Today we’d like to introduce you to Aric Vyhmeister.
Aric, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I’ve always had two passions in life: music and science. All through childhood, I pursued every opportunity I could in both areas, hoping that I’d be able to settle on one path or the other. I read every book about space and astronomy that I could get my hands on while continuing to study piano and playing in my city’s youth orchestra.
I began to notice a shared element between these two interests: what I loved even more than the beauty of music or the intrigue in science was the experience of sharing with others. I spent my evenings practicing piano and nights out with a telescope as much as possible, motivated by the desire to share these pursuits in recitals and star parties with the local astronomy club.
In college, I earned degrees in Physics and Mechanical Engineering, but my love of music continued to grow to a point where I decided to complete a third-degree in music with the intention of pursuing it professionally. After graduation, I worked as a systems engineer with Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co. in Littleton, CO, fulfilling my childhood dream of working in the space industry on all sorts of programs, including NASA’s Orion, NOAA’s GOES weather satellites and various commercial-space programs.
In 2017, I was accepted into the CU Boulder Collaborative Piano program and completed my Master’s degree last spring. Now that I was doing music full time, a part of me missed the chance to talk about science and technical topics with people, so it was providential that I happened to see an advertisement at the Standley Lake Public Library for a stargazing event hosted by the library in early 2018. This prompted me to speak with librarian Sean Eads (who is also an author and has been featured in VoyageDenver) about the event, and he helped me organize a weekly summer sidewalk astronomy program, supported by the Standley Lake Public Library, where I would set up my personal telescope outside the library entrance and share views of the Moon, planets and other highlights while conversing about astronomy and science with library patrons.
These sidewalk astronomy gatherings turned out to be a popular event with many families returning week after week. On more than one occasion, a patron on a late-night book drop would wander toward the crowd around the telescope to see what was going on, only to be mesmerized by their first look at the Moon’s craters up close, the famous rings of Saturn, and sometimes even a pass of the International Space Station.
It wasn’t long into this venture that I met Alfredo Cruz, a fellow engineer who was at the time working as a research scientist at Space Environment Technologies on various projects surrounding data science and machine learning as it relates to space weather. We quickly found a shared interest in promoting science to the public, both because of the current moment in time and also as a way to pay it forward having both come from backgrounds of modest means.
Alfredo joined the weekly stargazing events and we quickly struck a complementary dynamic in which one of us could operate the telescope and guide first-time viewers through the observing process while the other could talk to those waiting in line about what was being seen through the telescope and add commentary on the relevant science. We found it endlessly satisfying to share these experiences with people who otherwise may never have had the chance to look through a telescope, so we began considering ways to reach a wider audience.
To expand for our second summer at the Standley Lake Public Library, we assumed the name “Standley Lake Stargazing” and began offering a free indoor program an hour before sunset, where we talked about observing highlights and stargazing basics for those who had never been shown the night sky before. In these programs, Alfredo and I would offer a detailed presentation on all things stargazing and astronomy, covering topics ranging from cosmology to selecting your backyard telescope. In addition, our engineering backgrounds enabled us to talk about the technical aspects of space travel and spacecraft design, along with adjacent STEM subjects. After the indoor presentation, we’d move outside to demonstrate how the telescopes work and then enjoy an evening of stargazing together, often staying until midnight or until the last visitor went home. We found that this format–an indoor presentation followed by an outdoor observing session with the telescope–worked well, offering something for just about everyone and reaching a broad range of community members who were curious about the sky above.
Throughout the summer and fall of 2019, we continued expanding our program by branching out to new venues, such as the Broomfield Depot Museum, Boulder Atheists, and Majestic View Nature Center in Arvada.
With the social-distancing precautions brought by 2020, we’ve moved to entirely online events. We offer science news, observing guides and astronomy updates every weekday via social media and produce a weekly live program every Wednesday night in partnership with the Standley Lake Regional Park. Alfredo is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering at West Virginia University where he works with the Astrodynamics, Space Science, and Space Technology (ASSIST) Laboratory, and, despite his busy schedule, he is often able to join our local programming remotely.
Our vision is to share the wonders of science and astronomy through outreach and programming wherever possible. We’re constantly looking for opportunities to broaden our reach in the community, whether through classroom visits, star parties and in-person observing events (when it becomes safe again), local parks programs and virtual stargazing presentations.
While rewarding, it’s not without effort. Programming and events can easily take 20+ hours of time outside our primary jobs. We’re grateful for the support of our Patreon followers and community members who reach out with event invitations and even donate old telescope equipment, which we use as educational aids in our outreach. Our hope is to continually expand our reach, and we welcome anyone who is interested in supporting and helping Standley Lake Stargazing grow. If that’s you, please don’t hesitate to contact us!
We’re excited to see where this endeavor leads, we believe that the majesty of the sky is universally appealing and that science deserves to be shared with everyone. We’re committed to playing our small part.
Carl Sagan best sums it up: “It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we’ve ever known.”
Everyone is welcome to join, we look forward to meeting you!
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
One of the great things about stargazing is that almost everyone we’ve met has been overwhelmingly supportive, there’s something universally humanizing about looking through a telescope that appeals to seemingly every demographic and transcends social barriers. Out under the stars, labels seem to disappear and we’re all just a group of strangers sharing a collective, unifying experience. One instance comes to mind in which a grandparent and her grandchild both got to see Saturn for the first time and had very similar reactions.
Who else deserves credit – have you had mentors, supporters, cheerleaders, advocates, clients or teammates that have played a big role in your success or the success of the business? If so –who are they and what role did they plan / how did they help.
We’re especially thankful for the support and encouragement of Sean Eads, the librarian with whom we first started collaborating, Mike Dempsey from Majestic View Nature Center and Lexie Martinez from Standley Lake Regional Park who help facilitate public astronomy events, and Ron Havermann whose frequently shares his contagious enthusiasm for all things space at our programs. It’s a group effort to bring science to the public and we owe a debt of gratitude to those who help make it happen!
What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
The most important trait is to hold a deep rooted belief that science and astronomy are too fascinating to be overlooked, and to find the experience of teaching to be its own reward. While an effort like this can come with a steep personal cost of time and energy, the connections with people make it all worth it and more and it’s this motivation that keeps us going even when the road gets rough.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.StandleyLakeStargazing.com
- Phone: 520-261-0657
- Email: contact@standleylakestargazing.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/standleylakestargazing/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StandleyLakeStargazing
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/SLStargazing
- Other: www.aricvyhmeister.com
Image Credit:
All photos: Copyright Aric Vyhmeister, Logo Design: Eric Dobaczewski
Suggest a story: VoyageDenver is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
