Science Train

A few times a year, we board the LA Metro trains to interact with the public and answer questions about space science. These events are considered "guerilla astronomy" since they are explicitly targeting everyday people who are just going about their lives, a very different group than the science-enthusiasts who attend our advertised events like public lectures and Astronomy on Tap. Because our goal is to have maximum cross-section with the public, we choose busy trains and stations. To elicit interaction, we hold up signs encouraging people to "Ask an Astrophysicist" and provide some sample questions. Usually we hold the signs at a high-visibility location in the train car in groups of two. If we have an extra "floater" person, they can come and start a conversation about astronomy to indicate to the public that we're legitimate.

We usually schedule these events on a weekend afternoon, when most of the people riding the train are not frantic to get to work or home. In addition to our "official" signs, we bring flyers for our regular public lectures and Astronomy on Tap events, and some NASA swag to hand out.

Typically, most people are initially hesitant to interact with us, mostly because I think people are afraid that we are weirdos. But usually once someone breaks the ice and talks to us, and we respond demonstrating that we're actual scientists and not kooks, we get a lot more interaction from the crowd. Oftentimes, there are a lot of people who are listening who are still too anxious to speak to us, so it really does have a pretty big impact on the passengers.

There are certain policies that the LA Metro has about events on trains: LA metro's code of conduct (see Page 10). Notably:

1. We cannot put up signs anywhere on the train, so we would have to hold them.
2. The signs have to be smaller than 30"x30".
3. "Tables and portable equipment are prohibited", so no experiment.
4. We cannot "solicit public support or distribute materials" that "is disruptive, presents a safety hazard, or impedes the movement of Metro patrons."

That said, we've interacted with both police and LA Metro employees on our previous excursions and there has been no reason for worry. They were enthusiastic about our efforts!

These events are still experimental, but some lessons that have been learned so far. We need to make it clear that we're from a respectable source: Caltech, NASA, JPL (on the banner/sign). Wear nametags with names/status. Indicate that this is free, and that we're doing this because we care about public science education. Use a tally counter to count the number of people with whom we're interacting. Try to take some photos/video of the interaction for our website/social media.

Locations

The best locations to do Science Train maximize our interactions with people and reach different audiences (tourists, underrepresented populations, etc). We typically meet at the Del Mar Gold Line Station (Google Maps Link), as there is parking and it is easily accessible for most volunteers. Then we usually ride toward Union Station.

• Union Station -- We have taken it to both termini on the Gold Line, and the number of people really drop towards the end. The middle 10 stops around Union Station get a good amount of traffic, as does Union Station Platform itself.
• Santa Monica Pier -- We have taken the trains all the way to Santa Monica, and it worked well. The main problem is that it is time-consuming--about 2h there, 2h back. Santa Monica train station platform was a good place for outreach as well.

Instructions for Volunteers

Because we're holding signs that say "Ask an Astrophysicist" with a list of questions, it's a good idea to actually know something about the questions we're suggesting. You obviously don't need to know everything about everything, but it's good to know the basics of these questions. So please take a bit of time to read up on the topics of:

• The age of the universe; evidence for big bang (CMB, expanding universe, abundance of light elements)
• Why was Pluto demoted; what is the definition of a planet
• What defines a black hole
• What will happen to the Sun in the future?
• (non-)evidence for extraterrestrial life; SETI, Drake Equation, Fermi Paradox, Ocean Moons, etc.

Link back to home page.