sky.
“The stars at night were so fascinating to me,” she recalls.
That childish interest has sustained an international career with a focus on teaching and educating others about astronomy and the maths and physics upon which it is based. Marques holds an astronomy degree from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in the US and a Master of Education from the University of Saint Joseph, Macau.
She worked in her home city at the Macao Science Center’s planetarium before joining the Observatory in southeast London eight years ago. It was a move that made a childhood dream come true.
“I visited the Royal Observatory Greenwich with my family when I was little and I can’t believe that I somehow have managed to be part of the amazing team of astronomers who work here,” she says.
Founded in 1675, the institution’s buildings were designed by famed astronomer and architect of London’s St Paul’s Cathedral, Sir Christopher Wren. The Observatory is considered the birthplace of modern astronomy.
It is the home of the Prime Meridian, the line that divides Earth into its eastern and western hemispheres and which is used as the starting point for the longitude measuring system and the basis for the world’s time zones. For fun, visitors to the site can stand astride the Prime Meridian, with one foot in the eastern hemisphere and one in the west.
The Observatory is also the location of Greenwich Mean Time, which is used as the international standard for timekeeping.
It became part of the National Maritime Museum in the late 1940s after bomb damage during World War II and London’s smoke and light pollution increasingly hindered the work of astronomers, who were then relocated to other sites in the UK.
For Marques, it is the Observatory’s combination of unique provenance and modern desire to bring young people from diverse backgrounds into the field that is a particular draw.
“I love the historic nature of the site, how it’s the birthplace of British astronomy and that I get to walk through the same spaces that so many famous astronomers did on a daily basis,” she says. “But I also love the work we do here today to inspire the next generation of scientists.”
Marques’ role is to manage the public astronomy programme at the Observatory, with a focus on diversifying its audience and increasing participation through regular public and community programming. Her team is also responsible for looking after the telescopes that are used in public engagement sessions and contributing to the Observatory’s catalogue of astrophotography images.
Part of her work is the Bilingual Families programme in which astronomers who are native speakers of non-English languages host live shows on the solar system. The programme runs every couple of months and Marques says its aim is to make the world of astronomy and science more accessible and attract more people to the field.
Marques has presented in Portuguese and the Observatory has also supported Cantonese, Mandarin, Spanish and French programming, with a minimum age recommendation of seven years for those coming to the shows.
“It’s a chance for presenters to share their journey in astronomy with their community,” Marques says. “This has led to many meaningful conversations and helps to highlight how diverse the astronomy community is.”
As part of the Observatory’s Lunar New Year celebrations, the show 探索太陽系 will be held in Cantonese next month.
“It’s a great opportunity for the presenter to use their heritage language and for the audience to ask questions too,” Marques says. “During the show, the astronomer will guide everyone through a journey of the solar system and even visit a couple of planets!”
In addition, next month the Observatory will present an English-language event exploring Chinese astronomy.
“This show will feature ancient Chinese constellations and the connection between the sky and the traditional Chinese calendar, which is used to define the dates for traditional festivities such as Lunar New Year,” says Marques.
From her years in science communication, Marques says there are a few misconceptions about astronomy. Its foundation in physics and maths and its study of faraway planets, moons and asteroids may make some people feel it is difficult to understand.
“We hope to change their perceptions by having programmes, such as Bilingual Families, that aim to show how diverse the astronomy community is and also how exciting it is to learn about the universe,” she says.
The Royal Observatory Greenwich’s English-language Chinese Astronomy show will be held on 1 February at 10.30am. Its Cantonese-language Bilingual Families show 探索太陽系 will be held on 2 February at 10.30am. Tickets for each show are £10 (adult), £5 (child), with entry to the Royal Observatory Greenwich site included. For more information: https://www.rmg.co.uk/whats-on.
Photos courtesy of National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London.
