LECTURES & TALKS

The goal is to measure the properties of dark halos of spiral galaxies from the decomposition of HI rotation curves, in order to derive parameters for their dark halos (e.g. the dark matter density and core radius) as a function of galaxy luminosity. Separating the luminous and dark matter components of the rotation curve is an old and degenerate problem. Dynamical estimates of the surface density of the baryonic disk are often been used to break the degeneracy. This usually gives low density submaximal disks with compact dark matter halos that dominate the rotation curve almost everywhere. The surface density of the disk comes from the vertical velocity dispersion and the scale height of the disk: these two parameters must be for the same stellar population. In practice, the scale height is usually for old disk stars, while the measured velocity dispersion is for the combined light of the young and old disk populations. The young stars are bright and kinematically cold, and the combined spectrum leads to an underestimate of the stellar surface density. From high S/N data, it is possible to measure the velocity dispersion of the old hot disk without contamination from the young cold disk. Two dynamical tracers are used for some large nearby spirals: high resolution integrated light spectra of the stellar disk, and velocities of several hundred individual disk planetary nebulae. The two tracers agree well, and give maximal disk surface densities. This validates our approach to the scaling laws for dark halos, which showed how the halo density and core radius scale with luminosity. The halo density gives an estimate of the assembly time of halos of different masses. The baryon content of dwarfs indicates that halos with circular velocities below about 40 km/s are almost completely dark.

The EHT is an international collaboration that has formed to continue the steady long-term progress on improving the capability of Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) at short wavelengths in pursuit of this goal. This technique of linking radio dishes across the globe to create an Earth-sized interferometer, has been used to measure the size of the emission regions of the two supermassive black holes with the largest apparent event horizons: SgrA* at the center of the Milky Way and M87 in the center of the Virgo A galaxy. In both cases, the sizes match that of the predicted silhouette caused by the extreme lensing of light by the black hole. Addition of key millimeter and submillimeter wavelength facilities at high altitude sites has now opened the possibility of imaging such features and sensing the dynamic evolution of black hole accretion. The EHT project includes theoretical and simulation studies that are framing questions rooted at the black hole boundary that may soon be answered through observations. By linking together existing telescopes using novel systems, the EHT leverages considerable global investment to create a fundamentally new instrument with angular resolving power that is the highest possible from the surface of the Earth. Over the coming years, the international EHT team will mount observing campaigns of increasing resolving power and sensitivity, aiming to bring black holes into focus.

This year marks 50 years since the first human set foot on the moon. Relive the memories with NASA scientist Brian H. Day—take a look back at each of the Apollo landing sites, examine why NASA chose each one, and reflect on what they learned at each site. Then look forward, previewing some of the proposed landing sites for future missions to the Moon and what makes each so interesting.

Thomas Gresham lived from 1519 to 1579. So much has happened since his time, yet many of the questions about our cosmic origins still remain. A lecture by Joseph Silk, Gresham Professor of Astronomy 6 March 2019 https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/astronomy-gresham-21st-century Thomas Gresham lived from 1519 to 1579. The first telescope was designed in 1608 in the Netherlands, and first pointed at the heavens by Galileo a year later. The greatest discoveries since the pre-telescope era have been that of the existence of many other planets around distant stars, and the vastness of the universe. So much has happened since Gresham’s era, yet many of the questions about our cosmic origins still remain. Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/GreshamCollege Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GreshamCollege Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege/

All Space Considered looks back at the Apollo 9 mission, an important mission that enabled NASA to land astronauts on the moon in July, 1969. The mission was the first to test the lunar lander, or Lunar Module, on orbit. March 3 is the fiftieth anniversary of the mission’s launch. Two separate talks will be given at 1:00 pm and at 2:00 pm, each lasting about a half an hour.

Earnest C. Watson Lecture and Robert F. Christy Lecture by Professor Kip S. Thorne, "My Romance with Caltech and with Black Holes, Wormholes, Time Travel, and Gravitational Waves." The "warped side of the universe" - objects and phenomena made from warped space and time - was once mere speculation. In this talk, Caltech physicist Kip Thorne (BS '62), will describe how he and colleagues transformed a portion of that warped side (black holes and gravitational waves) into observed phenomena, and what they have learned about another portion (wormholes and time travel). Kip S. Thorne is the Richard P. Feyman Professor of Theoretical Physics at Caltech in the Division of Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy and a 2017 Nobel Laureate. Learn more about: - Kip S. Thorne's Research: http://www.its.caltech.edu/~kip/index.html/ - 2018 - 19 Watson Lecture Series Season: https://www.caltech.edu/campus-life-events/master-calendar/filter?date_start=&date_end=&type=all&search=watson&past=0&mc=1 - This lecture: https://www.caltech.edu/campus-life-events/master-calendar/kip-s-thorne-my-half-century-romance-with-caltech-and-black-holes-wormholes-time-travel-and-gravitational-waves Produced in association with Caltech Academic Media Technologies. ©2019 California Institute of Technology

After traveling for more than 12 years, NASA’s New Horizons mission flew past the cold classical Kuiper Belt Object, 2014 MU69 from a distance of 3500 km. The data returned to the ground reveals that MU69 is a contact binary. There is distinct albedo variation with a high albedo at the connection between the two lobes of this object. We recorded observations with our complete instrument suite and the initial results will be presented. Also, the challenges of carrying out a flyby at a distance of 43 AU at a target that was discovered less than 5 years before the encounter.

In this talk Dr. Meg Urry of Yale University talks about Black Hole formation and the effect on galaxies. She presented at WAS on February 19, 2019.

PUFFER project developers Jaakko Karras and Dr. Jean-Pierre de la Croix from JPL present pop-up rover technology that was created to work in parallel with larger rovers (or deployed off landers) when the landscape becomes too dangerous. These mini rovers fold flat—down to about the size of a smartphone—so several can be packed on a rover. When deployed, they are ready to charge up steep slopes, drop into craters, or partially fold to crawl on their bellies into hard-to-reach places. Solar panels on PUFFER's belly allow it to flip over and recharge before returning to the parent rover. With PUFFER, JPL hopes to offer a low-profile, low-cost solution to enable future missions to investigate more varied and extreme terrains. The design team took inspiration from origami to design PUFFER's body, which is made of folded layers of printed circuit boards. This allows the expendable tiny rovers to carry miniature science instruments such as high-resolution micro-imagers, organic molecule samplers, or spectrometers to study the chemical makeup of other planets. PUFFER has been tested in some of Earth's most challenging environments, and its designers at JPL hope to see it hitching a ride to new destinations in the solar system sometime soon. Speakers' Biography: Dr. Jean-Pierre de la Croix is a Robotics Systems Engineer in the Maritime and Multi-Agent Autonomy group. He joined JPL after completing a Ph.D. in Electrical & Computer Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2015. His research focused on new control techniques for large-scale robotic systems, such that humans can easily and effectively interact with these complex systems. At JPL, he continues to work on multi-agent robotics for new and challenging applications. Jaakko Karras received an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from U.C. Berkeley, where he worked on tactile sensing for origami-inspired legged robots under the guidance of Prof. Ron Fearing. Prior to Berkeley, he attended Harvey Mudd College, graduating with a B.S. in Engineering (with emphasis in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science). Jaakko has developed electronics and software for robotic systems on both flight and research projects. He has also led development of the JPL PUFFER pop-up rover technology. Jaakko is currently working on the Mars Helicopter and Autonomous PUFFER projects.

If we want to discover alien life out there in the universe, we first need to figure out where to look—and what we're even looking for. Will it be biological like us? Could it be artificial, or take some other form we haven't yet considered? And how do we find something so fundamentally different from ourselves? In this program, scientists devise plans for searching for beings beyond Earth while they grapple with the very definition of life. PARTICIPANTS: Lisa Kaltenegger, Caleb Scharf, Susan Schneider, Sara Walker MODERATOR: Nicole Stott MORE INFO ABOUT THE PROGRAM AND PARTICIPANTS: https://www.worldsciencefestival.com/programs/e-t-phone-home-aliens-nature-life/ This program is part of the BIG IDEAS SERIES, made possible with support from the JOHN TEMPLETON FOUNDATION. - SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube Channel and "ring the bell" for all the latest videos from WSF - VISIT our Website: http://www.worldsciencefestival.com/ - LIKE us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/worldsciencefestival - FOLLOW us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/WorldSciFest TOPICS: - Film about the imaginative search for alien life 00:05 - Introduction to the program by astronaut Nicole Stott 04:45 - Introduction of participants 05:50 - What is the definition of life? 07:09 - How will we find signs of life elsewhere in the universe? 16:21 - What are the parameters for looking for life on other planets? 19:36 - What should the probes on Mars be looking for to find life? 24:58 - The Fermi Paradox, where is everybody? 30:56 - Have aliens avoided humans because we're too boring? 34:41 - Can we use information theory to look for life in the universe? 39:13 - Why is looking for alien life important to humankind? 44:13 - Will life in the future be AI, should we be looking for other AI in space? 46:02 - The "Great Filter" 48:52 - Is artificial intelligence alive? 50:28 - Is evolution the strongest force in the universe, how will it shape the future? 52:13 - What lessons could humankind learn from the successes and failures of other alien species in the universe? 56:58 - Why should we care about finding life elsewhere in the universe? 57:58 PROGRAM CREDITS: - Produced by John Plummer - Associate Produced by Laura Dattaro - Opening film written / produced by John Plummer, animation by Derek Breur - Music provided by APM - Additional images and footage provided by: Getty Images, Shutterstock, Videoblocks This program was recorded live at the 2018 World Science Festival and has been edited and condensed for YouTube.

Munazza Alam, Graduate Student, Harvard University In the past two decades, we have discovered thousands of planets outside of the Solar System, many of which are nothing like our own. We can learn a great deal about the properties of these planets if we observe them when they pass in front of (transit) their host stars. During transit, a small fraction of starlight filters through the planet's atmosphere. By precisely measuring the spectrum of this filtered starlight, we can learn about the makeup of the planet's atmosphere. Observing planets with this technique allows us to understand the composition of their atmospheres as well as how they formed and evolved. Munazza Alam uses data from the Hubble Space Telescope to detect and characterize the atmospheres of hot, giant planets. With extremely large telescopes like the Giant Magellan Telescope coming online in the next decade, we will be able to measure the atmospheres of smaller, cooler planets in the search of Earth-like planets elsewhere in the universe. Original music by Mark C. Petersen, Loch Ness Productions. Used with permission. Animations used under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Photo credit: David Glenn

Phillips Auditorium Dan Fabrycky U. Chicago Host: Dave Latham Abstract: Besides discovering thousands of planetary systems orbiting other stars, one of the legacies of NASA's Kepler mission is the discovery of new planetary architectures. Systems of up to seven planets have been found with orbital periods near integer ratios, librating in three-body resonances. These features point to disk migration into their current orbits and a history of tidal dissipation in the planets over the lifetime of the star. Separately, gas giant planets have been found in orbit around binary star systems, at a location just barely stable against dynamical ejection. Such a location would have been hostile to formation, whereas disk migration models readily explain them. With further study, and with a wider statistical sample from missions such as TESS, these two new architectures will help us validate the physics of planet-disk interactions. Event Status: Active

This lecture is part of the IHMC Evening Lecture series. https://www.ihmc.us/life/evening_lectures/ Senator Harrison Schmitt was born in New Mexico and grew up in the American West. He received a Bachelors of Science from Caltech and a PhD in geology from Harvard based on work in Norway as a Fulbright Scholar and National Science Foundation Post-Doctorate Fellow. Between 1964 and 1965, Schmitt re-joined the United States Geological Survey as part of the Astrogeology Branch in Flagstaff, Arizona, leading the development of early lunar field geological methods under contract to NASA. Selected by NASA as a Scientist-Astronaut in 1965, he earned Air Force T-38 jet pilot wings in 1966 and Navy H-13 helicopter wings in 1967. Schmitt flew in space as Apollo 17’s Lunar Module Pilot, landing in the Moon’s Valley of Taurus-Littrow, December 11, 1972. He is the only scientist and last of 12 men to step on the Moon. Elected to the United States Senate from New Mexico in 1976, Schmitt worked on legislation and New Mexico affairs related to technology, immigration, education, healthcare, commerce, and national security. As part of his consulting business in aerospace and earth science, he served on the President Reagan’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, the Army Science Board, and the President H. W. Bush’s Ethics Commission and, from 2005 to 2008, chaired the NASA Advisory Council. Schmitt has received numerous honorary degrees from United States and Canadian universities. In 1983, Schmitt was a Director of Orbital Sciences Corporation/Orbital ATK, serving until 2018 when Northrop Grumman acquired the company. He also has served as a director of several corporations in the banking, technology, mining, and medical fields that included the Draper Corporation. Beginning in 1996, he taught “Resources from Space” at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and is an Associate Fellow in the University’s Department of Engineering. Schmitt authored “Return to the Moon; Exploration, Enterprise and Energy in the Human Exploration of Space” and has published numerous scientific and public policy papers from 1964 to the present. Most recently, Schmitt and his co-authors published “Revisiting the field geology of Taurus-Littrow” in Icarus (2016). He travels extensively internationally as well as domestically. His account of the Apollo 17 Mission to the Moon is currently being published at americasuncommonsense.com as “Apollo 17: Diary of the 12th Man.” Schmitt lives in the intermountain West with his wife of over 30 years, Teresa Fitzgibbon, and a number of four-legged canine family members.

Marty McGuire, BackyardAstronomyGuy.com & NASA JPL Solar System Ambassador, presents a talk about NASA's TESS mission to the Lehigh Valley Amateur Astronomical Society (LVAAS.org). Thanks to the LVAAS for providing me with a recording of my talk.

Dr. Raja GuhaThakurta joins All Space Considered to talk about Galactic Cannibalism and the role it plays in the formation of complex life. Subscribe now for more All Space Considered clips: https://www.youtube.com/subscription_... All Space Considered is Griffith Observatory’s live science program that is free and open to the public, held the first Friday of every month. Watch All Space Considered videos: https://www.youtube.com/griffithobser... Learn more about All Space Considered on our official site: http://griffithobservatory.org/asc/al... Follow All Space Considered on SOCIAL MEDIA: Twitter: https://twitter.com/allspacecnsdrd Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AllSpaceCons... Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allspacecon... -Disclaimer- WE DO NOT OWN THE RIGHTS TO THE, VIDEOS, MUSICAL MATERIAL OR PICTURES PRESENT THAT WERE NOT CREATED DIRECTLY BY GRIFFITH OBSERVATORY OR ITS AFFILIATES, ALL CREDIT FOR THIS MATERIAL GOES TO THE ORIGINAL ARTISTS, CREATORS AND COMPOSERS. Fair Use: "Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use."

Dr. Marc Rayman joins All Space Considered to talk about NASA's DAWN mission, the first mission to orbit two bodies of the asteroid belt. He shares DAWN's incredible findings about two of our solar system's dwarf planets, Ceres and Vesta. Subscribe now for more All Space Considered clips: https://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=griffithobservatory All Space Considered is Griffith Observatory’s live science program that is free and open to the public, held the first Friday of every month. Watch All Space Considered videos: https://www.youtube.com/griffithobservatory Learn more about All Space Considered on our official site: http://griffithobservatory.org/asc/all_space.html Follow All Space Considered on SOCIAL MEDIA: Twitter: https://twitter.com/allspacecnsdrd Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AllSpaceConsidered/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allspaceconsidered/ -Disclaimer- WE DO NOT OWN THE RIGHTS TO THE, VIDEOS, MUSICAL MATERIAL OR PICTURES PRESENT THAT WERE NOT CREATED DIRECTLY BY GRIFFITH OBSERVATORY OR ITS AFFILIATES, ALL CREDIT FOR THIS MATERIAL GOES TO THE ORIGINAL ARTISTS, CREATORS AND COMPOSERS. Fair Use: "Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use."

Last year, Phil Ball gave a very popular talk at the Ri about quantum mechanics, here's his follow up on quantum entanglement, and our friends Alice and Bob. Subscribe for regular science videos: http://bit.ly/RiSubscRibe Watch the talk that started the conversation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7v5NtV8v6I --- A very special thank you to our Patreon supporters who help make these videos happen, especially: Alessandro Mecca, Ashok Bommisetti, bestape, David Lindo, Elizabeth Greasley, Greg Nagel, John Pollock, Lester Su, Osian Gwyn Williams, Radu Tizu, Rebecca Pan, Roger Baker, Sergei Solovev, and Will Knott. --- 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

January 23, 2019 Dr. Alex Filippenko (University of California, Berkeley) reviews his fascinating research career in astronomy, focusing on his work with black holes and with active galaxies and supernovae (exploding stars) -- and their role in helping us determine the ultimate fate of the universe. He also talks about some of the circumstances and people that influenced his work as a scientist, about the importance of education and outreach for the public support of science, and about his work to help ensure the future of Lick Observatory, the first permanently occupied mountain-top observatory in the world.

Dr. Mila Bhattacharya is a senior scientist and Director of the Biomodel Performance Laboratory in the Space Biosciences Research Branch at NASA Ames Research Center in California, USA. Dr. Bhattacharya joined February’s All Space Considered to share what small organisms can teach us about human spaceflight. Subscribe now for more All Space Considered clips: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFBYARE3DsuXNWbqmD7qCZg?sub_confirmation=1 All Space Considered is Griffith Observatory’s live science program that is free and open to the public, held the first Friday of every month. Watch All Space Considered videos: https://www.youtube.com/griffithobservatory Learn more about All Space Considered on our official site: http://griffithobservatory.org/asc/all_space.html Follow All Space Considered on SOCIAL MEDIA: Twitter: https://twitter.com/allspacecnsdrd Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AllSpaceConsidered/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allspaceconsidered/ -Disclaimer- WE DO NOT OWN THE RIGHTS TO THE, VIDEOS, MUSICAL MATERIAL OR PICTURES PRESENT THAT WERE NOT CREATED DIRECTLY BY GRIFFITH OBSERVATORY OR ITS AFFILIATES, ALL CREDIT FOR THIS MATERIAL GOES TO THE ORIGINAL ARTISTS, CREATORS AND COMPOSERS. Fair Use: "Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use."

Telescope Talk Hangouts are sponsored by OPT Telescopes: https://bit.ly/2SwhmVB It's time to check back in with our friends from the PLANETS Foundation to see how things are going with the Exolife Finder Telescope. Don't know what that is? Don't worry, we'll catch you up on that too! Subscribe to Launchpad Astronomy Here: https://youtube.com/ChristianReady Like this content? Please consider becoming a patron: https://patreon.com/DeepAstronomy Follow DeepAstronomy on Twitter: @DeepAstronomy Like DeepAstronomy on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DeepAstronomy/ Join our free Discord server for always-on chat action! https://discord.gg/nqGpvtK

Stuart Eves takes us on a tour of the solar system, covering the evolution of the stars and planets and describing some of the mysteries that we have yet to solve. Subscribe for regular science videos: http://bit.ly/RiSubscRibe Since the start of the space age in 1957, our understanding of the solar system has increased enormously thanks to both space-based telescopes and spacecraft that have been sent to visit the planets. Although these missions have answered many questions, they have also collected a great deal of information that fundamentally challenges our understanding of the formation and evolution of the solar system. Stuart Eves will explain the mysteries of our local neighbourhood that we have yet to unravel. Stuart Eves is a satellite-system engineer. He has recently joined Vaeros Ltd. after spending 14 years with Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL) and 16 years with the UK Ministry of Defence. During his time with the MoD, Stuart initiated the TopSat satellite programme, which established a new world record for ‘resolution per mass of satellite’, and for a time formed part of the space gallery at the Science Museum. He has recently published ‘Space Traffic Control’, a book which describes the measures needed to maintain the space environment and protect satellites from both natural hazards and man-made threats such as space debris. Stuart has an MSc in Astrophysics, a PhD in constellation design, and has been a fellow of both the Royal Astronomical Society and the British Interplanetary Society for more than 25 years. He takes an active interest in all things space, and is thus best described as an ‘astro-nut’! This talk was filmed in the Ri on 15 October 2018. --- A very special thank you to our Patreon supporters who help make these videos happen, especially: Alessandro Mecca, Ashok Bommisetti, bestape, David Lindo, Elizabeth Greasley, Greg Nagel, John Pollock, Lester Su, Osian Gwyn Williams, Radu Tizu, Rebecca Pan, Roger Baker, Sergei Solovev, and Will Knott. --- 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

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The Moon is the next frontier for humanity. Professor Joseph Silk describes the history of lunar exploration since 1969 and future plans for the Moon. A lecture by Joseph Silk, Gresham Professor of Astronomy 30 January 2019 https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/50-years-lunar-exploration The Moon is undoubtedly the next frontier for humanity. The international space agencies are lining up to pursue lunar projects and even develop lunar bases. The potential of the Moon is attracting interest for industrial applications, including mining and tourism. It is essential to avoid many of the mistakes we have made on Earth as we plan the future of lunar exploration. Professor Silk will describe the history of lunar exploration since 1969 and future plans for the Moon. Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/GreshamCollege Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GreshamCollege Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege/

Space Law, by Michelle Hanlon, Associate Director of the Air and Space Law Program at the University of Mississippi School of Law. The media and many commercial space companies seek to characterize outer space as a lawless frontier. But there are, in fact, laws that apply in space. The foundations of space law are grounded in general international law and custom; an enduring framework for the regulation of all space activity was established by the Outer Space Treaty, which opened for signature in 1967. Michelle is also the Co-Founder of For All Moonkind, the only organization in the Universe focused on preserving human history in space, starting with Neil Armstrong's bootprint which currently is not protected or even recognized by any international custom, agreement or regulation. Michelle presents an introduction to space law and discusses the challenges new space technologies and missions present to the existing space law regime. From the February 1, 2019 MAS Meeting. Website- http://www.MemphisAstro.org Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/groups/memphisastro/ Twitter- https://twitter.com/society_memphis

Guest Speaker: Dr Simon Peter "Pete" Worden Can we reach the stars? No extraterrestrials have yet visited us – but neither have we stepped out onto the galactic stage. Are we destined to belong to Earth for as long as we survive? Or can we reach the stars? Breakthrough Starshot is a $100 million research and engineering program aiming to lay the foundations for a flyby mission to Alpha Centauri, our nearest star system, within a generation. This is one of several privately-funded global initiatives to answer the fundamental science questions surrounding the origin, extent and nature of life in the universe. The Breakthrough Initiatives are managed by the Breakthrough Prize Foundation.

In celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Hubble Space Telescope’s first servicing mission, astronauts Kathryn Thornton and Jeffrey Hoffman told the story of that successful, groundbreaking mission during a livestream event from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center on December 7, 2018. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center This video is public domain and can be downloaded from the Scientific Visualization Studio at: https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12829 See more Hubble videos on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiuUQ9asub3Ta8mqP5LNiOhOygRzue8kN If you liked this video, subscribe to the NASA Goddard YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/NASAGoddard Follow NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center · Instagram http://www.instagram.com/nasagoddard · Twitter http://twitter.com/NASAGoddard · Twitter http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix · Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/NASAGoddard · Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc

On December 7, 2018, a panel of astronauts from the Hubble Space Telescope’s deployment and five servicing missions celebrated 25 years of servicing with a live discussion from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center about the challenges of working on a telescope in space. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center This video is public domain and can be downloaded from the Scientific Visualization Studio at: https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12829 See more Hubble videos on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiuUQ9asub3Ta8mqP5LNiOhOygRzue8kN If you liked this video, subscribe to the NASA Goddard YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/NASAGoddard Follow NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center · Instagram http://www.instagram.com/nasagoddard · Twitter http://twitter.com/NASAGoddard · Twitter http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix · Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/NASAGoddard · Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc

233rd Meeting of the American Astronomical Society, Seattle, WA Thursday, 10 January 2019, 2:15 pm PST Welcome Rick Fienberg (AAS Press Officer) The Extreme Transient AT2018cow: Supernova or Tidal Disruption Event? Dan Perley (Liverpool John Moores Univ.) Early Swift Observations of AT2018cow Suggest a Supernova Explosion Liliana Rivera Sandoval (Texas Tech Univ.) Swift Spectra of AT2018cow Suggest a White Dwarf Tidal Disruption Event Amy Lien (NASA/GSFC & Univ. of Maryland, Baltimore County) AT2018cow: Millimeter-Wave Radio Observations Suggest a Supernova Anna Ho (Caltech) NuSTAR Sees an X-ray Source in AT2018cow: The Birth of a Compact Object Raffaella Margutti (Northwestern Univ.) Q&A

233rd Meeting of the American Astronomical Society, Seattle, WA Thursday, 10 January 2019, 10:15 am PST Welcome Rick Fienberg (AAS Press Officer) Characterization of Extrasolar Planets with SCExAO/CHARIS on Subaru Thayne Currie & Olivier Guyon (NAOJ/Subaru) A Search for Transiting Planets in NGC 6791 Benjamin Montet (Univ. of Chicago) Multiple Large Impacts Revealed by Variability in the Disk Around a Young Star Kate Su (Univ. of Arizona) Can “Life Find a Way” on the Super-Earth Orbiting Barnard’s Star? Edward Guinan (Villanova Univ.) Q&A

233rd Meeting of the American Astronomical Society, Seattle, WA Wednesday, 9 January 2019, 2:15 pm PST Welcome Rick Fienberg (AAS Press Officer) A Gravitationally Lensed Quasar at the Epoch of Reionization Xiaohui Fan (Univ. of Arizona) Constraining Black Hole Spins Through Observations of Tidal Disruption Events Dheeraj Pasham (MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research) The X-ray Cavity Around a Hotspot in Cygnus A: A Bubble Inflated by a Jet Amalya Johnson (Columbia Univ.) PHANGS-ALMA: Physics at High Angular Resolution in Nearby Galaxies with ALMA Erik Rosolowsky (Univ. of Alberta) Q&A

233rd Meeting of the American Astronomical Society, Seattle, WA Wednesday, 9 January 2019, 10:15 am PST Welcome Kerrin Hensley (AAS Media Fellow) Early Science Results on Fast Radio Bursts from CHIME Vicky Kaspi (McGill Univ.) & Deborah Good (Univ. of British Columbia) A Study of Radio Pulses from the Galactic Center Magnetar Aaron Pearlman (Caltech) Mapping the Contracting Corona in a New Black Hole Transient with NICER Erin Kara (Univ. of Maryland) Q&A

David Arditti gives the skynotes at the BAA 2019 January 26 meeting.

Space Foundation CEO Tom Zelibor to Address the “The State of Space” Zelibor’s remarks will highlight the roles, challenges and opportunities space has for our national, economic and educational security and explore the critical roles our public and private sectors, as well as students, teachers, taxpayers, investors and entrepreneurs, have in the next great human adventure in space.

The Moon is the next frontier for humanity. Professor Joseph Silk describes the history of lunar exploration since 1969 and future plans for the Moon. A lecture by Joseph Silk, Gresham Professor of Astronomy 30 January 2019 1pm (UK time) https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/50-years-lunar-exploration The Moon is undoubtedly the next frontier for humanity. The international space agencies are lining up to pursue lunar projects and even develop lunar bases. The potential of the Moon is attracting interest for industrial applications, including mining and tourism. It is essential to avoid many of the mistakes we have made on Earth as we plan the future of lunar exploration. Professor Silk will describe the history of lunar exploration since 1969 and future plans for the Moon.

I was honored to give the weekly astronomy colloquium at my home department (UW Seattle) a couple weeks ago. Here's my full talk, where I discuss current projects, and future endeavors I'm excited about! MUSIC: Recording Candy: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCt1Hr9EK375IRgoUfiK0xHg Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/2QC0EtGnUvgBGLa9ox7f4J Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/recordingcandy/ VLOG GEAR: Nikon D7500 Sigma 17-50mm f/2.8 Takstar SGC-598 GorillaPod 5k

This talk was given by George P. Efstathiou, member of the Planck Science Team, Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Cambridge, and Director of the Kavli Institute of Cosmology - Cambridge. Prof. Efstathiou presented the latest results from Planck and spent some time discussing, among other things, the discrepancy in the determination of the Hubble constant between CMB experiments, including Planck, and other approaches like the one used by Nobel Laureate Adam Riess, based on the distance ladder, that disagree at the 3.8 sigma with Planck, and how this could be a hint for new physics. The talk was given on 3 December 2018 at ESA/ESAC, the European Space Astronomy Centre near to Madrid, Spain. This talk was given as part of the regular ESAC Science Seminars. ★ Subscribe: http://bit.ly/ESAsubscribe and click twice on the bell button to receive our notifications. Check out our full video catalog: http://bit.ly/SpaceInVideos Follow ESA on Twitter: http://bit.ly/ESAonTwitter On Facebook: http://bit.ly/ESAonFacebook On Instagram: http://bit.ly/ESAonInstagram On Flickr: http://bit.ly/ESAonFlickr ESA is Europe's gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe's space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out http://www.esa.int/ESA to get up to speed on everything space related. Copyright information about our videos is available here: http://www.esa.int/spaceinvideos/Terms_and_Conditions

2019-01-25 - Panel discussion at the Royal Ontario Museum hosted by Dan Riskin between Tim Haltigin of the Canadian Space Agency, Kate Howells of the Planetary Society and the Government of Canada’s Space Advisory Board, Mike Daly of York University, and Kim Tait of the Royal Ontario Museum, about OSIRIS-REx, the mission to return a sample from the surface of asteroid Bennu. Credit: Canadian Space Agency

Phillips Auditorium Laura Lopez The Ohio State University Host: Daniel Castro Abstract: Massive stars have a profound astrophysical influence on the interstellar medium (ISM) throughout their tumultuous lives and deaths. Stellar feedback occurs through a variety of mechanisms: radiation, photoionization heating, winds, jets/outflows, supernovae, and cosmic-ray acceleration. Despite its importance, stellar feedback is cited as one of the biggest uncertainties in astrophysics today, stemming from a need for observational constraints and the challenges of considering many feedback modes simultaneously. In this talk, I will discuss recent studies of feedback on ISM scales, from both a theoretical perspective as well as using multiwavelength observations, to understand the comparative role of different feedback modes and how they vary over time and conditions. Additionally, I will present the latest developments in understanding the importance of cosmic-ray feedback, based on simulations and high-energy observations.

Guest Speaker: Mr Paolo Nespoli The International Astronaut Event is a long-standing highlight in ISU sessions. Members of the general-public will have an opportunity to ask a broad range of questions of our invited astronaut and obtain their autograph. We are delighted to announce that Mr Paolo Nespoli will deliver a presentation on spaceflight and will provide an insight and opinion, with a particular emphasis on the human factors involved in spaceflight as humans gain more experience in long-duration missions in order to prepare for inter-planetary travel. Paolo visited the International Space Station in 2007 as a member of the STS-120 crew and returned for six months from December 2010 to May 2011 with Expedition 26/27. Paolo’s third flight to the Space Station was from July to December 2017 as part of a barter agreement between NASA and Italy’s ASI space agency.

Speaker: Scott Fleming of the Space Telescope Science Institute In April 2018, NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) launched and by the summer it was sending back data. What has this planet-hunter found? Dr. Scott Fleming will share several of the first exciting discoveries, plus detail about how the observatory is designed and how it compares to NASA’s Kepler/K2 mission. All of the data from TESS is available in the Barbara A. Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST), which is based at the Space Telescope Science Institute. Host: Dr. Frank Summers Recorded live on Tuesday, January 15, 2019, at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A. More information: http://hubble.stsci.edu/about_us/public_talks/

While humanity’s past is firmly grounded on our home planet, the humans of the future may live on the moon, Mars, or interstellar ships bound for distant worlds. To prepare for this cosmic migration, today’s scientists are exploring how living in space affects the human body—right down to DNA—and whether we might tweak our own genome to enhance our ability to live beyond Earth. Come explore the biological future of humanity, as a new era of evolution beckons. PARTICIPANTS: Chris Mason, Caleb Scharf, Ting Wu MODERATOR: Stuart Firestein FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE PROGRAM AND PARTICIPANTS: https://www.worldsciencefestival.com/programs/evolution-beyond-earth/ This program is part of the Big Ideas Series, made possible with support from the John Templeton Foundation. SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube Channel for all the latest from WSF VISIT our Website: http://www.worldsciencefestival.com/ LIKE us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/worldsciencefestival FOLLOW us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/WorldSciFest TOPICS: Program Introduction 00:07 Introduction of Participants 01:34 Program Begins: Thinking about humans on other planets is hard and terrifying. 02:14 Should we make more gravity? 12:26 Engineering humans for life in space 23:01 Can we actually sustain life on Mars? 34:44 Q&A 45:42 This program was filmed live at the 2017 World Science Festival and edited for YouTube.

Dr. Doug Plata How Quickly Could a Mars Colony Become Completely Earth Independent? From the 21st Annual International Mars Society Convention, held at the Pasadena Convention Center in Southern California from Aug 23-26, 2018. The four-day International Mars Society Convention brings together leading scientists, engineers, aerospace industry representatives, government policymakers and journalists to talk about the latest scientific discoveries, technological advances and political-economic developments that could help pave the way for a human mission to the planet Mars. #MarsHumanSettlement #MarsResourcesManufacture #MarsCommerceEconomics

Kurt Chankaya Use of In-Transit Fuel for GCR Shielding From the 21st Annual International Mars Society Convention, held at the Pasadena Convention Center in Southern California from Aug 23-26, 2018. The four-day International Mars Society Convention brings together leading scientists, engineers, aerospace industry representatives, government policymakers and journalists to talk about the latest scientific discoveries, technological advances and political-economic developments that could help pave the way for a human mission to the planet Mars. #MarsHumanExploration #MarsExplorationTransportSystems #MarsHumanFactors

Anthony Muscatello Terraforming Mars with Self-Replicating Robots and Oxygen From the 21st Annual International Mars Society Convention, held at the Pasadena Convention Center in Southern California from Aug 23-26, 2018. The four-day International Mars Society Convention brings together leading scientists, engineers, aerospace industry representatives, government policymakers and journalists to talk about the latest scientific discoveries, technological advances and political-economic developments that could help pave the way for a human mission to the planet Mars. #MarsTerraforming #MarsInSituResourceUtilization #MarsMaterials

Black Holes and Other Dark Matters Marc Kamionkowski of Johns Hopkins University In February 2016, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) announced discovery of the merger of two black holes, each of which weighed around 30 times the mass of the Sun. In addition to being the first detection of gravitational waves, it was also the first observational evidence of stellar mass black holes above 25 solar masses. Shortly thereafter, it was speculated that these black holes might make up the dark matter that has long been known to exist in galaxies (like our own Milky Way). Dr. Kamionkowski will discuss this possibility and explain why this hypothesis may or may not work. Host: Dr. Frank Summers Recorded live on Tuesday, December 4, 2018 at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A. More information: http://hubble.stsci.edu/about_us/public_talks/

Gerald Voecks An Alternative, Broad Scope to ISRU Plans for Mars From the 21st Annual International Mars Society Convention, held at the Pasadena Convention Center in Southern California from Aug 23-26, 2018. The four-day International Mars Society Convention brings together leading scientists, engineers, aerospace industry representatives, government policymakers and journalists to talk about the latest scientific discoveries, technological advances and political-economic developments that could help pave the way for a human mission to the planet Mars. #MarsInSituResourceUtilization

H. Raven Rose Mars or Bust: How Science Fiction Films Will Promote Mars Colonization Reality From the 21st Annual International Mars Society Convention, held at the Pasadena Convention Center in Southern California from Aug 23-26, 2018. The four-day International Mars Society Convention brings together leading scientists, engineers, aerospace industry representatives, government policymakers and journalists to talk about the latest scientific discoveries, technological advances and political-economic developments that could help pave the way for a human mission to the planet Mars. #MarsOutreach #MarsScienceFictionMovies

Dr. Julio Francisco Dantas de Rezende Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Habitat Marte - Brazil From the 21st Annual International Mars Society Convention, held at the Pasadena Convention Center in Southern California from Aug 23-26, 2018. The four-day International Mars Society Convention brings together leading scientists, engineers, aerospace industry representatives, government policymakers and journalists to talk about the latest scientific discoveries, technological advances and political-economic developments that could help pave the way for a human mission to the planet Mars. #MarsAnalogStations #MarsOutreach

Kent Nebergall Settling Mars while Protecting Science and Exobiology From the 21st Annual International Mars Society Convention, held at the Pasadena Convention Center in Southern California from Aug 23-26, 2018. The four-day International Mars Society Convention brings together leading scientists, engineers, aerospace industry representatives, government policymakers and journalists to talk about the latest scientific discoveries, technological advances and political-economic developments that could help pave the way for a human mission to the planet Mars. #MarsPlanetaryScience #MarsSearchForLife #MarsHumanSettlement