Bringing a cosmic perspective to life

Entrepreneur Grey TAN, a Communications and New Media (2014) graduate from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS), is a professional photographer who has always been interested in astronomy imaging.

As an undergraduate, he was presented an opportunity to read General Education Modules (GEM) related to astrophysics at the Faculty of Science (FOS), and he leaped at it to pursue his interest in astrophotography.

He even met his then girlfriend, now his wife, who is also an advanced astronomy enthusiast who shares his passion of bringing the marvel of the night skies to everyone, through technology.

What did you learn?

Learning about how astrophysicists use spectra to determine the composition of stars was mind-blowing. I can only imagine the number of discoveries that were made and creatively applied before such a technique was derived. I was also fired up to see quantum effects in a daily life setting.

For me, one of the simplest yet paradigm-shifting concepts was the sidereal day (the time required for the Earth to rotate once relative to the background of the stars). Understanding the sidereal day allowed me to appreciate the elegance of how "star tracking" devices work.

Please share some  memorable moments. 

The stargazing / solar eclipse viewing sessions were very intriguing. If not for these General Education Modules (GEM), I would not have had the opportunity to observe the night skies with telescopes as it is not a common experience in Singapore. In a nutshell, these modules are really eye-opening explanations about how the world works.

Physics and the arts are distinctively different. What were the synergies for you?

A bigger cosmic perspective is an interesting point of reference for communicating ideas. I currently consult at a national laboratory, where we design experiments to validate ideas.

For instance, we designed a COVID-19 test kit based on upconverting particles (UCP) technology. However, the UCP line is invisible to the naked eye, so we use an infrared laser to excite the UCP to emit green light, which is then picked up by a photon multiplier tube. My physics training helps me to understand and design these test experiments, while the skills acquired from my FASS training allow me to present and frame these experimental innovations to convey their impact to stakeholders.