Posters and the meeting

The effects of a social change are seen in the giveaways at a scientific meeting.

At the recent meeting of the American Astronomical Society, our astronomer spent a good bit of time in the Exhibition Hall.  Here is where the scientific posters are displayed (including his, on Tuesday) and various groups have their booths.  Vendors of astronomy-related goods set up shop, observatories show their activities, organizations and associations mark their presences and give away trinkets.  Among the latter are small toys and tools, together with the perennial logo-inscribed pens (our astronomer hasn’t actually bought a pen in years).

He noted vendors of remarkably large and sophisticated telescopes.  One can now buy off the shelf something appropriate to a midsized University astronomy department.  What used to be one-off installations of special design and construction are now common purchases: the build-or-buy decision in favor of “buy” has moved up the food chain from amateurs to professionals.

There were, however, very few booths giving away large posters with pictures of astronomical objects.  These were common a few years ago; our astronomer would return from a meeting with many gorgeous, full-color depictions of showpieces of the sky, commonly three by four feet, and did not come back home with more because he lacked the wall space to display them.  In 2018 there were few, one or two of the gamma-ray or X-ray sky, some smaller ones put out by vendors of astronomical cameras (who are not concerned with build-or-buy, since building them is not an option for almost everyone).

Why should this be?  The sky is as gorgeous as it ever was, and indeed ways of capturing it are always more stunning.  One would think that an old image would be quickly upgraded.  And walls are as large as they ever were, in homes or offices or classrooms.

Maybe it’s because anyone can produce them (as the camera vendors assert).  They’re no longer the province of professionals at large institutions.  The work a good amateur can put out is amazing.  And indeed, one can download images from the web and print them out, no need to have a telescope at all or attend a far-away meeting.

But we think that’s not the reason.  It does, however, suggest it.

We now live on our devices.  What we see is displayed on a smartphone or computer screen.  Images are digital in capture, process and display.  Posters are not given away at AAS meetings because people don’t pick them up, and people don’t pick them up because they’re not used to having a physical image.  (Our photographer points out that having a physical picture was the only thing that a group of kids identified as an advantage of film cameras.)  It’s possible to produce absolutely wonderful image-posters, but today’s astronomers look at screens, not paper.

We don’t think this is good.  But society changes, and there’s not much we can do about it.