Comet Hale Bopp

Saturn

 

UPCOMING CLUB MEETING

Friday, August 8, at 7:30 pm

A Step Towards Singularity: How CERN Solves the Cosmic Questions from the Bottom Quark Up

Our club member Greg Simonian will speak about CERN, where the "Large Hadron Collider" is nearing completion. This is the trailblazing European research site where outer space meets inner space, and where we'll get a new look at conditions in the first moments of the universe, hot on the trail of the Big Bang.

Members of the public are welcome. Admission is free.

Location: New Roads School, 3131 Olympic Blvd., Santa Monica.

For more information, call (310) 495-7595

Click here to see a map.


PAST MEETINGS:

In July 2008, Tim Thompson of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory gave a lecture on The Nature and Evolution of Galaxies. Mr. Thompson has worked on the Spitzer and AIRS projects for JPL. He is President of the Mount Wilson Observatory Association.

In June, Thor Dockweiler gave a talk about the Tunguska impact event, prompted by the 100-year anniversary.

In May, JPL's Trina Ray, an insider on the Cassini Mission, gave a presentation on Saturn and its moons--from the jets of Enceladus, to saucer-shaped inner moons, to enormous lightning storms and strange ring phenomena.

At our meeting on April 11, UCLA's Andrea Ghez spoke about her groundbreaking work on the center of the Milky Way, which she believes harbors a supermassive black hole.

In March, Dr. Luisa Rebull, Research Scientist at the JPL/Caltech Spitzer Science Center, gave a talk on the Spitzer Sapce Telescope and its usefulness for the research of star formation and the origins of our solar system.

Our February talk was given by Stephen J. Edberg of the Jet Propulsion Lab. Dr. Edberg, a popular speaker well-known to the astronomical community (and to many in our club) shared his perspectives on the smaller and cooler members of the solar system and stellar systems, from dust to brown dwarfs and the company they keep.

In January, David Saltzberg told us about his expeditions to Antarctica to study a elusive particles that may hold some of the deepest secrets about our universe: neutrinos.

In December 2007, Bob Eklund, of the Mt. Wilson Observatory Association, who grew up among astronomers at Yerkes Observatory and has spent the last quarter-century doing public outreach at Mt. Wilson told us about these storied places, and how he has blended astronomy and poetry in his life. In addition, Fabio Altenbach briefed us on free astronomy software.

Our November 2007 speaker, Nate McCrady of UCLA, is an expert on star clusters. He gave a lecture about the different type of clusters, their formation and their importance for understanding the universe.

At the October 2007 meeting, Richard Ellis, Steele Professor of Astronomy at the California Institute of Technology gave a talk on "Cosmic Dawn : Gravitational Lenses and the First Galaxies in the Universe".

In September 2007, Jed Laderman gave two talks: "From Druids to the DaVinci Code" and "The Night Time Stars - Who Are They?" Laderman is a science instructor with the Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies.

Additionally, Robert Lozano made a presentation on his recent visit to Hawaii.

The August meeting on 10 August 2007 reatured Bryan Crandall, Professor Emeritus of Physics of East Los Angeles College, speaking on "Dark Matter - What Is It Good For?" providing an update on recent research pertaining to same, and continuing in a series of dark matter talks over several years.

Previously, club president Thor Dockweiler showed us a pictures of the comet McNaught.

At the meeting in June, James Bartlett presented the inner workings of NASA's space shuttle fleet. (Jim is an engineer working for the company that builds the shuttle's main engines. He recently spent time at Cape Canaveral but has now moved back to California).

In May, Dr. Carol Raymond, Dawn Project Deputy Principal Investigator, told us about the unmanned spaceflight mission to Vesta and Ceres. You can follow Dawn's progress here.

In April, Genesis Project Manager Don Sweetnam from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory explained how the Genesis spacecraft returned samples to Earth and how the scientific payload was rescued after a malfunction.

In March, Trina Ray from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory gave us an update on the Cassini mission and on the latest disvoveries about Saturn and its moons.

At the February meeting, Michelle Thaller from Caltech explained how the Spitzer Space Telescope is giving us revolutionary new insights into the universe.

MOUNT WILSON DATES

Interested in spending a night at the historic 60" telescope on Mount Wilson? Please inform Jed Laderman, our Program Director.

CLUB PHONE NUMBER

By calling this number, you will be able to hear a recorded message containing general information about the club, and you can leave a message for the club president.

(310) 495-7595

 

CASSINI AT SATURN

After a journey of 2.2 billion miles, NASA's Cassini Spacecraft fired its main engine to brake down from a cruise velocity of 12,000 mph. The craft entered an orbit around Saturn. The spacecraft is currently studying the ringed planet and many of its 31 known moons. Late in 2004, Cassini released Europe's Huygens probe, which successfully landed on Saturn's largest moon Titan and produced spectacular results. Follow this amazing mission here!

OVER THREE YEARS ON MARS

The mars rovers "Spirit" and "Opportunity" have are well beyond their three year anniversary of their arrival on Mars. They were not supposed to last that long, but both are still going strong. The scientific output of this mission has been nothing but amazing. Follow this mission here!

 

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