- Published: Friday, March 31 2017 22:01
Iran is a land of contradictions and dichotomies. Old and young, traditional and modern, religious and secular, all coexisting like the contrasting colors and intricate patterns of a Persian carpet. Westerners find many differences with their own culture when they visit Iran, but also many surprising similarities, especially in the study of sciences like astronomy. Just as borders are indistinguishable by astronauts orbiting our planet, cultural differences become unimportant when we turn our gaze skyward.
The concept of time in Iran is one of the differences that is hard to grasp at first. Driving the highways of Iran, one often sights a caravansara, a resting place for travelers on the ancient caravan routes now paralleled by modern highways. Ask its age and it will be dismissed with, “Oh, that’s new. Three or four hundred years.” Living in one of the oldest civilizations on Earth imbues Iranians with a sense of tradition and pride in their homeland. Visitors experience a sense of timelessness second only to losing one’s self in the heavens. Standing among the 2500 year old remains of the first Persian capitol gave us a sense of human history as we observed this spring’s planetary grouping. This grouping was a rare event for us but how many generations had witnessed similar events from that place in the past 25 centuries? The time scale of our earthly location added to the astronomers’ usual sense of the infinite when under the stars.
Among the ancient monuments and traditions, Iran’s large cities are thriving modern metropolises. Tehran has all the trademarks of any large city – streets choked with traffic, residents choked by the air, bustling sidewalks that give the city vibrance and a sense of purpose. And rampant light pollution. While Iranians retain a strong sense of history and tradition, city dwellers have lost their connection with the stars in the last 100 years in the same way as residents of other large cities. But there is still great interest in astronomy, a field embraced by forward-looking science enthusiasts and the devoutly religious alike. Sidewalk astronomers inevitably attract long lines of eager observers. Their enthusiasm and appreciation are tremendous and very rewarding. It’s no wonder public observing sessions are a more popular activity than dark sky star parties with most of Iran’s amateur astronomers.
In western countries, the intersection of science and fundamentalism has at times led to conflict as new theories threaten accepted religious dogma. There is no such problem in the Islamic Republic of Iran, however, despite its hardline, conservative government. Shia Islam embraces astronomy as a study of Allah’s handiwork. In the holy city of Qom – home of many of Iran’s most important theological institutions – an observatory was recently built at one of the religious schools . On our visit to the town of Sa’adat-Shahr where an observatory is being built by the residents, a passage from the Koran was inscribed on a wall in English, Farsi and the original Arabic – “Do they not then look up to Heaven above them how we have made it and adorned it?” This reminds me of the proclamation from the Christian Psalm 19 made famous by its use on the “Pink Clubhouse” at Stellafane, “The heavens declare the Glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” And that declaration is there for all to see, regardless of their location, culture or religion. Just look skyward.
The first difference between Iran and other countries noticed by visitors (after adjusting to the women’s fashions and Farsi writing, of course) is the prevalence of young people. Iran’s population has more than doubled since the Islamic Revolution and 2/3 of the country is under the age of 30. It is the young people that are behind the current boom in astronomy in Iran. We stood out at club meetings, lectures and star parties not just because we were obviously westerners but because we were over the age of 30. While the club meetings, star parties and conferences I attend in the US are dominated by middle aged or older men, Iranian amateurs are almost all young. And the majority are young women. The window on the rest of the world that the Internet provides – a resource not available to their parents – is one reason for an upsurge in the interest in science among the youth in Iran. The translation of astronomy books into Farsi during the last 10 years or so is another factor, allowing youngsters to satisfy their curiosity at an early age as so many of us western baby boomers did at the birth of the Space Age. The predominance of women is not a phenomenon limited to astronomy in Iran, however, as 60% of the students in Iran’s colleges and universities are women. There are still difficulties for women in the sciences just as at western universities but not because science is considered an inappropriate pursuit for females. With religious restrictions on interaction between unmarried men and women, the logistics of carrying out research under the aegis of an official institution can be frustrating. This is especially true in a field like astronomy where all-night sessions among a small number of observers in isolated locations are necessary. For amateurs needing no special sanction, however, even dark sky star parties are enjoyed in mixed gatherings.
The questions most often asked of me by Iran’s amateur astronomers demonstrate the differences with western amateur astronomy. How do Americans organize and maintain astronomy clubs? In Iran, government permission is required to form a club and dues are rarely sufficient to finance club functions. What projects do serious American amateurs conduct? In a country where few amateurs can afford more than binoculars or a very modest telescope, Iranian amateurs look for new ideas to satisfy their interests rather than chasing down progressively dimmer “faint fuzzies.” They are also very serious in their pursuit, conducting studies that will help them understand what they see despite their relatively limited observational resources.
Iranian amateurs are rich in one notable resource, though – enthusiasm. They devour any information that’s available and innovate with what they have available. Iranian amateurs are among the world’s best at wide-field astrophotography that combines celestial objects with terrestrial foreground, a natural outgrowth of Iran’s abundant natural and historical sites. The birth of a telescope making movement is reminiscent of America’s ATM activities of 30 years ago. But for many, astronomy remains primarily an intellectual pursuit.
The meetings and workshops we attended had large audiences and we were always surrounded and peppered with questions and requests for information between talks. Despite the hardline religious minority in positions of authority, Iranians admire, respect and often emulate western culture while retaining their own proud traditions. In astronomy and other sciences, they look to Europe and the US for guidance. As visiting western scientists, we were received as celebrities with an enthusiasm reserved for rock stars back home. For towns that might not have seen an American in over 20 years, our visit was cause for great celebration. Regardless of what policies the government may set, the vast majority of Iranians are strongly pro-American and looking for ways to increase interaction with the west after 20 years of isolation.
Iran is a country with tremendous social pressures stemming from a century of internal strife and aggravated by destabilizing external influences. Short political reports and television sound bites give a distorted view of this ancient and modern land and its warm and generous people. But it is a land that is difficult for outsiders to understand. Amateur and professional astronomers lead the way in reaching out to other countries. Astronomy is a discipline without earthly boundaries, a subject where one’s address is simply, “Earth.” In the words of Dr. Mansour Vesali, a university physics professor and editor-in-chief of Nojum (Astronomy) Magazine in Tehran, “We all see the same sky.” President Khatami of Iran has called for a “Dialogue Among Civilizations”, a call picked up by the United Nations in declaring 2001 the United Nations Year of Dialogue Among Civilizations. United Nations Secretary‑General Kofi Annan has said, “I see dialogue as a chance for people of different cultures and traditions to get to know each other better, whether they live on opposite sides of the world or on the same street.” Perhaps astronomy can provide the common ground for such a dialogue to begin.
A large abacus rests near an electronic calculator in this traditional teahouse in the old section of the southern city of Shiraz.
High in the Alborz Mountains near Tehran, this imamzadeh – a shrine containing the tomb of a holy person related to Mohammed – sits by a highway busy with weekend travelers returning to the city. Venus is seen above and to the left of the large dome.
Mickey Mouse images are found throughout Iran, where Disney movies and characters enjoy tremendous popularity. The familiar-looking soda that Mickey touts on the wall of this restaurant is Parsi-Cola.
Chadors held tight against the wind, two women sit behind the driver on this motorcycle in Khorasan Province in eastern Iran.
The nomads of southern Iran wear traditional clothing of very bright colors. On visiting the city, especially at a holy shrine as in this scene, they cover themselves (apparently with limited success) in the traditional chador of Islam in Iran.
Kids everywhere just want to have fun. This hand-cranked miniature Ferris wheel was located on a sidewalk in Shiraz on the holiday marking the death of Mohammed.
A bicycle carrying a rug and a hand cart join the private cars, taxis and buses of traffic in central Neishabour in eastern Iran.
This computer lab is busy at Azad University, an agricultural school in the eastern city of Neishabour. This student gathers information on nutrition from the Kellogg’s web site.
Children in Iran are not shy and they are quick to approach foreigners. And their clothes are often emblazoned with American logos.
The author’s wife, Sherri Simmons, is greeted at a girls’ high school in the southern town of Sa’adat-Shahr. Just being from a western country – especially the US – was enough to accord a visitor with celebrity status.
