During the first year of her science degree, Dr Kirsten Banks worked as an astronomy guide at the Sydney Observatory, leading groups of around 20 visitors. Tours included telescope observations of stars and planets, as well as visits to a 3D theatre and planetarium when clouds or Sydney’s light pollution made the sky difficult to see.
One of her favourite planetarium demonstrations featured the Hubble Ultra Deep Field. Banks explained that the Hubble Space Telescope had observed an area of sky comparable in size to a grain of sand held at arm’s length for 11 days. When she zoomed into the image, visitors saw four prominent stars from the Milky Way, while the other visible points, smudges and blobs were galaxies.
On one cloudy evening, Banks led a group to the 3D theatre after showing them the “stars” on the Australian flag above the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The discussion eventually turned to black holes and spaghettification, the stretching of an object caused by the difference in gravitational force between its nearer and farther ends.
She described how a person falling feet first toward a black hole would experience stronger gravity at their feet than at their head. The resulting difference could stretch the body into a long, spaghetti-like shape. Almost immediately, an eight-year-old girl raised her hand and asked: “So would the blood be the sauce?”
The group laughed, but Banks soon realised that the child’s interpretation followed logically from her explanation. The experience led her to rethink how she presented the concept, deciding that spaghettification was better explained using stars falling toward a black hole rather than humans.
It also taught her a second lesson: curiosity can appear in unexpected forms. Banks encourages people to ask questions that may seem silly, because they can lead to a better understanding of the world—and may stay with someone for years.
Sources: The Guardian Science.