Sep
12
Sun
2021
Public Monthly Meeting – Astronomy with X-rays: How, Where, and Most Importantly Why? @ Online via Google Meet
Sep 12 @ 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm
Public Monthly Meeting - Astronomy with X-rays: How, Where, and Most Importantly Why? @ Online via Google Meet

Astronomy with X-rays: How, Where, and Most Importantly Why?

Dr. Randall Smith

Sunday, September 12, 2021
7:30 PM
 to 9:00 PM EST

Online event
meet.google.com/osh-bcyd-gti

Monthly Meeting – Public Invited

Abstract:

X-ray astronomy began in 1962 when Riccardo Giacconi and his team launched a sounding rocket with an X-ray detector designed to look at the Moon – and unexpectedly found a far brighter source in Scorpius they called Sco X-1. Generating X-rays requires energetic processes – big explosions, strong gravitational fields, and collisions of fast or even relativistic particles. Observing them thus reveals just what’s going on in these exciting regions of space.  We can also take advantage of the penetrative properties of X-rays – just as we do to look at a broken bone here on Earth – to study material between the source and us as the X-rays are absorbed and scattered by gas and dust. Since 1962 the field has exploded, with a range of new detectors as well as techniques to make high-quality X-ray “mirrors.” This talk will be a survey of the field, highlighting important discoveries as well as the instrumentation required, as well as discussing where we’re going next.

Bio:

An astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Randall Smith primarily works in high-energy astrophysics. He is involved with multiple X-ray observatories, both current and planned; his personal research focuses on the interstellar medium and on maintaining an atomic database that is used throughout the field to model the spectra of hot collisional plasmas. He earned his PhD in 1997 at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, working with the Space Physics group and advisor, Dr. Don Cox.

Oct
10
Sun
2021
Public Monthly Meeting – Operation Moonglow: A Political History of Project Apollo @ Online via Google Meet
Oct 10 @ 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Public Monthly Meeting - Operation Moonglow: A Political History of Project Apollo @ Online via Google Meet

Operation Moonglow: A Political History of Project Apollo

Dr. Teasel Muir-Harmony, PhD

Sunday, October 10, 2021

7:30 PM to 9:00 PM EST

Online event

meet.google.com/osh-bcyd-gti

Monthly Meeting – Public Invited

Abstract:

On July 20th, 1969, over half the world’s population witnessed Neil Armstrong’s first step on the Moon. While often remembered as a scientific and technological feat, the ambitions of the Apollo program aimed far beyond the Moon. Through spaceflight, America sought to win hearts and minds, foster alliances, and shape the political trajectories of newly independent nations. Drawing on a rich array of untapped archives and firsthand interviews, Operation Moonglow knits together a story of politics and propaganda; diplomacy and spaceflight; decolonization and globalization to reveal the political forces that not only sent humans to the Moon but also attracted the largest audience in history.

Bio:

Dr. Teasel Muir-Harmony is the curator of the Apollo Collection at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC. She earned a PhD from MIT and has held positions at the American Institute of Physics and the Adler Planetarium and Science Museum. She is the author of Operation Moonglow: A Political History of Project Apollo (2020) and Apollo to the Moon: A History in 50 Objects (2018), and a contributor to the television series Apollo’s Moon Shot. In addition, Muir-Harmony co-organizes the Space Policy & History Forum and teaches at Georgetown University.

 

Nov
14
Sun
2021
November 14 – Public Monthly Meeting – Come Fly Away to the Sun @ Online via Google Meet
Nov 14 @ 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm
November 14 - Public Monthly Meeting - Come Fly Away to the Sun @ Online via Google Meet

Come Fly Away to the Sun

Dr. Kelly Korreck

Sunday, November 14, 2021

7:30 PM to 9:00 PM EST

Online event

meet.google.com/osh-bcyd-gti

Monthly Meeting – Public Invited

Abstract:

What is faster than a speeding bullet? What can fly through turbulence without fastening its seat belt? What can tell us about the origin of our solar system at same time performing its main mission to understand our closest star? NASA’s Parker Solar Probe! 

The Parker Solar Probe (PSP) spacecraft was designed to aid in solving 3 mysteries of the Sun as well as the very practical goal of furthering the understanding of space weather. Space weather ranges from billions of tons of material hurled at Earth as Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) and solar flares that accelerate energetic particles that could damage electrical power grids on the Earth as well as harm astronauts in space. Parker has made measurements of a stealth or Streamer Blow Out Coronal Mass Ejections (SBO-CMEs) which create space weather. Learning to recognize and characterize these early CMEs help to understand their evolution through the solar system.  In addition to studies of the Sun and solar wind, the mission has been able to study Venus, dust, and even capture photos of a comet! Come learn about the coolest hottest mission to the Sun!

Bio:

Astrophysicist Kelly Korreck knows how to handle the heat. She builds and operates instruments to study the Sun and understand its hot explosive outer atmosphere or corona. Her career has taken her from the desert of New Mexico to Japan, to the innermost part of the solar system. Kelly headed up science operations and project management for the SWEAP Suite aboard Parker Solar Probe. She works with engineers and scientists to create the best data from this once-in-a-lifetime mission. Kelly holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics and Astronomy and a Ph.D. in Space Physics both from the University of Michigan. When not studying the sun, she can be found near the beach, running, dancing, or in the yoga studio.

 

Dec
12
Sun
2021
December 12 – Public Monthly Meeting – How to Optimize your Astrophotography Setup @ Online via Google Meet
Dec 12 @ 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm

How to Optimize your Astrophotography Setup

Dr. Thomas B. Fowler

Sunday, December 12, 2021

7:30 PM to 9:00 PM EST

Online event

meet.google.com/osh-bcyd-gti

Monthly Meeting – Public Invited

Abstract:

Amateur astronomers know too well that using a $400 Tele Vue eyepiece with a $100 telescope would be a waste of money and the capabilities of the Tele Vue. It would work, but for $500 a much better optical train could be assembled.  Similarly, any attempt to get 300x out of a 60mm f//10 telescope using a 4mm eyepiece and a 2x Barlow would be disappointing.  A 25 lb. telescope on a flimsy mount might not collapse the mount, but it would not make for good viewing.  These examples illustrate that in astronomy as elsewhere, for optimum performance and return on investment, it is necessary to use carefully matched equipment. In this talk Dr. Fowler will explain the issues involved in matching optical equipment, astronomy cameras, and mechanical gear to determine optimal performance and the limits to any given astrophotography configuration.

Bio:

Thomas B. Fowler has been involved in astronomy since 1960. He is the author of over one hundred articles, many reviews for Cloudy Nights, and three books, including a book on astronomy equipment and techniques, “The View Through Your Telescope and How to Make it Better” (2020). He has given presentations to the Northern Virginia Astronomy Club and the TriState Astronomers. He is an independent consultant on technology to the U.S. government and Adjunct Professor of Engineering at George Mason University. He has lectured widely on science, technology, and philosophy. His doctorate from George Washington University is in system theory. He also owns 3 telescopes and too much other astronomy equipment to think about! His books can be ordered from Amazon.

Jan
9
Sun
2022
January 9 – Public Monthly Meeting – Two Eyes are Better than One @ Online via Google Meet
Jan 9 @ 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
January 9 - Public Monthly Meeting - Two Eyes are Better than One @ Online via Google Meet

Two Eyes are Better than One

Philip S. Harrington, FRAS

Astronomy Author/Educator

Contributing editor, Astronomy magazine

Sunday, January 9, 2022

7:30 PM to 9:00 PM EST

Online event

meet.google.com/osh-bcyd-gti

Monthly Meeting – Public Invited

Abstract:

Binoculars are NOT just for beginners, as this talk will stress. After various binocular-related terms are defined, Phil Harrington will offer consumer tips to help the audience weed out astronomically worthy binoculars from a vast ocean of models currently available.

 

Bio:

A lifelong amateur astronomer, Phil Harrington was bitten by the “astronomical bug” when he was assigned to watch the total lunar eclipse of April 1968 as a homework assignment. Since then, Phil has spent countless hours touring the universe through telescopes and binoculars. He is a former staff member of New York City’s Hayden Planetarium and instructor at the Vanderbilt Planetarium in Centerport, New York. Phil is an adjunct professor at Suffolk County Community College, Selden, New York, where he teaches courses in stellar and planetary astronomy. He is a founding member of the Westport (CT) Astronomical Society and is also one of the coordinators of the annual Astronomer’s Conjunction, held every summer in Northfield, MA. Phil is also a contributing editor for Astronomy magazine, where he has published more than 200 articles since 1988.

Feb
20
Sun
2022
Public Monthly Meeting – Wild and Wonderful Space Volcanoes!
Feb 20 @ 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Public Monthly Meeting - Wild and Wonderful Space Volcanoes!

Wild and Wonderful Space Volcanoes!

Caitlin Ahrens, Ph.D.

Sunday, February 20, 2022

7:30 PM to 9:00 PM EST

Online event

meet.google.com/osh-bcyd-gti

Monthly Meeting – Public Invited

 

Abstract:

How are there many different types of volcanoes in our Solar System? How do these volcanoes form and evolve? We’ll explore the marvelous volcanic wonders of the Solar System by deep diving into how they behave and form from different planetary materials, including the mysteries of cryovolcanism!

 

Bio:

Caitlin Ahrens’ research involves remote sensing of icy surfaces and volatile interactions, including permanently shadowed craters at the lunar poles and cryovolcanism. Dr. Ahrens also works on several planetary geomorphology projects, including lava flow morphology, caldera formation, and rheology, on Mars, Ceres, Titan, and Pluto.

Dr. Ahrens received her B.S. in Physics/Astrophysics and Geology from West Virginia University in 2015, and a Ph.D. in Space and Planetary Science at the University of Arkansas in 2020. Dr. Ahrens is currently a NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellow at the Goddard Space Flight Center, and a member of the Diviner Science Team with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. In 2018, she was awarded the Ten Outstanding Young Americans award by the Jaycees for her efforts in science communication and outreach.

Mar
13
Sun
2022
Public Monthly Meeting – Improving the Performance of Your Imaging Mount
Mar 13 @ 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm
Public Monthly Meeting - Improving the Performance of Your Imaging Mount

Improving the Performance of Your Imaging Mount 

Eric Snow, Ph.D.

Sunday, March 13, 2022

7:30 PM to 9:00 PM EST

Online event

meet.google.com/osh-bcyd-gti

Monthly Meeting – Public Invited

 

Abstract:

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 strategy to minimize these errors by using “hypertuning” and optimized guiding.  The presentation will serve as a “How-To” guide for achieving atmospheric-seeing-limited imaging performance with less expensive mounts.

 

Bio:

Dr. Eric Snow recently retired from a 35-year scientific career at the Naval Research Laboratory where he served as the Director of the Institute for Nanoscience and as Head of the Physics of Electronic Materials Branch.  Eric’s field of expertise is Nanoscience, which is the study and engineering of matter at the nanometer length scale.  In retirement Eric has changed course and is learning about the universe at the opposite end of the length scale, the scale of light-years.  In this pursuit Eric joined NOVAC and has taken up the hobby of astrophotography.

Apr
10
Sun
2022
Public Monthly Meeting – How to Measure Velocities of Distant Galaxy Clusters, and Why
Apr 10 @ 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Public Monthly Meeting - How to Measure Velocities of Distant Galaxy Clusters, and Why

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 Sunyaev-Zeldovich Effect) which recent experiments have used to identify thousands of clusters. Velocities of these clusters with respect to the cosmic rest frame can be probed using a related hot-gas scattering effect (the Kinematic Sunyaev-Zeldovich Effect) or a subtle gravitational lensing effect (the transverse lensing effect). I will describe these effects and their detection prospects in upcoming cosmic microwave background experiments. Velocities of galaxy clusters reflect the growth of structure in the universe, and so provide one route to probing whether the accelerating expansion of the universe is due to some mysterious dark energy or to a modification of general relativity on cosmological scales.

Bio:

Arthur Kosowsky is Professor and Chair of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Pittsburgh. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1994 and spent three years as a Junior Fellow at Harvard University before taking a faculty job at Rutgers University. He moved to Pittsburgh in 2005. Major research interests have included the cosmic microwave background radiation, properties of the universe, and gravitational waves. Kosowsky was a founding member of the Atacama Cosmology Telescope collaboration and the Simons Observatory collaboration.

May
15
Sun
2022
Public Monthly Meeting – Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover: From Launch to Landing
May 15 @ 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm
Public Monthly Meeting - Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover: From Launch to Landing

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 is the most advanced rover of the set, with each upgrade carefully designed to fit as much of the heritage Curiosity design as possible. Envisioned in 2012, launched in 2020, and landing on February 18, 2021 in the midst of a global pandemic, Perseverance made history as the 5th rover to land on Mars. Its express mission is to seek the signs of past life. Perseverance is the first leg of an ambitious program of Mars Sample Return. The samples collected by Perseverance could one day tell us whether there was past life on Mars. This talk will detail the scientific roadmap of the previous Mars rover missions, detail the evolution of landing technology, the augmentation of Perseverance to include Terrain Relative Navigation, and finally describe Perseverance’s journey from launch to landing.

Bio:

Dr. Swati Mohan joined NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory first in 2004, after completing her B.S from Cornell University in Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering. After working as a systems engineer on Cassini during Saturn Orbit Insertion and Huygens Probe release, she returned to graduate school in 2005 to MIT. Dr. Mohan received her M.S. and Ph.D. in Aeronautics/Astronautics from the MIT Space Systems Laboratory. Since her return to JPL in 2010, Dr. Mohan has worked on multiple missions such as GRAIL and OCO-3. For the past 8 Years, she has been the Lead Guidance, Navigation and Controls Systems Engineer for Mars 2020 Perseverance rover, focusing on Cruise and EDL.  In 2020, she transitioned to Mars 2020 Guidance, Navigation, and Controls Operations lead and mission commentator for the landing of the Perseverance rover on February 18, 202. She is currently the supervisor of the Guidance, Navigation, and Controls Systems Engineering group at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and is working on the Mars Sample Retrieval Lander.  Swati also co-founded and manages the Small Satellite Dynamics Test bed.

Jun
12
Sun
2022
Public Monthly Meeting – Supermassive Black Holes at the Center of M87 and Milky Way Galaxies: What We Learn
Jun 12 @ 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm
Public Monthly Meeting - Supermassive Black Holes at the Center of M87 and Milky Way Galaxies: What We Learn

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 (SMBH: SgrA*) by the Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration (EHTC) has opened up a very promising era of precision (supermassive) Black Hole astrophysics. Thanks to the Event Horizon Telescope, we have now a horizon-resolved image of a few Supermassive Black Holes, as well as some knowledge about the structure of the magnetic field and the accretion flow around some BHs. Inspired by this discoveries, in this talk, Dr. Emami will speak about different aspects of the recently-reported (yet) un-polarized images of SgrA*. She will then continue with the polarized image of M87* and how we could use that to get some novel information about the structure of the magnetic field as well as the accretion flow around M87*. Dr. Emami will end with some of the next questions that scientists would like to address in the Event Horizon Telescope and the next generation of the Event Horizon Telescope (the NGEHT).

Bio:

Razieh Emami is a postdoc at the Center for Astrophysics. She has worked on a variety of different topics, including early universe cosmology, massive neutrinos, gravitational waves, TDES, galaxy evolution and BH physics. As a member of the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) and its next generation (ngeht), she is currently focused on various topics relevant to the EHT, including black hole imaging, spectral analysis, model fitting and image reconstruction.