"Here, There, and Everywhere" Makes its Debut

Today marks the launch of a new project – both physically and virtually. We are so happy to announce that "Here, There, and Everywhere" (known by the acronym of HTE) has officially debuted.

You may have heard this question, or asked it yourself: why bother studying things that are millions or billions of miles away in space? HTE, among other things, is a project that addresses that question.

We developed this project here at the Chandra X-ray Center, which is part of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Mass., because we wanted to help put high-energy astrophysics into a bigger picture. Of course, we think it's great to discover things just for the sake of learning about the Universe we live in, but we also want to help explain just how the amazing discoveries that are being made by Chandra are linked to objects and behaviors that people might see in their day-to-day lives.

HTE shows how familiar processes on Earth are connected to more exotic and less well-known phenomena across the Universe. In other words, HTE demonstrates how many laws in physics and science are important. These laws apply here (in daily life), there (around Earth and the Solar System), and everywhere (throughout the cosmos.)

There are many facets to the HTE experience. The first is one is the website http://hte.si.edu and other facets of its electronic presence, like its Twitter hashtag #HTEScience. We will use this forum to disseminate information on the project, provide additional material on the topics, and comment on current events and how they may fit into HTE's holistic perspective on science.

HTE is also a physical exhibit, which will be traveling to about 30 locations between now and 2015. The inaugural stop of the traveling HTE exhibit is the Memphis Public Library in Memphis, Tenn., beginning this weekend. If you are in the area, we invite you to swing by and take a look at the exhibit. If you do, please feel free to come back to HTE's electronic home and give us your feedback either through email, Twitter , or a comment on the blog.

We are very excited about the launch of HTE. It helps us fulfill not only our goals for spreading the word about the science Chandra does, but it also helps us talk about the great research being done around NASA (which funds the HTE project) as well as many other agencies and universities. Whether you are already deeply interested in science, or are someone who feels unsure if science is for you, we invite you to explore the content of HTE. One of our goals is to show that science touches all of our lives in some way, no matter where it is found.

-Megan Watzke, Kim Arcand & the HTE team.