Anime

Source is season 1, episode 1.

That's right! A whole anime about heliocentrism is airing this season. The first three episodes have been an absolute ride and the end of episode three just left me staring at the screen wondering what could possibly happen from here. If you do check this show out, make sure to watch through episode 3 at least.

Despite the setting resembling that of 15th century Poland, the series is very much fictional. It draws inspiration from our history and geography, but is fictionalized for the sake of drama. I have written about some of the science and history touched on in the show in the episode 1 discussion thread if you are curious.

The show is incredibly tense (and does occasionally feature torture scenes for those that are sensitive to such things). When you are dabbling in research that, if discovered, would cost you your life, then any misstep will be your last. Despite that, it beautifully captures not just the visuals of the night sky, but also the curiosity and sense of discovery that science can inspire. As a working scientist myself, sometimes it really is just a flash of inspiration that is able to explain a bunch of seemingly unrelated things. This series is able to wonderfully illustrate how a sudden understanding like that can stir up some strong emotions. It can be humbling that you hadn't thought of it before, satisfying that you better understand something, and daunting at the prospect of how much you have yet to understand. I used to joke in grad school that I spent so many years getting a PhD just to learn how little I actually knew.

I hope you check it out and enjoy!

Full disclosure: I am partly doing this because I am trying to get more people posting in the discussion threads for the show because I enjoy gushing about science so much. So, hop on in and we can learn about astronomy together!