Star gazer

Zhu Jin shows a student how to observe the sky with an astronomical telescope. Provided to China Daily

Li is a renowned astrophysicist of the Chinese Academy of Sciences who also opened an account on Weibo, with more than 38,000 followers.

"In fact, many of my followers can be my teachers. They are amateurs of astronomy but in some fields are more knowledgeable than me and always have different angles to the same question," says Zhu. "That's why I enjoy the communications on micro blog."

"Micro blogs have many similarities with our universe. They are unpredictable and borderless, but also follow some basic laws of nature," Zhu says.

"Astronomy is a great and charming beauty. Now I have found the tool to unveil its charms to the public, which is the micro blog," Zhu says.

In November, Zhu organized a team to observe the total solar eclipse in Australia. When they arrived at Keynes, a city with a population of 100,000, they found 60,000 people gathered from all over the world to watch the event.

"Many of them are eclipse chasers who save money to watch eclipses all over the world. But I can share it instantly with my fans by posting the pictures and videos on my micro blog," Zhu says.

As a passionate astronomy lover and observer, Zhu began his studies in the astronomy department at Beijing Normal University in 1981. In 1991, after he acquired his PhD at Nanjing University, Zhu became a researcher at the National Astronomical Observatories under the China Academy of Sciences.

Since 1994, he has taken charge of the Beijing Schmidt Asteroid Program, which by 2001 had discovered 2,728 asteroids certified by The Committee for Small Body Nomenclature of International Astronomical Union. In 1997, Zhu and another astronomer discovered a comet with an estimated 10-km diameter that was named Comet Zhu-Balam by the committee.

Zhu's academic life ended in September 2002, when he was transferred to work as the curator in the Beijing Planetarium. He would no longer be a science scholar but an expert tasked to make science popular.

Zhu took the challenge as he always believed astronomy is an important science for the people, especially school students.

"Astronomy can arouse the curiosity to pursue science and truth. In human history, the progress of civilization always accompanied the further understanding of the universe," says Zhu.

"Since astronomy is a science based on observation, you must be honest. Curiosity and honesty are too often absent in our education system," says Zhu.

To make astronomy popular, Zhu and his colleagues racked their brains to find ways to attract more visitors to the planetarium.

They restored The Amateur Astronomer, the earliest magazine of its kind in China (founded in 1958), from a bimonthly to its original monthly publication, and organized an astronomy club open to school students every week.

But the impact has been limited. Zhu's ambition was not only to spread astronomy knowledge to students but to make it part of a regular curriculum like physics and biology in middle schools.

On a professional level, China is making great strides in astronomy observation and research. Some advanced astronomical telescopes are built or being built, such as the ongoing construction of the largest single-dish radio telescope in the world in Guizhou province.

China has joined in international cooperation in astronomy research. This past August, the 28th General Assembly of International Astronomer Union was held in Beijing.

However, astronomy education in China remains at a low level.

So far, China has only four universities with astronomy departments, which recruit only about 100 students annually, much fewer than some developed countries.

"I hope that through the growing popularity of astronomy boosted by new social media and technology, more people can fall in love with astronomy and realize its value," Zhu says.

Contact the writer at wangru@chinadaily.com.cn.