Exclusively for AAC members!
AAC has organized a dark sky star party at one of the darkest skies on the east coast!
Sunset is 8:29 pm. Arrive at least one hour before sunset for setup and to get familiar with the observing field before dark.
Please review the Star Party etiquette for Chiefland. http://shorturl.at/cgkMO
You need to register to attend and receive directions to observing field.
Event Alerts - Members please register to attend. A "GO" or "NO GO" will be emailed to registrants by noon the day of the event. Your need to be registered for me to send you updates
Our speaker will be attending in person, please try to attend in person too!
Agenda:
7:00 - 7:15 General Meeting & Announcements 7:15 - 7:30 Short topic presentation by a club member
7:30 - 7:45 Refreshment break
7:45 - Public Presentation
Speaker: Jared Cathey
Title:
The James Webb Space Telescope and Gravitational Lensing
Abstract:
Since the recent launch of James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), many of the discoveries utilizing JWST data have been pushing the boundaries of different fields of astronomy. Probing the infrared portion of the electromagnetic spectrum JWST is well suited for research ranging from star and planet formation to finding and characterizing the oldest galaxies ever observed. The first science data to come down from the telescope went to groups known as Early Release Science (ERS) programs. These were competitively selected to have high impact discoveries on their respective fields. One such program, TEMPLATES, studies some of the brightest gravitationally lensed galaxies known, allowing the study of spatially resolved star formation in these early galaxies around the peak of cosmic star formation. One of the first steps in these studies is reconstructing what these gravitationally lensed galaxies looked like prior to distortion, allowing us to map the original system as accurately as we can.
About the Speaker:
Jared got his B.Sc. From Texas A&M University in 2021 studying physics and astrophysics. While there he worked under Jen Marshall studying near-field cosmology. Coming to the University of Florida the following term, he has worked under Anthony Gonzalez with a focus on galaxy evolution and gravitational lensing.
Research Interests:
Jared works as part of the JWST ERS program Targeting Extremely Magnified Panchromatic Lensed Arcs and Their Extended Star formation (TEMPLATES). Within the group he leads the data reduction process for the Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam), one of the four primary science instruments onboard JWST. Scientifically he has been leading work on reconstructing these gravitationally lensed sources targeted by TEMPLATES. Jared’s general interests lay at the intersection of observational and theoretical astronomy. Primarily in galactic evolution and formation, with particular interest in high-redshift lensed galaxies and the reconstruction of those galaxies.
Sunset is 8:33 pm. Arrive at least one hour before sunset for setup and to get familiar with the observing field before dark.
Speaker: Dr. Amy Williams
Assistant Professor of Geology
University of Florida
NASA Rovers Curiosity and Perseverance Exploration of Mars
The Mars rover Curiosity explored a valley called Glen Torridon on the lower slopes of a sedimentary mountain within Gale crater between January 2019 and January 2021. The rocks within this shallow valley are part of a sequence of rock layers whose mineral composition could imply a transition from a wetter to drier environment more than 3-billion years ago. This presentation describes this exploration campaign designed to understand the local geology, document evidence of past climate change, and investigate if the ancient environments may have been amenable to biological activity. Curiosity found that many rocks were deposited in the bottom of a lake, but also that river deposits occur frequently in this area, suggesting that the environmental conditions changed through time. Curiosity observed evidence for multiple cycles of water interacting with the sediments that chemically changed the elemental and mineralogical compositions of the rock layers. Curiosity collected 11 drill holes over the course of the campaign and found abundant clay minerals, as predicted, as well as a wide variety of organic molecules, suggesting that the ancient environment contained many of the necessary conditions to support life.
Amy earned her bachelor of science degree in Environmental Science from Furman University in 2007 before completing her master of science degree in Earth and Planetary Science from the University of New Mexico in 2009. She then attended the University of California, Davis, for her PhD, where she first began working with NASA's Curiosity rover. After earning her PhD in 2014, Amy accepted a postdoctoral research position at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland where she continued working with the Curiosity rover as a member of the SAM instrument team to explore the distribution of organic molecules on Mars’ surface. In 2015 Amy joined the geoscience faculty at Towson University in Towson, Maryland as an assistant professor. In 2018 she joined the geoscience faculty at the University of Florida, and in 2020 she began working with the NASA Perseverance rover science team as a Participating Scientist. She has received several NASA group achievement awards for her work with the Curiosity rover team, received a nomination for the 2017 Maryland Academy of Sciences Outstanding Young Scientist Award, and was a NASA Earth and Space Science Fellow.
Research Interests
Dr. Williams’ research focuses on the interaction between microbial life, the geochemical environment, and the rock record on Earth, and how to recognize habitable environments and potentially preserved microbial life on Mars and the outer world moons.
Speaker: James Albury
Planetarium Director and host of the YouTube Series "The Sky Above Us"
Topic: TBD
Join James Albury, host of the YouTube astronomy program "The Sky Above Us" (TheSkyAboveUs.org), and 2011-2019 co-host of the PBS TV Show "Star Gazers", as he takes you on a personally guided tour of our night sky, using our GOTO Chronos Space Simulator. Florida Skies is our weekly star show that familiarizes you with some of the popular constellations visible from sunset to sunrise, as well as the stories behind them. We'll also show you how and where in the sky you can find the brightest planets.
Sunset is 8:32 pm. Arrive at least one hour before sunset for setup and to get familiar with the observing field before dark.
Sunset is 7:42 pm. Arrive at least one hour before sunset for setup and to get familiar with the observing field before dark.
Speaker:
Dr. Rana Ezzeddine
Galactic Archaeology with the Oldest Stars
Sunset is 7:07 pm. Arrive at least one hour before sunset for setup and to get familiar with the observing field before dark.
Speaker: Dr. Brian Lee, Associate Professor of Physics, Santa Fe College
Exoplanets
Dr. Lee has been teaching at Santa Fe College since 2014. Originally from Vancouver, Canada, he did postdoctoral research with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey at the University of Florida, then at the University of Washington. His research topic was the search for planets around other stars. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Physics & Astronomy at the University of Victoria, and his Doctor of Philosophy in Astronomy & Astrophysics at the University of Toronto. He is also the President of the Florida Section of the American Association of Physics Teachers.
