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A Very Private Milky Way: The Story of an American Astronomer’s Journey

Delivery time2023-10-14 07:00

New book ‘A Very Private Milky Way’ written by an American astronomer

author photo

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(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Song Gwang-ho = “Did my confession, which I could not say due to the sound of fox rain, flow into the faintly twinkling Milky Way in the sky?”

This is part of the first song ‘Galaxy’ written by AKMU Lee Chan-hyuk. A song that wouldn’t have been released without the Milky Way lighting up the night sky of the Mongolian grasslands. He spent some of his childhood in Mongolia.

It’s not just Lee Chan-hyuk. Looking at the Milky Way is a human trait.

The phrase from the Book of Poetry, “The bright Milky Way beautifully decorated the night sky,” has a universality that wouldn’t be strange even if someone wrote it last night.

Whether ancient or modern, people were lost in thought while looking at the Milky Way. The results of that thinking are contained in myths and stories.

The milk road, the silver river, the birds’ road, the deer’s obstacle, Mirinae… .

Numerous titles, nicknames, stories, and dreams are contained in the Milky Way called ‘Our Milky Way’.

night sky stars

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American astronomer Moya McTeer (28) also dreamed of looking at the Milky Way like people of old.

As a child, her situation was not good. Guided by her divorced mother, she grew up in a mining town in Pennsylvania.

The rural village where she grew up was a secluded place. There was no running water, no heater, and no TV.

When I was thirsty, I drew water from the well. When it was cold, we chopped firewood and cut wood. When I got sick, I endured it by drinking water. While city kids watched TV or surfed the Internet in the evenings, she looked at the Milky Way in the night sky.

As the smartest student and the only black person at her small rural school, she looked up at the night sky and thought, “If I get out of here quickly, my life will be much better.”

She caught the attention of admissions officers during the entrance exam process and succeeded in getting into the prestigious Harvard University. There she studied astronomy and mythology, and she received a doctorate in astrophysics from Columbia University, becoming the first black woman to do so.

book cover image

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‘A Very Private Milky Way’ (original title: The Milky Way) written by McTeer is a tribute to the star that raised him. The main character is Woori Eunha. The book is a first-person essay from the main character’s point of view, with Milky Way appearing as the main character.

It contains the story from the birth of our galaxy to the present.

The Milky Way continues to grow by creating stars. It endures the inner chaos called a black hole and lives in conflict with other galaxies. The life of the Milky Way is similar to the trajectory of the author’s life. Her life was always busy, her mind was confused, and she was in conflict with those around her.

Leo meteor shower

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Although it deals with space stories, the book has a kind of autobiographical character. The shame the author experienced and his love for the universe are fully contained in the book.

magpie. Translated by Kim So-jeong. Page 320.

buff27@yna.co.kr

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2023/10/14 07:00 Sent

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