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SLAS Regular Meeting
Friday, January 17, 2020
7:30pm
McDonnell Hall, Room 162
Washington University

Boot Prints and Rover Tracks: Where Will We Land Next?

by

Dr. Ryan Watkins
The Planetary Institute

Dr. Ryan Watkins of the Planetary Science Institute will be featured at the January meeting of the Saint Louis Astronomical Society. The meeting will begin at 7:30 PM Friday, January 17 in McDonnell Hall, Room 162, on the Washington University campus, Saint Louis, MO 63105. McDonnell Hall is accessible from Forsyth Boulevard via Tolman Way.

It has been 50 years since the Apollo missions to the Moon, and the U.S. has yet to land another robotic or crewed spacecraft on the lunar surface. However, there is renewed interest by both NASA and commercial companies to return humans to the Moon in the next decade. While much has been learned from the Apollo missions and robotic orbiters, many questions still remain. Among them are details about the Moon’s formation and evolution, the variety of its surface materials, and its internal structure. Possible landing sites for conducting high-priority scientific investigations have been examined and selected by lunar scientists and highlighted in a recent Lunar Science for Landed Missions Report. Dr. Watkins will discuss how data from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter is being used to evaluate these and other potential lunar landing sites for the next U.S. human and robotic missions to the Moon.

Dr. Ryan Watkins is a Research Scientist with the Planetary Science Institute. She uses remote sensing to study the physical and compositional properties of the lunar surface. Dr. Watkins serves on the Science Advisory Board for Blue Origin's Blue Moon lander project, as well as on the Next Generation Lunar Scientists and Engineers Organizing Committee and the Lunar Exploration and Analysis Group Executive Committee.

https://www.psi.edu/about/staffpage/rclegg-watkins

Meeting Agenda

 

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SLAS Regular Meeting
Friday, December 20, 2019
7:30pm
McDonnell Hall, Room 162
Washington University

Fast Radio Bursts: "Lorimer Bursts"   

by
Duncan Lorimer, PhD
University of West Virginia (Zoom Event)

 

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SLAS Regular Meeting
Friday, November 15, 2019
7:30pm
McDonnell Hall, Room 162
Washington University

The Formation of Solar-type Stars and Planetary Systems:
a Journey Toward Understanding Our Origins

by
Claire Chandler, PhD
National Radio Astronomy Observatory (Zoom Event)

Meeting Agenda

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SLAS Regular Meeting
Friday, October 18, 2019
7:30pm
McDonnell Hall, Room 162
Washington University

Beacons of the Invisible Universe: Quasars and Pulsars
by
Abigail Bollenbach
Bartlesville Astronomical Society

    Abigail Bollenbach of the Bartlesville Astronomical Society, Oklahoma will be featured at the October meeting of the Saint Louis Astronomical Society. The meeting will begin at 7:30 PM Friday, October 18, in McDonnell Hall, Room 162, on the Washington University campus, Saint Louis, MO 63105. McDonnell Hall is accessible from Forsyth Boulevard via Tolman Way.     About half a century ago, radio telescopes revealed two kinds of objects not detected before by optical telescopes. “Quasars” – short for quasi-stellar radio objects - were found to be monster black holes in very distant galaxies.  Some of the material spiraling toward the black hole is superheated and spewed out from the black hole’s poles. The gas generates huge amounts of energy, including radio waves. “Pulsars” turned out to be the last stages of massive stars that had exploded. The leftover core of such a star, which is still more massive than our entire Sun, is crunched by gravity into a rapidly spinning ball only a few miles across. Beams of energy sweep out from the poles of the spinning pulsar, somewhat like a lighthouse beacon. Ms. Bollenbach will talk about the nature of quasars and pulsars and describe how quasar distances are detected. She will also present a short history of the development of radio astronomy.    Abigail Bollenbach is a member of the Bartlesville Oklahoma Astronomical Society.  A high school senior, she has been recognized by several national organizations for her work with astronomy public outreach projects. She is a founding member of the Bartian Youth Astronomers group in Bartlesville. 

 

Meeting Agenda

 

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 The Northern Lights and STEVE
by
Dr. Don Hampton
University of Alaska - Fairbanks

   Dr. Don Hampton of the University of Alaska, Fairbanks will be featured at the September meeting of the Saint Louis Astronomical Society. The meeting will begin at 7:30 PM Friday, September 20, in McDonnell Hall, Room 162, on the Washington University campus, Saint Louis, MO 63105. McDonnell Hall is accessible from Forsyth Boulevard via Tolman Way.  Free yellow zone and garage parking spaces are available. The event, cosponsored by NASA's Missouri Space Grant Consortium at Washington University, is open to the public free of charge.
    The Sun showers Earth with more than light, heat, and other forms of energy.  It also bombards the Earth with high energy particles. When solar “storms” eject a much greater batch of particles than usual, the particles smash into the molecules of Earth’s upper atmosphere, causing the upper air to glow. Large, shimmering sheets and ribbons of airglow become visible from the ground as an aurora – the Northern Lights as seen from north of the equator. A few years ago, a vertical dagger of glowing air was seen and nicknamed “Steve”. Now this dagger has been re-named “STEVE” – Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement. Dr. Hampton will talk about the nature of the Northern Lights and STEVE, and about their direct effects on radio communications, satellites, and power grids.
   Dr. Don Hampton is a Research Associate Professor in the Geophysical Institute of the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. His research interests center on the boundary between Earth’s upper atmosphere and space, the energy input of aurora into the upper atmosphere, and the effects of auroral energy on the atmosphere.

Meeting Agenda

 

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SLAS Regular Meeting
Friday, August 16, 2019 @ 7:30pm
McDonnell Hall Room 162
Washington University

Gravitational Waves: Astrophysics Final Frontier

Dr. Marco Cavaglia
Missouri University of Science and Technology

Dr. Marco Cavaglia of the Missouri University of Science and Technology will be featured at the August meeting of the Saint Louis Astronomical Society.  McDonnell Hall is accessible from Forsyth Boulevard via Tolman Way.  Free yellow zone and garage parking spaces are available. The event, cosponsored by NASA's Missouri Space Grant Consortium at Washington University, is open to the public free of charge.
    Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity predicts the existence of gravitational waves. These are ripples of space caused by changes in gravity. Even for major changes in gravity, such as the merging of black holes, the gravitational waves produced are extremely weak and very hard to detect. Dr. Gavaglia will talk about the nature of gravitational waves and how they are detected, both indirectly and finally, in 2016, directly. He will also talk about efforts to map the dark, gravitational universe, including black holes and neutron stars.
   Dr. Marco Cavaglia is a Professor of Physics at Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla, MO. His research interests include both experimental and theoretical gravity physics. During his career, Dr. Cavaglia, has been awarded research grants totaling over $ 2.5 million dollars and has authored over 200 scientific publications.
     

 

 

SLAS Regular Meeting
Friday, July 19 2019 @ 7:30pm
McDonnell Hall Room 162
Washington University
Piloting SOFIA, NASA’s Flying Observatory
   Craig O’Mara
NASA

  

   Retired Air Force, NASA, and airline pilot Craig O’Mara will be featured at the July meeting of the Saint Louis Astronomical Society. The meeting will begin at 7:30 PM Friday, July 19 in McDonnell Hall, Room 162, on the Washington University campus, Saint Louis, MO 63105. McDonnell Hall is accessible from Forsyth Boulevard via Tolman Way.  Free yellow zone and Bearly parking is available just west of McDonnell Hall. Street parking along Forsyth and garage parking spaces are also available. Handicap Parking is available next to McDonnell Hall.

   Earth’s air, while vital for all of us, causes major problems for astronomers. Clear air --- isn’t. It is a collection of small pockets of slightly different densities, pockets in constant motion. Each ray of light is shifted as it goes through each pocket. As a result, even “still” clear air causes blurring, and causes stars to twinkle. The air also blocks much infrared and most ultraviolet light from reaching ground-based telescopes. One solution – get the telescope above as much air as possible. Best would be to get the telescope above all of the air. But space-based telescopes are very expensive to build, launch and support. To ease the cost burden, NASA flies an aircraft-based telescope. Named “SOFIA”, this is a telescope 106 inches across, mounted in a specially modified Boeing 747 airplane. Mr. O’Mara will talk about the SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory For Infra-red Astronomy) aircraft and his experiences with piloting the flying observatory.

   Craig O’Mara was a NASA Research Pilot on SOFIA from 2016 to 2018. He learned to fly at 16 years old in 1970 in East St. Louis, Illinois. He was a USAF Reserve Instructor pilot/Flight Examiner from 1979 to 2002, and flew United Airlines aircraft such as the Boeing 737, 777, and 787 jets from 1985 to 2018.

Meeting Agenda

 

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SLAS Regular Meeting
Friday, June 21 2019 @ 7:30pm
Brown Hall Room 118

(NOTE: Brown Hall is the next building East of McDonnell Hall)
Washington University

 Pre-Solar Grains: Solids from Other Stars Studied in the Lab

   Josiah Lewis, PhD 
Washington University

    Dr. Josiah Lewis of Washington University will be featured at the June meeting of the Saint Louis Astronomical Society. The meeting will begin at 7:30 PM Friday, June 21 in Brown Hall, Room 118, on the Washington University campus, Saint Louis, MO 63105. Brown Hall is just north of Goldfarb Hall, on the Forsyth Blvd. side of the campus. Free yellow zone and Danforth University Center garage parking spaces are available.

     Presolar grains are dust-sized particles that are older than our solar system. They formed billions of years ago in the expanding atmospheres of aging stars and supernova explosions. The grains survived travel through deep space to be incorporated into solar system materials. Found in trace concentrations in asteroids, comets, and interplanetary dust particles, they offer the chance to use microscopes to study stars and the synthesis of the elements. Dr. Lewis will discuss his studies of presolar nanodiamonds, which are diamond particles too small to be seen with a regular microscope. He must use special instruments to analyze these incredibly tiny visitors to our solar system.

      Dr. Josiah Lewis is a postdoctoral research associate in the McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences at Washington University. He uses microscopes instead of telescopes to research extraterrestrial materials. He completed his PhD in physics at Washington University in 2017

Meeting Agenda

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SLAS Regular Meeting
Friday, May 17 2019 @ 7:30pm
Room 162 McDonnell Hall
Washington University

 Gravitational Lensing and the Dark Side of the Universe

    “Gravitational lensing” is the very slight bending of light by any clump of matter. The matter’s gravity acts like a lens to create magnifications and distortions of galaxies that lie far behind the clump in space. The magnification is predicted by Einstein’s General Relativity Theory. The lensing has been identified as one the most powerful techniques to learn more about the distribution of dark matter in galaxies and galaxy clusters. The study of the evolution of dark matter provides some clues about how dark energy is causing the expansion of the Universe to accelerate.  Dark matter and dark energy add up to nearly 95% of the Universe, but their natures are largely unknown. Dr. Plazas will talk about the fundamental role that gravitational lensing has played and will play in current and future galaxy   surveys such as the Dark Energy Survey (DES), the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), and NASA’s Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST).
    Andrés Plazas received a Doctorate in Physics and Astronomy from the University of Pennsylvania in 2012. He is now an associate research scholar in the Department of Astrophysical Sciences of Princeton University and also serves as a NASA Solar System Ambassador.

Meeting Agenda

 

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SLAS Regular Meeting

Friday, April 17, 2019 @ 7:30 pm

 162 McDonnell Hall, Washington University

NOTE: Room Change for April Meeting to Wilson Hall, Room 214

Click here for a google map for Wilson Hall, then zoom in.

A Space Cornucopia: From Quasars to the Green Flash

by

Bob "Astro Bob" King

Bob King, author, blogger, and photographer will be featured at the April meeting of the Saint Louis Astronomical Society.

The “Space Cornucopia” will be a tour of the night sky’s interesting objects. As Mr. King describes it, “Get the coffee ready. We'll stay up the entire night from dusk till sunrise starting with the zodiacal light before moving on to survey the heart of the Virgo Cluster of galaxies. From there we dive deep to hunt quasars and supernovae, check out the pre-dawn planets and wrap up with a green flash sunrise.”

Bob King has been an amateur astronomer since he was 10 years old. In 1979, he moved to Duluth, Minnesota, and worked as a photographer and photo editor for the Duluth News Tribune until retiring in 2018. He teaches community education astronomy classes, lectures widely and writes the Astro Bob blog (astrobob.areavoices.com) about what’s up in the night sky. He is author of Night Sky with the Naked Eye and Wonders of the Night Sky You Must See Before You Die. His third book, Urban Legends from Space, will publish this fall.

The St. Louis Astronomical Society is an organization for individuals interested in astronomy and telescopes. The public is invited to attend its meetings, telescope observing sessions, and special events.

 

Meeting Agenda

 

 

SLAS Regular Meeting
Friday, March 15, 2019 @ 7:30pm

Rocks From Outer Space

by
\
Professor Bruce Stinchcomb

Florissant Valley Community College

     Professor Bruce Stinchcomb of Florissant Valley Community College will be featured at the March meeting of the Saint Louis Astronomical Society.

     Meteorites are the pieces that remain after a chunk of metal or stone smashes into the Earth. Most of the material that bombards our planet every day is about the size of the head of a pin, or smaller. These meteoroids hit the upper atmosphere at speeds of thousands of miles per hour and vaporize, causing the air around them to glow. We see the glowing streaks as meteors. Perhaps two dozen rocks from outer space each year are large enough that some pieces survive their passage through the atmosphere to strike the surface. Professor Stinchcomb will talk about the different kinds of meteorites and where they come from. He will also explain what these space rocks reveal about the early history of the Earth, Moon, and other solar system objects.

     Bruce Stinchcomb is a retired Professor at Saint Louis Community College at Florissant Valley. In addition to a long teaching career, Dr. Stinchcomb is the author of several books about meteorites and about fossils.

 Meeting Agenda

 

 

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SLAS Regular Meeting
Friday, February 15, 2019 @ 7:30pm
162 McDonnell Hall, Washington University

Probing the Sub-Microwave Universe

by

K. Michael Malolepszy

Saint Louis Astronomical Society

     In addition to telescopes that use regular light waves to form images, there are now instruments that “see” the universe in invisible radiation. X-rays, heat, and radio waves are examples. In the high, frozen deserts of northern Chile is a device, nicknamed ALMA, which detects sub-microwave energy. Michael Malolepszy will talk about recent radio astronomy developments focusing on the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). While not strictly a radio telescope (sub-microwave energies have higher frequencies than radio energies), it does operate very much like a radio telescope interferometer such as the Very Large Array (VLA) near Socorro, New Mexico. ALMA is array of 66 high-precision, movable antennas, which can be linked together to form one image. Mr. Malolepszy will explain how ALMA is similar and how it differs from the VLA. He will also present a survey of ALMA’s capabilities and recent results.  

   Michael Malolepszy is a veteran amateur astronomer. Now employed in a technical support role for the Department of Biology at Washington University, he formerly worked as a Radio Telescope Array Operator at the Very Large Array.  He is also a planetarium operator at the James S. McDonnell Planetarium

 Meeting Agenda

 

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 SLAS Regular Meeting
Friday, January 18, 2019 @ 7:30pm
162 McDonnell Hall, Washington University

Comets after Rosetta and New Horizons  -
What Have We Learned from Space and Ground Based Observations

Erika Gibb, PhD
University of Missouri St. Louis

 Meeting Agenda

 

 

 SLAS Regular Meeting

Friday, December 21, 2018 @ 7:30pm
162 McDonnell Hall, Washington University

The Science of Star Wars
by
Dr. Pamela Gay
Astronomical Society of the Pacific

  Dr. Pamela Gay of The Astronomical Society of the Pacific will be featured at the December meeting of the St. Louis Astronomical Society. The meeting will begin at 7:30 PM Friday, December 21, in McDonnell Hall, Room 162, on the Washington University campus, Saint Louis, MO 63105. McDonnell Hall is accessible from Forsyth Boulevard via Tolman Way.  
   Long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away – matter and energy interacted in an earlier universe that followed the same laws of physics, chemistry, and biology that govern the universe today. The Star Wars plot lines and devices sometimes followed those laws – and sometimes they did not. Dr. Gay will talk about the science of Star Wars – what is possible and what is not. (Spoiler Alert: The Millennium Falcon did not make the Kessel Run in a time of twelve parsecs. A parsec is a unit of distance, not time.)
     Dr. Pamela Gay is an astronomer, writer, and podcaster focused on using new media to engage people in science and technology. She is the Director of Technology and Citizen Science for the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, co-host of the Astronomy Cast podcast, and a member of the team that is building the CosmoQuest virtual research facility. CosmoQuest is a citizen science web site designed to provide the public with opportunities to participate in NASA related science programs, online seminars, and other astronomy events and activities.

 

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 SLAS Regular Meeting

Friday, November 16, 2018 @ 7:30pm
162 McDonnell Hall, Washington University

      Lunar Geology
by
Brad Joliff, PhD
Earth and Planetary Sciences Department
Washington University

Dr. Bradley Jolliff of Washington University, will be featured at the November meeting of the St. Louis Astronomical Society. The meeting will begin at 7:30 PM on Friday, November 16, in McDonnell Hall, Room 162, on the Washington University campus, Saint Louis, MO 63130. McDonnell Hall is accessible from Forsyth Boulevard via Tolman Way.

What are the moon rocks made of (spoiler alert – not green cheese) and how were they formed? What do the Moon’s surface features tell us about its early history? Is there water on the Moon, and if so, where is it? Dr. Jolliff will talk about lunar geology, and how the study of Apollo astronaut lunar samples, lunar meteorites, and orbiting cameras are used to understand the Moon’s surface, interior, and changes over time.

Dr. Jolliff is a professor in Earth and Planetary Sciences.   His teaching and research focus is on the Moon and Mars, the materials that make up their surfaces and interiors, and what they tell about the planet's history.  Dr. Jolliff is a member of NASA’s Mars Exploration Rovers operations team and the NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera science team.

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SLAS Regular Meeting

Friday, October 19, 2018 @ 7:30pm
162 McDonnell Hall, Washington University

      Asteroids Ceres and Vesta Up Close: the Dawn Spacecraft Mission
by
Xiaochen Mao
Washington University

Xiaochen Mao of Washington University will be featured at the October meeting of the St. Louis Astronomical Society. The meeting will begin at 7:30 PM on Friday, October 19, in McDonnell Hall, Room 162, on the Washington University campus.

Asteroids are small bodies of rock and metal that orbit the Sun. Most lie between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, but some have elliptical paths that can cross Earth’s orbit.  At 583 miles across, the largest asteroid, Ceres, was discovered in 1801. The second largest, Vesta was found six years later. Although they lie in the same region of our solar system, Ceres and Vesta are quite different. Ground-based telescopes reveal few surface and composition details. NASA’s Dawn robot spacecraft, launched in 2007, provided the first close-up views.  First it traveled to Vesta, where it orbited the asteroid in 2011 and 2012. Then it moved on to Ceres, arriving in March 2015. It is now concluding its Ceres observations. Xiaochen Mao will present a brief history of the discovery of Vesta and Ceres, comment on the scientific merit of the Dawn Mission, and, discuss some of the major discoveries made by Dawn’s telescopes and instruments. 

Xiaochen Mao is a fifth-year graduate student in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Washington University. His work focuses on Ceres' internal structure, revealed by modeling from its gravity field, and Ceres' spin evolution, deduced from its cratering record.

ASTRO 101 - Telescope Basics - Mark Jones - SLAS member

SLAS Regular Meeting

Friday, September 21, 2018 @ 7:30pm
162 McDonnell Hall, Washington University

Colliding Black Holes and the Search For Dark Matter
by
Dr. Francesc Ferrer

     Dr.  Francesc Ferrer of Washington University, will be featured at the September meeting of the St. Louis Astronomical Society. The meeting will begin at 7:30 PM on Friday, September 21, in McDonnell Hall, Room 162, on the Washington University campus, Saint Louis, MO 63130.

     One of the most fascinating predictions of Einstein's theory of gravity is the existence of black holes. These are objects that are so dense that not even light can escape their powerful gravity. The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) has recently discovered the presence of black holes that could constitute the dark matter in the universe. Dr. Ferrer will discuss these black holes and the gravitational waves that LIGO detected when two black holes collided. He will also talk about observations of the super-massive black hole at the center of the Milky Way by the Event Horizon Telescope.

      Dr. Francesc Ferrer is an Associate Professor of Physics at Washington University.  He completed his PhD at the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona. He then held postdoctoral positions at Oxford University and Case Western Reserve before coming to Saint Louis in 2008.  His areas of interest are theoretical cosmology and astroparticle physics. He studies the composition and evolution of the universe and implications for cosmology of theories of sub-atomic particle physics.

 

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SLAS Regular Meeting
Friday, August 17 2018 @ 7:30pm
162 McDonnell Hall, Washington University

The Apollo Missions, the Far Side of the Moon and Continued Studies from a Distance
by
Anna Schonwald
Washington University

In light of the recent 49th Anniversary of Apollo 11, we will discuss how the Apollo missions reframed our understanding of the Moon and how this research continues with lunar orbiters. Before stepping foot on the Moon, man’s knowledge of our neighbor came from remote sensing. Photometry, or the science of the measurement of light, has been used for about 2,000 years by astronomers. The dark patches on the near side of the Moon were named “mare” or sea based on differences in reflected light.

During the Apollo program we landed six missions on the lunar surface and found an ancient, lifeless world that was genetically related to Earth but with virtually no water. Despite traversing only 60mi (97km) of the Moon’s 2160mi (3475km) diameter, the discoveries made from the Apollo missions greatly enhanced our knowledge of the entire Moon, including the far side. These discoveries led to the “Giant Impact” theory and the Lunar Magma Ocean (LMO) hypothesis.

What about today? Though humanity’s last footprint on another planetary body was 45 years ago, the discoveries from the Apollo missions continue to inform modern lunar research. We can relate results from photometric studies of the far side to the Apollo sites as a way to ground-truth our data. By comparing data from the far side of the moon to areas where we have detailed information about the geology from samples and data, we have a better way to test our inferences. What can we do from a distance? The answer is quite a lot!

Anna Schonwald is a graduate student at Washington University. She is currently studying the ancient crust of the moon using NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Cameras (LROC). She earned a degree in physics and geology from Earlham College, where she helped restore the campus observatory in order to hold public observation nights.  Ms. Schonwald also conducted research in New Mexico at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) on the atmospheric circulation of the planet Uranus.

 

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SLAS Regular Meeting
Friday, July 20, 2018 7:30pm
162 McDonnell Hall, Washington University

Returning Americans to Space: CST-100 Starliner
by Tyler Frost
The Boeing Company

Tyler Frost, Program Manager, Boeing, will be featured at the July meeting of the St. Louis Astronomical Society. The meeting will begin at 7:30 PM Friday, 20 July 2018, in McDonnell Hall, Room 162, on the Washington University Campus, Saint Louis, MO 63130. McDonnell Hall is accessible from Forsyth Boulevard via Tolman Way. Free yellow zone and garage parking spaces are available. The event, cosponsored by NASA's Missouri Space Grant Consortium, is open to the public free of charge.

Since the final flight of a Space Shuttle in July, 2011, American astronauts have had to use Russian rockets to reach the International Space Station (ISS). NASA has been working with several aerospace companies to restore American launch and landing capability Robot-controlled rockets have already been used to deliver cargo to the ISS. Boeing's Crew Space Transportation (CST)-100 Starliner spacecraft is being developed in collaboration with NASA's Commercial Crew Program. The Starliner was designed to accommodate seven passengers, or a mix of crew and cargo, for missions to low-Earth orbit. The spacecraft will be reusable up to 10 times, with a six-month turnaround time.  Mr. Frost will present an overview of the Starliner project, an introduction to the new space suit, and an explanation of the Landing Recovery System.

Tyler Frost is currently the F/A-18 Kuwait Super Hornet Lead Supplier Program Manager. This project will support the 28 F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jets purchased by the State of Kuwait. He also manages the upcoming upgrade of the Super Hornet, which will add a new glass cockpit, improvements in structural life and networked communication, and conformal fuel tanks. Tyler is a graduate of the University of Missouri-Rolla with a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering. He holds an MBA (Arizona State University) and Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering (University of Cincinnati.) 

SLAS Regular Meeting
Friday, June 15, 2018 7:30pm
162 McDonnell Hall, Washington University

Mapping the Milky Way’s Stardust in 3D
by Dr. Edward Schlafly
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

SLAS Regular Meeting
Friday, May 18, 2018 7:30pm
162 McDonnell Hall, Washington University

NASA’s Mars 2020 Rover and Its Search For Ancient Martian Life
by Michael Bouchard
Washington University

 

Dr. Carl Bender will be featured at the January meeting of the St. Louis Astronomical Society. The meeting will begin at 7:30 PM Friday, January 19, in McDonnell Hall, Room 162, on the Washington University campus, Saint Louis, MO 63130. McDonnell Hall is accessible from Forsyth Boulevard via Tolman Way.

A black hole is a region of space that is so massive and so compressed that its gravity overwhelms all material objects in the area. At the black hole's boundary, the gravity is so strong that nothing, not even a beam of light, should be able to escape it. Black holes have, however, been detected indirectly, by the light and other energy emitted by gas spiraling in toward the black hole. Dr. Stephen Hawking proposed an exception to the "nothing can escape a black hole" rule. He figured out that particles and energy could be emitted at the boundary of the black hole. The escaping particles are called "Hawking radiation". Dr. Bender will talk about the nature of black holes and discuss their emission of Hawking radiation.

Dr. Carl Bender is the Konneker Distinguished Professor of Physics at Washington University. His research involves several areas of quantum field theory. He also serves as Science Consultant to the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.

 

 

Dr. Ryan Ogliore of Washington University, will be featured at the February meeting of the St. Louis Astronomical Society. The meeting will begin at 7:30 PM Friday, February 16, in McDonnell Hall, Room 162, on the Washington University campus, Saint Louis, MO 63130. McDonnell Hall is accessible from Forsyth Boulevard via Tolman Way.
How did the Earth, Sun, Moon, and planets form? Where did the material come from, and how was it assembled? Dr. Ogliore will describe the current theory, still being developed, for the formation and early history of the solar system. He will also talk about some of the instruments and techniques that are being used to discover what happened almost five billion years ago when the Sun, planets, moons, comets, and asteroids were born.

 

Dr. Ryan Ogliore is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics at Washington University. He received his Doctorate from the California Institute of Technology in 2007 and joined the Washington University faculty in 2015. His research involves the study of extraterrestrial materials – star dust, interplanetary dust, and meteorites – using microanalytical techniques. This probing of the very small scale structure and composition of space stuff provides clues to the formation and evolution of our Solar System, as well as other stars.

 

 

Dr. Kun Wang of Washington University will be featured at the March meeting of the St. Louis Astronomical Society. The meeting will begin at 7:30 PM Friday, March 16, in McDonnell Hall, Room 162, on the Washington University campus, Saint Louis, MO 63130. McDonnell Hall is accessible from Forsyth Boulevard via Tolman Way.

 

Where did the Moon come from? Its origin has always intrigued humankind. Many myths and theories have emerged throughout history, but only in the last fifty years has it been possible to test modern theories. Lunar samples returned by NASA's Apollo astronauts support the "Giant Impact" theory over other explanations. This theory proposes that the Moon was formed from the debris that resulted from a violent collision between the very young Earth and a Mars-sized object. In the past decade, however, ultra-high precision moonrock analyses have seemed to contradict some of the provisions of this theory. To resolve this, in addition to continued sample testing, new perspectives on the lunar origin theory may need to be devised. Dr. Wang will discuss his research on this problem and describe some of the advanced analytical equipment he uses in his laboratory.

 

Dr. Kun Wang is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Washington University. He received his Doctorate from Washington University in 2013 and then was awarded a post-graduate fellowship position at Harvard University. He joined the Washington University faculty in 2016. His research involves the study of the chemical composition of meteorites to understand the initial physical and chemical conditions during the formation and earliest years of the solar system.

 

Friday, April 20, 2018 7:30pm
McDonnell Hall, Washington University
The Search For Planet X – Or IX?
by Michael Medford University of California, Berkeley (Zoom Event)
  
In January, 2017, Professor Michael Brown and Dr. Konstantin Batygin of Caltech announced their theory that a very distant, as yet undiscovered, planet may be orbiting the Sun once every 20,000 years. Their belief was based on some unusual features in the orbits of small icy worlds located well beyond Pluto. A search for the mysterious “Planet X” is now being conducted by several teams of astronomers. If successful, a ninth (“IX” in Roman numerals) planet will be added to the known group of major Sun-circlers. Michael Medford is a member of one of the search teams. He will explain why many astronomers believe that Planet X exists and how they hope to find it. Mr. Medford will describe the history of planet hunting and its current state.  He will also comment about what the discovery of such a planet might tell us about our solar system and the existence of planets orbiting other stars.

Michael Medford is a 3rd year Doctoral student in Astrophysics at the University of California Berkeley. He is developing a computational method for executing the largest telescopic search for Planet Nine yet attempted. He received a Bachelor of Science from Northwestern University in 2011 in both physics and theatre.  He worked as a physics teacher and actor in Chicago before entering graduate school in 2014.