About 10 ASU students and one professor were filmed on Hayden Lawn Friday for a documentary scheduled for release in fall 2004.
A film crew from "Nova," a highly acclaimed science documentary series on PBS, was shooting a four-segment show focusing on origins. The series will cover everything from the Big Bang theory to the evolution of Earth.
The crew came to interview ASU astronomy professor Jeff Hester for the first episode, which will be about the origin of the universe.
"We live in a remarkable moment," Hester said. "We have the technology to watch stars form. We can tell the story people have been trying to tell since there were people. Every civilization asks the question of 'How did we get here?'. This is the first time we can tell the story without speculation."
Hester said "Nova" chose him for the documentary because of his work on the evolution of stars, and particularly for a photo of the Eagle Nebula taken with the Hubble Space Telescope in 1995. The photo shows stars forming in the nebula, which is about 7,000 light-years away, according to a NASA Web site.
The photo is widely used in atlases, textbooks and Web sites, but Hester has never received royalties from the use, nor was he compensated for the documentary.
"It's not the reason you do it," he said. "It's not often hard science overlaps with things that appeal to the public. Sure, the Eagle Nebula is a beautiful picture, but it's also showing us our roots."
"Nova" is the most-watched science television series in the world and received four Emmys in 2002.
Director of photography Alfonso Elfstrom called it the best show on television.
"It's intelligent, high quality, smart and demanding," he said. "People want smart television."
Russell Ryan, a second-year astronomy graduate student, said he volunteered to be in the documentary because he had watched the show for a long time.
"It's cool because I watch this show, and I see famous astronomers, and now I'll be on it, too," Ryan said.
Hester said he had worked on more than two dozen shows for PBS, the Discovery Channel, the Learning Channel, ABC and even a show called "Sightings," which he called the low point of his TV career.
Despite a lot of past coverage, Hester said he wouldn't want to be a documentary TV star.
"I've done enough television to know I would never want to do it," he said.
Reach the reporter at lindsay.butler@asu.edu.
