LECTURES & TALKS

Dust covers much of the sky, blocking our views of the objects behind it. New techniques, akin to night-vision goggles, allow us to see through this dust to observe stars that flare and dim to mark their explosive births, deaths, and cataclysmic interactions. Timestamps and links are. included below: Announcements: 00:00​ Universe Fly-Through with Space Engine: 4:29 Presentation on Stellar Births & Deaths: 18:41​ Q&A Panel Introductions: 53:42 Why are some nebulae bright and others dark? 58:52 What are the origin and size of dust grains in space? 1:01:35 How do exoplanet atmospheres originate? 1:06:30 How do stars of different sizes form? 1:09:01 How did Mars lose its atmosphere and magnetic field? 1:16:13 What's going on with Tabby's Star? 1:18:42 How do we visually *see* planets around other stars? 1:22:25 How can a high schooler get involved in astro research? 1:24:11 What would evidence for life on Mars look like? 1:28:54 How do supernovae regulate gas flows in galaxies? 1:33:12 What do neutron star mergers look like in the infrared? 1:38:13 Why is there perchlorate in Mars' soil? 1:44:34 Why are so few exoplanets discovered using astrometry? 1::48:37 Is the "cosmic web" an accepted theory? 1:50:17 Are there other ways to study the universe beyond light (EM waves)? 1:54:58 Concluding Remarks: 2:01:10 Participants: Kishalay De is a finishing PhD student in the astronomy department at Caltech. He builds software to handle large data streams from sky surveys to study exploding stars in the distant galaxies and in our own Milky Way. https://sites.astro.caltech.edu/~kde/ Nicole Wallack is a PhD candidate in planetary science at Caltech. She uses space and ground based telescopes to study the atmospheres of planets around other stars to try to understand how planets form and evolve. https://etlab.caltech.edu/et-lab-people/nicole-wallack Eva Scheller is a PhD candidate in geology at Caltech. She’s also a scientist on the Perseverance rover Science Team. Here, she helps the science team plan Perseverance’ traverses and experiments as well as analyze the data retrieved from Mastcam-Z and SHERLOC instruments. She uses modeling, laboratory experiments, satellites, and rovers to study the history of rocks, water, and life on terrestrial planets, including Mars. http://web.gps.caltech.edu/~eschelle/ Ryan Rubenzahl is a PhD student in astronomy at Caltech. He looks for exoplanets by observing the wobble of their stars with the goal of finding small planets like the Earth. He also stares at the Sun to better understand how the stars themselves affect the quality of our data. https://rrubenza.github.io/ Nikita Kamraj is a PhD candidate in Astrophysics at Caltech. She studies accreting supermassive black holes called Active Galactic Nuclei, using X-ray telescopes. She examines the X-ray spectra of these AGN to understand the nature and geometry of material surrounding accreting supermassive black hole systems. Dr. Cameron Hummels is a postdoctoral researcher in theoretical astrophysics at Caltech. He creates supercomputer simulations to study the formation and evolution of galaxies since the Big Bang. In addition to astrophysics and public education, he is really enthusiastic about trail-running, long-distance backpacking, brewing, chess, and the astronaut program. http://chummels.org Software Demo: Space Engine http://spaceengine.org/

Dr. Lucy Fortson Minnesota Institute for Astrophysics at the U of Minn Mapping the Haystack while Finding the Needles: How Crowdsourcing Science is Solving Big Data Problems in Research Zooniverse is the largest online citizen science platform in the world, with over 2 million participants on over 300 projects performing tasks like classification or marking, on images from camera traps in the Serengeti to those from Astronomical Sky Surveys. Within astronomy alone, serendipitous discoveries with Zooniverse include new categories of galaxies and extra-terrestrial planets. But new generations of instruments are creating ever-larger numbers of images that need to be classified. Machine learning can now do a lot of the tasks that humans can do – and they can do those tasks more efficiently. But can machines make serendipitous discoveries? Join Dr. Lucy Fortson, cofounder of the Zooniverse and Associate Head and Professor in the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Minnesota, as she takes you on a quick tour of the engaging projects in the Zooniverse – from the Lions in the Serengeti to galaxies in the furthest reaches of time and space. Along the way, she will describe the issues that researchers now face with “Big Data”, what crowdsourcing is and how combining human intelligence with artificial intelligence is revolutionizing how science is being done. Dr. Lucy Fortson is a Professor of Physics in the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Minnesota. As an observational astrophysicist, she uses very-high-energy gamma ray telescopes to study active galactic nuclei. She is also a founding member of the Zooniverse project where over 2 million volunteers contribute to discovery research by performing simple data analysis tasks across a wide range of disciplines from Astronomy to Zoology. Fortson focuses on developing human-computation algorithms to tackle Big Data challenges with next generation observatories such as LSST and the Cherenkov Telescope Array. Prior to joining the faculty at UMN, Fortson was Vice President for Research at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago and a research scientist at the University of Chicago. She received her BA in 1984 from Smith College in Physics and Astronomy, and her PhD in 1991 from UCLA in High Energy Physics on CERN’s UA1 experiment. She has served on numerous committees including the National Academy of Sciences Astronomy 2010 Decadal Survey, NASA’s Astrophysics Science Subcommittee and the Human Capital Committee of the NASA Advisory Council, the NSF’s Mathematical and Physical Sciences Advisory Committee, and the Education and Public Outreach Review Committee for National Optical Astronomy Observatory. She is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, and a member of the American Astronomical Society, the Citizen Science Association and the Association for Computing Machinery. Her awards include the APS Nicholson Medal, NASA’s Exceptional Public Service Award, the University of Geneva’s Innovation Award and UMN’s Community-Engaged Scholar Award.

This video is a recorded Zoom meeting of the MAS imaging interest group William Gottemoller presented the sixth installment of the new series about seeing conditions and its effect on imaging

SAASST - Sharjah Academy for Astronomy, Space sciences & Technology

SAASST - Sharjah Academy for Astronomy, Space sciences & Technology

What happened after the Big Bang? When did the very first stars burst into life? Why are those stars were so unusual, and what they can teach us about the Universe today? Watch the Q&A: https://youtu.be/9zxsC68PJUI Emma's book "First Light" is available now: https://geni.us/GpAa0x Emma Chapman is currently based at Imperial College London, where she is a Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellow. Emma has spent her research career in London so far, completing her PhD and first postdoctoral position at UCL before heading off to Imperial College for a Royal Astronomical Society fellowship. Her research is in the Epoch of Reionisation, a rather off-putting name for a very exciting time in our Universe – when the lights first switched on. As those first stars formed and started flinging out high energy radiation, they formed bubbles of ionised hydrogen around them. We can observe this hydrogen today with radio telescopes and the race is on to make the first detection of the Epoch of Reionisation. Emma works mainly with the European telescope LOFAR based in the Netherlands. This talk was recorded on 1 December 2020. --- A very special thank you to our Patreon supporters who help make these videos happen, especially: János Fekete, Mehdi Razavi, Mark Barden, Taylor Hornby, Rasiel Suarez, Stephan Giersche, William 'Billy' Robillard, Scott Edwardsen, Jeffrey Schweitzer, Gou Ranon, Christina Baum, Frances Dunne, jonas.app, Tim Karr, Adam Leos, Michelle J. Zamarron, Andrew Downing, Fairleigh McGill, Alan Latteri, David Crowner, Matt Townsend, Anonymous, Andrew McGhee, Roger Shaw, Robert Reinecke, Paul Brown, Lasse T. Stendan, David Schick, Joe Godenzi, Dave Ostler, Osian Gwyn Williams, David Lindo, Roger Baker, Greg Nagel, and Rebecca Pan. --- The Ri is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/TheRoyalInstitution and Twitter: http://twitter.com/ri_science and Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/royalinstitution and Tumblr: http://ri-science.tumblr.com/ Our editorial policy: http://www.rigb.org/home/editorial-policy Subscribe for the latest science videos: http://bit.ly/RiNewsletter Product links on this page are Amazon affiliate links which means it won't cost you any extra but we may earn a small commission if you decide to purchase through the link.

AAS 237 Press Conference: Evolving Stars & Nebulae II Friday, 15 January 2021, 4:30 pm EST Welcome Rick Fienberg (AAS Press Officer) Scientists Explain a Jet Pointing the Wrong Way Daniel Q. Wang (University of Massachusetts, Amherst) New Looks at Old Friends: Hubble Space Telescope and Radio Imaging of Two Quintessential Planetary Nebulae The Butterfly (NGC 6302) Joel Kastner (Rochester Institute of Technology) The Jewel Bug (NGC 7027) Paula Moraga Baez (Rochester Institute of Technology) & Jesse Bublitz (Green Bank Observatory) Q&A

Psychologists have discovered that experiencing awe inspiring moments change us as humans. Planets and stars have been providing many such moments through human history, but new technology might be changing our relationship with the night sky. Jo's book "The Human Cosmos" is out now - https://geni.us/kJCTkA Watch the Q&A: https://youtu.be/zIF_GrfRxrI From Medieval monks grappling with the nature of time and Tahitian sailors navigating by the stars, to discoveries of how light reveals the chemical composition of the sun and Einstein's work on spacetime, humanity has always been inextricably linked to the wider cosmos. Humans have been in awe of the cosmos for the last 20,000 years. Our innate relationship with the stars shaped who we are. Our art, religious beliefs, social status, scientific advances and even our biology. Jo Marchant, PhD, is an award-winning journalist, speaker and author of the New York Times bestseller 'Cure: A Journey into the Science of Mind Over Body' (https://geni.us/pPrwNi). Her writing explores the nature of humanity and our universe, from the science of the mind-body connection and the mysteries of past civilisations to the awesome power of the night sky. This talk and Q&A was recorded by the Royal Institution on 3 November 2020. --- A very special thank you to our Patreon supporters who help make these videos happen, especially: János Fekete, Mehdi Razavi, Mark Barden, Taylor Hornby, Rasiel Suarez, Stephan Giersche, William Billy Robillard, Scott Edwardsen, Jeffrey Schweitzer, Gou Ranon, Christina Baum, Frances Dunne, jonas.app , Tim Karr, Adam Leos, Michelle J. Zamarron, Andrew Downing, Fairleigh McGill, Alan Latteri, David Crowner, Matt Townsend, Anonymous , Andrew McGhee, Roger Shaw, Robert Reinecke, Paul Brown, Lasse T. Stendan, David Schick, Joe Godenzi, Dave Ostler, Osian Gwyn Williams, David Lindo, Roger Baker, Greg Nagel, and Rebecca Pan. --- The Ri is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/TheRoyalInstitution and Twitter: http://twitter.com/ri_science and Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/royalinstitution and Tumblr: http://ri-science.tumblr.com/ Our editorial policy: http://www.rigb.org/home/editorial-policy Subscribe for the latest science videos: http://bit.ly/RiNewsletter Product links on this page are Amazon affiliate links which means it won't cost you any extra but we may earn a small commission if you decide to purchase through the link.

Visit http://TED.com to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more. Astronomers once gazed upon the night sky and counted every star in the galaxy by hand. The process has evolved since then, but the thirst for celestial knowledge remains the same. Join astrophysicist Emily Levesque for an anecdote-rich jaunt through the technological history of photographing the cosmos and learn about the one constant that makes it all work: human curiosity. The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. You're welcome to link to or embed these videos, forward them to others and share these ideas with people you know. Follow TED on Twitter: http://twitter.com/TEDTalks Like TED on Facebook: http://facebook.com/TED Subscribe to our channel: http://youtube.com/TED TED's videos may be used for non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons License, Attribution–Non Commercial–No Derivatives (or the CC BY – NC – ND 4.0 International) and in accordance with our TED Talks Usage Policy (https://www.ted.com/about/our-organization/our-policies-terms/ted-talks-usage-policy). For more information on using TED for commercial purposes (e.g. employee learning, in a film or online course), please submit a Media Request at https://media-requests.ted.com

Monthly Meeting Monday 14th December at 8:00pm, Stardome Observatory Observing Transients in Simulated Universes Max Briel, University of Auckland Transients are short, on an astronomical timescale, duration events compared to the evolution of galaxies and stars. Two main types are gravitational wave (GW) events and supernovae. Supernovae, explosion at the end of a stars life, have been measured for centuries, but gravitational waves from the merger of two compact objects, were only measured for the first time in 2015. The rate of both of these events relate to the amount of stars being formed over the history of the Universe and the evolution of binary star systems. Using stellar population synthesis and cosmological simulation of the Universe, we predict the number of transients taking place in our Universe. Born and raised in the Netherlands, Max Briel studied physics, maths, and computer science as part of his Liberal Arts and Sciences Bachelor, which he was awarded with highest honours in 2013. As part of the neutrino detection collaboration, he finished his Masters at the University of Amsterdam in Physics and Astronomy with a research project on muonic event reconstruction in the KM3NeT detector. Since 2020 he’s a PhD student at the University of Auckland. There, he works on the properties of gravitational wave and supernovae’s host galaxies. Gravitational Waves Petra Tang, University of Auckland Gravitational waves propagate through space and carry information about the history of our Universe, helping us understand the unknown part of the Universe. The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) is a gravitational wave observatory in space, and it is used to detect the milihertz band of the GW signals. In her research Petra re-constructs the spectral density of the stochastic gravitational wave background of mock LISA signals, hoping to identify LISA’s detection capability. In this talk she introduces LISA’s unique setup, explains the method she uses to construct the spectrum profile, presents some of her results and explains the next step for her PhD. Petra Tang is a current PhD student studying gravitational waves. She did her Masters at the University of Auckland supervised by AP Jan Eldridge. Prior to that she taught Maths in a secondary school for 6 years. She loves science and education, and loves sharing her knowledge of the stars with others.

Previous space forums have focused on the future of space settlement, which will be dependent on spacecraft and rocketry technology to make it possible. While today’s advances are impressive, what benefits the future is taking a look back at how we got here. Mike Gruntman presents a fascinating history of early rocketry and subsequent developments that led to the space age. It introduces visionaries, scientists, engineers, and political and military leaders from various lands who contributed to this endeavor. The development of rocketry and spaceflight is traced from ancient times through many centuries to the breakthrough to space. The story concludes with the launches of first artificial satellites in the late 1950s. Mike’s presentation is based on his award-winning AIAA-published book, “Blazing the Trail: The Early History of Spacecraft and Rocketry.” Mike Gruntman is professor and past chair of astronautics (founding chair of a unique pure space engineering department) at the University of Southern California (USC). His life journey took him from a child growing on the Tyuratam (Baikonur) missile and space launch base during the late 1950s and early 1960s to an accomplished space physicist and engineer to joining USC in 1990 and founding a major educational program in space engineering. Today it is a nationally recognized unique astronautical engineering department at USC. Mike is actively involved in R&D programs in space science and space technology. He served as a co-investigator (Co-I) on NASA missions and is a recipient of three NASA Group Achievement Awards. Mike has authored and co-authored 300 scholarly publications, including four books. His “Blazing the Trail: The Early History of Spacecraft and Rocketry” (AIAA, 2004) won the International Academy of Astronautics’ book award. More than two thousand graduate students took Dr. Gruntman’s courses in space systems and rocket propulsion at USC. He also teaches short courses (AIAA and ATI) for government and industry. Mike is an Associate Fellow of AIAA and elected Member (Academician) of the International Academy of Astronautics. Burt Dicht currently is the Director of Student and Academic Education Programs for IEEE where he oversees IEEE’s pre-university STEM education and university engineering education programs. Mr. Dicht began his career in the aerospace industry in 1982 and held the position as a lead engineer for Northrop Grumman and Rockwell Space Transportation Systems Division. Specializing in systems and configuration integration, he worked on programs such as the F-20A Tigershark, the YF-23A Advanced Tactical Fighter and the Space Shuttle. Mr. Dicht also completed NASA’s Summer Employment Training Program at the Kennedy Space Center in 1980. Mr. Dicht is a member of IEEE, ASEE, AIAA and is an ASME Fellow. Mr. Dicht received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Temple University and an M.A. in History from California State University, Northridge. Mr. Dicht has authored numerous articles on aerospace history and is a frequent guest speaker on space topics. Mr. Dicht volunteers as an Exhibit Explainer for the Intrepid Museum in NYC, serves as a Capt. and Aerospace Education Officer for Civil Air Patrol and is Vice President of Membership for the National Space Society.

How does water survive on the surface of the Moon? What do the mergers of stellar corpses have to do with the calcium in your bones? Join us for an evening of drinks, pub trivia, and astronomical discussion with leading scientists in the field of astrophysics. Timestamps, links, pub trivia questions are included below. Start: 00:00 Announcements: 00:03 Presentation on Lunar Water: 9:28 Q&A on Lunar Water: 22:06 Presentation on Supernovae: 39:16 Q&A on Supernovae: 56:07 Pub Trivia Start: 1:15:17 1: At what wavelengths did Arecibo observe? 1:17:24 2: What elements are produced in exploding white dwarfs? 1:27:12 3: Who is the first black crew on the ISS? 1:31:21 4: To what problem is the "Great Filter" a solution? 1:35:18 5: What is the next major meteor shower? 1:43:20 6: What solar system body could be visited next? 1:54:33 7: What earth objects may contain clues to supernovae? 2:00:22 8: Why had no one used 6um to search for lunar water? 2:05:43 9: What can two colliding neutron stars create? 2:12:43 10: What volcanic planet in Star Wars created Darth Vader? 2:20:10 Closing Remarks: 2:26:08 Participants: Dr. Casey Honniball is a postdoctoral fellow at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. She has extensive experience in observing, instrumentation, and telescope operation and is currently conducting a large-scale survey of the mid-IR hydration properties of the lunar surface using the NASA InfraRed Telescope Facility the NASA/DLR Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy. In her free time she enjoys working with horses, self-teaching herself piano, and is currently undergoing a whole kitchen renovation. https://science.gsfc.nasa.gov/sed/bio/casey.i.honniball Kishalay De is a finishing PhD student at Caltech. For his thesis, he is using wide-field optical and infrared telescopes at Palomar Observatory to search for exploding dead stars in the Milky Way and in distant galaxies. He enjoys using new instruments and data analysis techniques for his research. Outside of research, he loves cooking, binge-watching shows (Netflix!) and going on long walks around the Pasadena area. https://sites.astro.caltech.edu/~kde/ Dr. Calen Henderson is a staff scientist at IPAC at Caltech where he splits his time working on the NASA Exoplanet Archive and using gravitational microlensing to detect and characterize exoplanets. He is also a classically trained pianist who loves cycling and hiking in the mountains, and who can't get enough of Wingspan during the quarantine. https://www.ipac.caltech.edu/science/... Dr. Cameron Hummels is a postdoctoral fellow in Theoretical Astrophysics at Caltech, using large supercomputers to simulate the formation and evolution of galaxies over the billions of years since the Big Bang. He organizes public education events at Caltech Astronomy, including the LA chapter of Astronomy on Tap. During the lockdown, he's been going on long trail runs in the mountains, improving his Russian language proficiency, and playing online chess. http://chummels.org For more information about our other events, see http://outreach.astro.caltech.edu . For other Astronomy on Tap chapters around the world, visit: http://astronomyontap.org/ . Spanish-Language Astronomy Events: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4aPmjCcmowDQgh__4LSGMw Astronomical Observing in the Dark Skies of California: https://www.easternsierraobservatory.com/

Lunar Landing Sites: Past and Future Talk with Brian Day, Deputy Staff Scientist at NASA’s Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute Fifty years ago we were in the midst of human exploration of the Moon through the Apollo program. In this presentation, we will look back at each of the Apollo landing sites, why they were chosen, what made these locations so fascinating, and what we learned from them. He will then look ahead to potential future landing sites that were identified during NASA’s Lunar Science for Landed Missions Workshop, and why we are intrigued by these locations. ABOUT BRIAN DAY Brian Day is Deputy Staff Scientist at NASA’s Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute where he also serves as Lead for Lunar and Planetary Data Visualization and Analysis. He has participated in various Mars analog field studies in extreme, Mars-like environments here in Earth. He previously served as Education and Public Outreach Lead for the LCROSS and LADEE robotic missions to the Moon. In 2007, he flew on NASA’s Aurigid MAC mission to record debris from Comet Kiess burning up in Earth’s upper atmosphere. HOW TO WATCH We will go live on the Chabot Space & Science Center Facebook page 10-15 minutes before the event. You can find the live video stream on our Facebook page and in the Facebook event discussion. To receive a notification when we go live, “like” Chabot Space & Science Center on Facebook and RSVP that you’re going to this event. SUPPORT STEM EDUCATION Your support fuels exciting STEM programs like these. While this event is free, please consider making a donation to make fun learning opportunities available for our community. Donate: https://bit.ly/31KFFWM Subscribe to our channel and tune in to these events live on our Facebook Page. See More Upcoming Events: https://chabotspace.org/events/ Support These Free Live Events: https://bit.ly/31Tyn2o Learn more about Chabot Space and Science Center: https://chabotspace.org/

Everything you ever wanted to know about observing the Sun safely, from DIY projects costing just a few pounds to specialised solar telescopes. Now we are out of solar minimum, the Sun will have more going on and more to look at. This talk will take you through the various ways to observe the sun without burning your retinas or frying your telescope. We’ll dip our toes into some solar science and learn about the features you can observe.

At Lowell42 we’ll delve into deep questions like these. Our goal is to connect you to “life, the Universe, and everything.” (Many of you will recall that in Douglas Adams’s comical novel “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” the supercomputer came up with 42 as the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything.) The search for life in the universe has become a driving force behind much current space exploration, including planned missions to Mars, Europa, Enceladus, and other solar system bodies. It is also a seminal question for humanity “Are we alone in the cosmos?”  Yet, in spite of tremendous advances in molecular and paleo-biology, we are still largely ignorant as to how, when, and where life originated on Earth and, by extension, possibly on some of the many Earth-like exoplanets recently discovered. We shall examine some of the aspects relating to these complex and ever-fascinating questions. Klaus Brasch, Ph.D., is a retired bioscientist with a long term interest in astronomy and astrobiology. He has been a volunteer at Lowell Observatory for over a decade and Asteroid 25226-Brasch was recently named for his service.

Dr. Michael Brown (Caltech) Nov. 11, 2020 Dr. Brown discusses the history of planetary discovery (and demotion), why we think a new, larger Planet 9 is on the verge of being found, and the techniques that we are using to try to find this very faint body lurking in the far reaches of our planetary system.

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