NASA Goddard's Dr. James Klimchuk will explore why he outer atmosphere of the Sun – called the corona – is roughly 1000 times hotter than the underlying solar surface. The same is true of other stars. Solving the famous “coronal heating problem” has been one of the great challenges in astrophysics. It is more than just [...]
NOVAC member Cal Powell will present an overview of meteorites (and related objects) with an emphasis on using them for astronomy outreach. After the talk attendees will be able to examine specimens from Cal’s meteorite collection. Come to the meeting and take a selfie with a rock from the planet Mars! Cal will be presenting [...]
This talk will summarize the history of the search for exoplanets, beginning in 1938, and leading to NASA's plans for the Habitable Worlds Observatory, a space telescope planned for launch around 2045, intended to detect and characterize Earth-like worlds. This is a virtual presentation by Dr. Boss –Join your colleagues at GMU or join him [...]
In this talk, we will embark on a cosmic journey to explore the fascinating lives of cool evolved stars and their pivotal role in shaping the universe. These stars, in their later stages of evolution, offer unique insights into stellar physics, chemical enrichment, and the cosmic recycle of matter. We will also dive into the [...]
On September 14th, 2015, the two sites of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory detected minuscule ripples in the fabric of space. This Nobel-winning accomplishment, the culmination of nearly 50 years of work, also provided us with a new window into the Universe: gravitational waves. I will discuss some of the first results from LIGO, and [...]
Planets outside of our solar system look nothing like our own, with most of these detected exoplanets falling right in between the size of the Earth and Neptune. How can we understand such differences? Join NOVAC and Dr. Eve Lee for a virtual discussion on Sunday, July 10 at 7:30pm EDT. Eve Lee, Ph.D. Sunday, July [...]
Public Monthly Meeting - Supermassive Black Holes at the Center of M87 and Milky Way: What We Learn Razieh Emami, Ph.D. Sunday, June 12, 2022 7:30 PM to 9:00 PM EST Online event meet.google.com/osh-bcyd-gti Monthly Meeting - Public Invited Abstract: The most recent resolved images of Supermassive Black Holes (SMBHs) at the center of M87 (SMBH: M87*) as well as the Milky Way [...]
Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover: From Launch to Landing Swati Mohan, Ph.D. Sunday, May 15, 2022 7:30 PM to 9:00 PM EST Online event meet.google.com/osh-bcyd-gti Monthly Meeting - Public Invited Abstract: The Mars 2020 mission was created to build off of the discoveries of its predecessors. The previous 4 rovers had found the building blocks for life on Mars. The Mars 2020 perseverance rover [...]
How to Measure Velocities of Distant Galaxy Clusters, and Why Arthur Kosowsky, Ph.D. Sunday, April 12, 2022 7:30 PM to 9:00 PM EST Online event meet.google.com/osh-bcyd-gti Monthly Meeting - Public Invited Abstract: Galaxy clusters are the most massive gravitationally bound objects in the universe. Their hot ionized gas scatters photons of the cosmic microwave background, creating a microwave spectrum distortion (called the Thermal [...]
Improving the Performance of Your Imaging Mount In this presentation, Eric will share his experience on improving the performance of equatorial mounts, a critical and expensive component of astrophotography systems. He will start with the basics of operation and cover the common sources of tracking errors found in lower- to moderately-priced systems. Eric will then present a [...]
