LECTURES & TALKS

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. Bring a beer! 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 Other Astronomy on Tap Events: 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.

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Mars has changed since it formed 4.6 billion years ago. When life started on Earth ~4 billion years ago, Mars was habitable too, with volcanism, a magnetic field, surface water and a thick atmosphere. Today, Mars is cold and dry, with a thin atmosphere and harsh surface. In this lecture Professor Andrew Coates will discuss the search for life beyond Earth on our closest target, using the Rosalind Franklin rover. A lecture by Andrew Coates The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/mars Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website. Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/GreshamCollege Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GreshamCollege Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege/

Jennifer Wiseman & Julie McEnery, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center NASA recently announced that its next-generation space telescope, formerly called the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST), has been named in honor of Dr. Nancy Grace Roman. As NASA’s first Chief Astronomer, Dr. Roman paved the way for space telescopes focused on the broader universe. She is credited with making the Hubble Space Telescope a reality, leading to her nickname as the "mother of Hubble." When it launches in the mid-2020s, NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will create enormous space panoramas of unprecedented detail. The mission’s wide field of view will enable scientists to conduct sweeping cosmic surveys, yielding a wealth of information about celestial realms from our solar system to the edge of the observable universe. Roman will survey the sky in infrared light, which is invisible to human eyes. It will have the same resolution in near-infrared wavelengths as NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, but will capture a field of view about 100 times larger. Roman’s surveys will deliver new insights into the history and structure of the universe, including the mysterious "dark energy" that is making space itself expand faster and faster. This powerful new observatory will also build on the broad foundation of work begun with Hubble and other observatories on planets outside our solar system. It will discover thousands of exoplanets using its wide-field camera and study the atmospheres of giant gaseous planets orbiting other stars with a sophisticated technology demonstration coronagraph. Host: Frank Summers, Space Telescope Science Institute Recorded live on Tuesday, October 6, 2020 More information: www.stsci.edu/public-lectures

Guiding us through major concepts in quantum mechanics, cosmology, string theory and more, Katie Mack describes how small tweaks to our incomplete understanding of reality, can result in vastly different endings for our universe. Katie's book "The End of Everything" is available now: https://geni.us/tPqg Watch the Q&A: https://youtu.be/FEfhUsZBrGk Subscribe for regular science videos: http://bit.ly/RiSubscRibe Katie Mack is a theoretical astrophysicist and one of the most popular scientists on Twitter, with more than 330,000 followers. Throughout her career as a researcher at Caltech, Princeton, Cambridge, Melbourne and now North Carolina State University, she has studied dark matter, black holes, cosmic strings and the formation of the first galaxies. As a science writer, she has been published by Slate, Time, and Scientific American, as well as having a regular column in Cosmos magazine. --- A very special thank you to our Patreon supporters who help make these videos happen, especially: Adam Leos, Alan Latteri, Andrew Downing, Andrew McGhee, Andrew Weir, Anonymous, Christina Baum, Dave Ostler, David Crowner, David Lindo, David Schick, Fairleigh McGill, Frances Dunne, Gou Ranon, Greg Nagel, Jan Všetíček, Jeffrey Schweitzer, Joe Godenzi, jonas.app, Kellas Lowery, Lasse T. Stendan, Martin Steed, Matt Townsend, Michelle J. Zamarron, Osian Gwyn Williams, Paul Brown, Paul Philippov, Rebecca Pan, Robert Reinecke, Roger Baker, Roger Shaw, Scott Edwardsen, Stephan Giersche, Tim Karr, and William 'Billy' Robillard. --- 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 may be 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. NASA's Dragonfly -- a robotic rotorcraft-lander that's designed to hop across the surface of an extraterrestrial body -- is set to voyage deep into the solar system to explore Titan, Saturn's largest moon, in 2026. Planetary scientist Elizabeth "Zibi" Turtle shares how studying this mysterious moon that's thought to resemble the early Earth could bring us closer to understanding the habitability of other planets -- and the origin of life itself. 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. For more information on using TED for commercial purposes (e.g. employee learning, in a film or online course), submit a Media Request here: http://media-requests.TED.com Follow TED on Twitter: http://twitter.com/TEDTalks Like TED on Facebook: http://facebook.com/TED Subscribe to our channel: http://youtube.com/TED

HO Puppis (HO Pup) was considered as a Be star candidate due to its γ Cassiopeiae-type light curve, but lacks spectroscopic confirmation. Using distance measured from Gaia Data Release 2 and the spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting on broadband photometry, the Be star nature of HO Pup is ruled out. In contrast, the SED of HO Pup can be fit well with a hot and sub-luminous star or, possibly, a hot subdwarf. Furthermore, based on the 28,700 photometric data points collected from various time-domain surveys and dedicated intensive monitoring observations, the light curves of HO\,Pup resemble well to the IW And-type stars, exhibiting characteristics such as standstill phase, outbursts and dip events. The light curves of HO Pup display various variability time scales, including outbursts cycles range from 23 to 61 days, variations with periods of 3.9 days and 50 minutes during the standstill phase, and a semi-regular ~14 days for the dip events. We have also collected time! -series spectra (with various spectral resolutions), at which Balmer emission lines and other expected spectral lines for an IW And-type star were detected, even though some of these lines were also expected to be present on Be stars. Nevertheless, detection of Bowen fluoresces near the outburst phase can be used to discriminate between IW And-type stars and Be stars. Finally, despite only observing for 4 nights, the polarization variation was detected, indicating that HO Pup has intrinsic polarization. 9/16 (Wednesday) 14:20 - 15:20 R1203

What are planets around other stars really like, and what kinds of people devote their careers to studying them?

This webinar presents the mission concept trade space and show a candidate spacecraft architecture. The presenters will define the trajectory trade space and link it with the operations concept. Additionally, the potential mission telecommunications will be presented along with the trade space on the data downlink strategy. Panelists Jim Kinnison: Concept Study System Engineer, Interstellar Probe Study, JHUAPL Wayne Schlei: Mission Design Lead, Interstellar Probe Study, JHUAPL David Copeland: Telecommunications Lead Engineer, InterstellarProbe Study, JHUAPL More info: https://bit.ly/apl-2QLN9T1

Observations of the universe in X-ray wavelengths with modern technologically advanced observatories is essential to understanding a diverse array of astrophysical objects and processes. Cosmic X-ray astronomy’s rich and early history from the 1960s and 1970s, however, is often neglected. This presentation identifies the pioneers, and principle observatories, technologies and discoveries over this period leading to the Chandra X-ray Observatory and XMM-Newton Observatory that still operate today. A rocket in 1949 with small Geiger counters observed a weak X-ray signal from the Sun’s corona. This initial result led to a long-held view that efforts to detect X-ray sources outside the Solar System would not yield any results and not worth pursuing. In June 1962, however, a rocket launched into the sky from White Sands, New Mexico, would prove that idea wrong, and alter our perspective of the cosmos forever. With instruments designed to observe solar X-rays reflected off the Moon, Riccardo Giacconi and his team detected strong X-ray signals in the constellation Scorpius plus a general background emission (Giacconi et al. 1962). This finding, illustrating that the universe was rich in observable X-ray radiation, galvanised the astronomical community into initiating further space missions, paving the way for the development of more technically-advanced instruments and science. Future missions would include Uhuru, Ariel V, Small Astronomy Satellite 3, HEAO-1, the Einstein Observatory, EXOSAT and others, each improving in sensitivity and precision. Step back in time this evening and enjoy my discussion on the political and technological challenges pioneers faced as observatories evolved into today’s productive satellites. It will change your appreciation of modern astronomical X-ray images.

Speaker: Dr. John Davies, FBIS Live Streamed Question and Answer Session (hosted by Alistair Scott) 7pm (BST) Wednesday 2nd September 2020 Dr John Davies will be available to answer questions on the subject of ‘Ever Decreasing Circles’ – An Introduction to Spacecraft Mission Orbits. John Davies is an astronomer at the UK Astronomy Technology Centre at the Royal Observatory Edinburgh. He has worked with several astronomical satellites, including the Infra-Red Astronomical Satellite (IRAS), and used many large ground-based telescopes for his research programme on comets and asteroids. John is the author of five books, including Astronomy from Space which reviews the design and operation of orbiting observatories. He joined the BIS in the early 1970s. If you wish to make a comment or ask a question, please e-mail: [email protected] and if possible, your question/comment will be put to the speaker during the Q&A session. Please be sure to include your name, and your location when submitting your question/comment. If you wish to watch this event after it finishes, please open the link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCM7jAxkaP9LKMM2C88xXHPg where a recording/s will be available

Over the past few decades, scientists have made incredible discoveries about how our cosmos evolved over the past 13.8 billion years. But we still know very little about what happened in the first seconds after the Big Bang. In this public lecture, physicist and author Dan Hooper explores this critical gap in our scientific knowledge. He examines how physicists are using the Large Hadron Collider and other experiments to re-create the conditions of the Big Bang and to address mysteries such as how our universe came to contain so much matter and so little antimatter. Could these tools enable us to discover the nature of dark matter and how it was formed in our universe’s first moments? Can we lift the veil on the era of cosmic inflation, which led to the creation of our world as we know it? Dan Hooper is a senior scientist and the head of the Theoretical Astrophysics Group at Fermilab and a professor of astronomy and astrophysics at the University of Chicago. His research focuses on the interface between particle physics and cosmology, and he is especially interested in questions about dark matter and the early universe. He is the author of three books, including “At the Edge of Time.” To see the schedule of upcoming public lectures at Fermilab, visit: https://events.fnal.gov/arts-lecture-series/lecture-series/ For more information about Fermilab, go to: https://www.fnal.gov

Join Wayne from Starlight Instruments as he explains why you need a focuser for your telescope.

Greg Marshall from Wa-Chur-Ed observatory talks about cable management but a preview look into a new Power Box product.

Chuck from Chuck's Astrophotography goes through his unopened box and gets serious on using his gear. Join us as we unravel the mess on this light hearted take on all the things that we buy but dont use!

The current interpretations of the Voyager data on the heliosheath and the interface with the local interstellar medium are reviewed, and serious omissions in these interpretations are pointed out. Current conclusions on the global structure of the heliosheath, whether from models or observations, are found to be wanting, resulting in a need for better models and further observations, such as by Interstellar Probe. Panelists James Mastandrea Michael Paul Andrea Harmon Prof. Lennard Fisk Learn more about the Interstellar Probe: http://interstellarprobe.jhuapl.edu/

Report Out and Wrap Up R. Watkins, A. Dove