September 15, 2006
"Bicycling On Other Worlds"

Lonny Buinis, Instructional Designer, Space Artist and Amateur Astronomer.

Cycle down a volcano the size of Texas, dodge geysers, ride next to ice cracks as they form.

October 20, 2006
"Exploring Mars, the Search for Life, and a Journey in 3-D"

Dr. Ken Kremer, NASA JPL Solar System Ambassador.

A comprehensive review of the ongoing NASA Rover Mission to Mars covering the explorations of Spirit and Opportunity from launch to the latest news, as they have journeyed across the surface of Mars. See a full scale model of the RAT science drill. Ken was a member of the four-person international team credited with a "Spirit" cover on the 14 November 2005 issue of Aviation Week and Space Technology magazine which has also appeared in numerous other publications. 3-D glasses will be provided.

November 17, 2006
"It's Like Watching a Tree Grow in Tokyo, Measuring Stellar Motion with HST"

Dr. Carelton Pryor, Astrophysicist, Rutgers University.

Dr. Pryor explains how instruments aboard the Hubble Space Telescope are used to measure the motion of stars.

December 15, 2006
"Cosmology: a Fifty Year Perspective"

Dr. James E. Gunn, Astrophysicist, Princeton University.

The interplay between Cosmic Microwave Background with COBE and WMAP. This gives us a picture of the universe in the early times, and large scale galaxy surveys which tell us in detail about the universe today.

January 19, 2007
"Stellar Duets"

Dr. Orsola DeMarco, PhD in Astrophysics from University College, London in 1997, Currently with the American Museum of Natural History.

How Companions Shape the Life and Evolution of Stars."

February 16, 2007
"The Last Rites of Binary Star Evolution"

Dr. Joseph Patterson, Astrophysicist, Columbia University.

Most stars are found in binary star systems. The theory of stellar evolution is almost exclusively about single stars. This talk will present the latest understanding about the structure and evolution of these stars.

April 20, 2007
"First Mission to Pluto"

Michael Dean Lewis, NASA JPL Solar System Ambassador.

The New Horizons mission to the farthest regions of our solar system is presented with some interesting facts about Pluto, which is now designated as a "Dwarf Planet". It will also address the Kuiper Belt objects, and the Heliopause reflections. Details about operations of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and the Deep Space Network will also be discussed.

SEPTEMBER 21, 2007
"Seeing the Light: The Nature of Astronomical Color and The Use of Filters in CCD Imaging"

Jim Burnell, author and astroimager

Jim Burnell is perhaps best known as the co-author (with Richard Berry) of The Handbook of Astronomical Image Processing (now in its second edition)—which includes the AIP4Win image processing software that is used by amateur and professional astro-imagers alike. His presentation will address issues of color rendering in CCD imaging. Burnell has been interested by astronomy since he was a kid. Professionally, he has worked eighteen years in research and development at Bell Labs and presently develops photonic hardware for Fujitsu.

OCTOBER 19, 2007
"Launching Dawn (and Phoenix) From behind the scenes at Kennedy Space Center Press Site"

Dr. Ken Kremer, NASA JPL Solar System Ambassador & The Planetary Society

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Dr. Kremer will be presenting his "behind the scenes" experience of the rarely seen "reporters perspective" of the Space Press Corps at America's Space Port including an "Up-Close and Personal" look at the just launched NASA Dawn Asteroid Orbiter powered by exotic ion propulsion.

As the events unfolded during launch week, Ken filed reports as Guest Blogger for The Planetary Society Weblog, all available in the archives at http://planetary.org/blog/archive.

Ken will also allow us to experience the beautiful and amazing new discoveries in our New Solar System by "Spirit" and "Opportunity" as they celebrate nearly four years on the Red Planet as well as by the Cassini Mission to Saturn and its rings and many intriguing moons. Journeys by NASA's newest planetary missions, Phoenix and Dawn, and others to Jupiter, Comets, Pluto, Eris, and Beyond will be extended into the spectacular realm of 3-D. Ken is a research scientist and has authored a Mars cover article for the Journal of the Explorers Club. His international team of astronomy enthusiasts has published Mars images in magazines (including Aviation Week and Space Technology) and numerous other media (including Astronomy Picture Of the Day). 3-D glasses will be provided.

November 14, 2005 cover of AW&ST published by Dr. Kremer and collaborators.
 
 

NOVEMBER 16, 2007
"New Eyes on the Universe: Observing Beyond Hubble with the Chandra and Spitzer Space Telescopes"

Dr. Kimberly Weaver, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

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The world has been fascinated by glorious images taken with the Hubble Space Telescope. But these visible images represent just a small portion of a larger picture. Much of the universe contains violent processes and dust-enshrouded objects that are revealed only by searching for their signatures in X-ray and infrared light. In particular, star birth, star death, black holes, cosmic collisions, and the origins of other solar systems are revealed in stark clarity. Her talk will focus on new images from NASA's Chandra and Spitzer space telescopes, how these images are adding to our knowledge, and what they are telling us about our complex universe. Dr. Weaver is from the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland where she serves as the Associate Director for Science in the Exploration of the Universe Division. She was the program scientist for the Spitzer Space Telescope and is also affiliated with Johns Hopkins University as an adjunct associate professor. In 1996, she won a NASA Presidential Early Career Award to pursue research in extragalactic astronomy.

DECEMBER, 21, 2007
"After Galaxies Collide"

Dr. Charles Liu, City University of New York, College of Staten Island

Galaxy collisions are spectacular cosmic events taking millions or even billions of years to complete. What's left in the aftermath? In one system, called G515, it looks like a quiet, hidden, supermassive black hole! Dr. Charles Liu will trace the history of this enigmatic object, and investigate the black hole lurking within. He is a professor of astrophysics at the City University of New York’s College of Staten Island, and an Associate with the Hayden Planetarium and Department of Astrophysics at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. His research focuses on colliding galaxies, quasars, and star formation history. He earned degrees from Harvard University and the University of Arizona, and did postgraduate research at Kitt Peak National Observatory and at Columbia University. Along with academic journals, he also writes the monthly column “Out There” for Natural History Magazine. He received the 2001 American Institute of Physics Science Writing Award for his book “One Universe: At Home In The Cosmos.” He lives in New Jersey.

JANUARY 18, 2008
"Symmetry: From Human Perception to the Laws of Physics"

Dr. Mario Livio, Senior Astrophysicist, Hubble Space Telescope Science Institute

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What do the fundamental laws of nature, human perception, the music of Johan Sebastian Bach and the selection of mates have in common? They are all characterized by certain symmetries. Symmetry is a concept that bridges the gap between the laws of nature and psychology; science and art. Yet the “language” of symmetry — group theory — emerged from a most unlikely source: an equation that couldn’t be solved. Dr. Livio will tell the story of symmetry, of group theory, and their applications to everything from string theory to how we select our mates. He will also follow the sad lives of two mathematical prodigies who opened the door for these concepts.

“The Equation That Couldn’t Be Solved" is the first popular level book to explore group theory, not through abstract formulas but in a beautifully written and dramatic account of the lives and work of some of the greatest mathematicians in history.
 
 

FEBRUARY 15, 2008
"A Ray of Light in a Sea of Dark (Matter)"

Dr. Charles Keeton, Rutgers University

Dr. Charles Keeton makes use of a sort of natural “telescope” — gravitational lensing — to study mysterious “dark matter”. Dr. Keeton attributes his interest in space to the success of the Voyager missions and the Space Shuttle program in the late 1970s and early 1980s. After earning a B.A. from Cornell University and Ph.D. from Harvard University, Dr. Keeton did research at the University of Arizona and the University of Chicago before joining the faculty of Rutgers University in 2004. Dr. Keeton has observed with the Hubble Space Telescope as well as observatories in Arizona and Chile. His research has recently been featured by National Public Radio, MSNBC.com and the New Scientist magazine.

MARCH 14, 2008
"Plasma Propulsion and the Exploration of Space"

Prof. Edgar Choueiri, Princeton University

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Professor Edgar Choueiri highlights next generation rocket technology that is crucial to enabling advanced missions to explore deep space. A brief history of rocketry will explain why the chemical rockets currently used to send humans to the Moon are not feasible for ambitious deep space exploration. He will describe the basic physics of more advanced spacecraft propulsion concepts, such as nuclear and plasma propulsion, and show how the plasma rockets that have been successfully used on several recent small spacecraft are being evolved for the more ambitious missions that will define the next age of space exploration, such as a Jupiter moon tour, a Pluto or a Neptune orbiter, and sample return missions to Mercury, Titan, Europa, comets, asteroids and Kuiper Belt objects. Professor Choueiri leads a large team of researchers at Princeton University and at various NASA centers to develop new plasma rocket technology. His experiments have flown on the Space Shuttle and Russian scientific spacecraft. Professor Edgar Choueiri is Director of the Engineering Physics Program at Princeton University as well as Princeton's Electric Propulsion and Plasma Dynamics Laboratory where he works on a new generation of rockets for spacecraft.

View the facilities, meet the researchers, and access the rich trove of publications of Professor Choueriri's Electric Propulsion and Plasma Dynamics Laboratory (EPPDyL).
 
 

APRIL 18, 2008
"Life in Space"

Robert J. Cenker, Aerospace Systems Consultant

What’s it like to live and work in space? Robert J. Cenker found out firsthand when he flew on the Space Shuttle Columbia (STS 61-C) as the Payload Specialist for a six day mission from January 12th to 18th, 1986. In addition to overseeing the deployment of the RCA Satcom Ku-1 satellite, he performed a variety of physiological tests and operated an infrared imaging camera. Today, he works as a consultant with various firms on spacecraft design, assembly, flight operations and micro-gravity research. Mr. Cenker will share his experiences while showing slides taken during his flight as well as a short video.

SEPTEMBER, 17, 2010
"Apollo 8" - Robert Zimmerman, author

Circling the Moon at 3,700 miles an hour, a quarter of a million miles from Earth, the astronaut opened his flight plan and began to read: “In the beginning God created the heaven and earth...” Sweeping past, 60 miles below him and his two partners, was a stark terrain, cold and forbidding. Unseen but listening intently to the astronauts of Apollo 8 as they circled the Moon was an audience of more than a billion people. This was Christmas Eve, 1968. Robert Zimmerman will tell the hidden story behind this epic mission, describing its background and how this one mission changed both American and world history forever. Robert Zimmerman is an award-winning science journalist and historian who has written four books and more than a hundred articles on science, engineering, and the history of space exploration and technology. Zimmerman posts numerous commentaries and updates on the day's news at his website, http://behindtheblack.com

OCTOBER, 15, 2010


"Formation of the Solar System"

Derek Yoost

Did you ever wonder how scientists know the age of the solar system and how it formed? Derek Yoost will look at some of the meteorites that show interesting structures under magnification and how they relate to the large-scale formation of our Sun and solar system. Most of these meteorites are about 4.5 billion years old, and come from the very earliest stages of solar system formation.

Meteorites represent the only samples that we have preserved for study from that long ago time. The meteorite specimens that were used for the lecture will be at the meeting for inspection.

Yoost began collecting meteorites when he was nine years old. His lifelong obsession began when he purchased a meteorite collection from a friend in 1995.

NOVEMBER 19, 2010


"Lights, Action, Universe"

Dr. William Gutsch Jr.,
St. Peter’s College

From planetariums and museums to television studios, interactive space flight simulators, and sound stages in Hollywood, Dr. Gutch goes behind the scenes for a fun look at the techniques and technology of bringing the universe down to Earth.

Since 1995, Dr. Gutsch has served as the president of Great Ideas, providing services for NASA, various local and national governments, as well as major universities and science museums around the world. He has also served as the chairman of the American Museum of Natural History’s Hayden Planetarium, as well as the president and chief executive officer of the Challenger Center for Space Science Education. He was a syndicated columnist for the Gannett newspapers, Science Editor for WABC-TV in New York, and Science Correspondent for ABC's Good Morning America and World News This Morning. He has written, produced, and/or appeared in programs for PBS, NBC, CNN, The Learning Channel, and NASA-TV. He was nominated for an Emmy in 1986. Dr. Gutsch is now a full-time member of the faculty of St. Peter's College as Distinguished Professor in the College of Arts & Sciences and Co-Director of the Practical application of Research in Science Education (PARSE) Institute which operates in conjunction with the Plasma Physics Lab at Princeton University and the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City.

Dr. Gutsch has been elected to be the next president of the Board of Directors of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP). The ASP, which was founded in 1889, is the largest general astronomy society in the world with members participating from over 70 nations. Dr. Gutsch joins an illustrious group of past presidents to serve the ASP’s Board of Directors, including Edwin Hubble, who discovered the expanding universe and for whom the Hubble Space Telescope is named.

JANUARY 21, 2011


"Star Formation: What's New"

Dr. Ken Garrison, Ocean County College

Ever wonder if the sky above is the same old sky it was last month, last year, last century? Dr. Loring "Ken" Garrison will review research which includes techniques, equipment, and the personalities who are involved concerning the current status and latest results in star formation. Dr. Garrison is currently associate professor of physics at Ocean County College, and also serves as assistant director of the newly reopened and renovated Novins Planetarium.

Prior to joining the OCC faculty, most of his professional career was spent at Bell Labs and AT&T working in systems engineering for international transmission and software systems. Following his retirement from the telecom industry, Dr. Garrison garnered the opportunity to teach physics and astronomy at OCC, and he has been having fun doing so for the last five years.

Jim Burnell has been an eyeball astronomer for most of his 54 years. For everyone interested in CCD imaging, however, his presentation relating his long use of this process and its developments will inspire and inform. In the mid 1980s, he started taking his own images using a venerable Nikon F and hypered film, but, like many, he found it frustrating to have to wait to see the results – or even just to know if the object was in focus. In the early 1990s, he ran into Richard Berry at Stellafane, and he found the answer to his dilemma in the technology of CCDs. Jim has a BSEE (1978) and an MSEE (1979) from Clarkson University. He has worked for Bell Laboratories and Fujitsu Network Communications, and his technical background enabled him to build his own CCD cameras. He teamed up with Richard Berry to write the “Astronomical Image Processing for Windows (AIP4Win)” software package which accompanies their book, “The Handbook of Astronomical Image Processing” now in its second edition.

MARCH 18, 2011

"An Evolving Planet: The History of Earth and the Search for Other Earths in the Galaxy"

Alan Witzgall, NJAA Vice President

Life on Earth has dramatically changed the composition of our planet's surface and atmosphere. Witzgall will discuss how this can guide us in locating and classifying exoEarths in the galaxy. He will also bring examples of minerals and fossils to illustrate the five major epochs on our planet. A longtime member, past officer and current Recording Secretary of AAI, he is by trade a Senior Optician, having spent some thirty years fabricating precision optics for many research and development companies. His degree, however, is in Earth and Planetary Sciences from Kean University.

APRIL 15, 2011

"Cosmology 101: Lessons from Astrophotography"

Ruben Kier

You may have thought that spending all night photographing an obscure celestial object takes you away from the fun of visual astronomy. Well, be prepared for a surprise. Processing and studying your images can enrich your visual experiences. Learn how emission nebulae are more extensive than we thought, and why reflection nebulae have complex colors. Find out how to see colors in the stars of bright open clusters. Discover why the individual stars that sparkle in a globular cluster are mostly red giants. Understand what makes a supernova glow at the eyepiece….it's not what you may first suspect. Ruben Kier takes you on an exploration of the cosmos through dozens of his own photographs, obtained through popular amateur telescopes that you may already own!

September 16, 2011

Dr. Lewis Thomas Memorial

This General Membership Meeting will be dedicated to Dr. Lewis Thomas who passed away in May, 2011. In addition to honoring Dr. Thomas, AAI will also be honoring other long time members who have recently passed away, including: Henry and Mary Adams, Dave and Gloria Kuchinsky, George Chaplenko, and Julius Zsako.

October 21, 2011

"On the Geometry of Orbits"

Dr. Alberto Guzman, City College New York

Alberto Guzman was born in Puerto Rico but has spent most of his life looking at the illuminated skies of New York City. He attended City College of New York and the University of Chicago where he received his doctorate in mathematics. He is Professor of Mathematics Emeritus at City College in New York. His current interests include the history of mathematics and the monthly "Ask the Skywatcher" column in AAI's The Asterism newsletter. He has been a member of AAI since 2002. Dr. Guzman will focus on the geometric characteristics of the four curves that are possible orbits under gravity: the circle, the ellipse, the parabola, and the hyperbola.

November 18, 2011

Solar Radio Research and the EOVSA Project: Your Stimulus Tax Dollars at Work

Dr. Dale Gary, New Jersey Institute of Technology

In 2009, the National Science Foundation received $3 billion in stimulus funds with instructions to spend it within one fiscal year. In response, a special program, "Major Research Instrumentation--Recovery and Reinvestment" (MRI-R-squared) was announced. Through that program, AAI member Dale Gary was awarded $5.1 million for a major expansion of NJIT's solar radio observatory, the Owens Valley Solar Array. This project, called the Expanded Owens Valley Solar Array (EOVSA), is to be completed in time for the current solar cycle maximum in 2013. This talk describes some of today's most compelling solar research problems, what kind of instrument is needed to address these problems, and how EOVSA is designed to play a major role in a new era of radio solar physics.

Dr. Gary received his B.S. from the University of Michigan and his Ph.D. from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and he worked for 15 years at Caltech before coming to NJIT in 1997. He is a leader in the use of solar radio data for examining the conditions under which solar radio bursts affect cellular telephone signals, and he has been involved in the recent discovery that these bursts can cause the failure of GPS receivers. His research has been essential to understanding how these solar events occur. He has authored more than 130 articles in scholarly journals, and he is the current president of United Astronomy Clubs of New Jersey. He is also Distinguished Professor of Physics at NJIT and is Director of the Owens Valley Solar Array near Big Pine, California.

December 16, 2011

The Icy Moons of Saturn

Andy Poniros, NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador

This presentation is a trip through the Saturn System using many striking images and scientific data collected by the Cassini spacecraft and Huygens probe. It features Saturn's moons, Titan and Enceladus, plus several other icy moons as well as the planet itself and its rings. Some of the amazing discoveries made by the Cassini Science Team will be included. Andy received an ASEE in Electrical Engineering from Norwalk State Technical College in 1974, and has worked as a Medical Imaging Engineer for 37 years. Andy is NASA Lunar Rock Kit Demonstration Certified, a Science Reporter for WPKN Radio (WPKN.org), and is a member of The Astronomical Society of New Haven

January 20, 2012

The Search for Extrasolar Planets

Dr. Carlton Pryor, Rutgers University, Department of Astronomy and Physics

We now know of many more planets orbiting other stars than we do planets in our own solar system. The number of known extrasolar planets is growing rapidly, but this field of research is still very young. Dr. Pryor will describe how common extrasolar planets are thought to be. He will describe the kinds of planets and planetary systems that have been found so far. Dr. Pryor will end his talk by describing how Earth-like planets that could support life as we know it are likely be found in the next few decades. He is currently a Professor of Astronomy at Rutgers having received his B.S. at Caltech and his M.A. and Ph.D. in Astronomy at Harvard.

February 17, 2012

Turning Dust to Gold: Building a Future on the Moon and Mars

Dr. Hyam Benaroya, Rutgers University, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department

Our continued prosperity and survival as a species will depend, in part, upon space exploration and manned settlement on other worlds like the Moon and Mars. But what will these settlements look like? How can man commercially utilize the resources of the Moon and Mars? How will colonies be built, and how will humanity evolve on the Moon, Mars, and beyond? At Rutgers, Dr. Benaroya studies challenging environments like off-shore drilling, aircraft design, and lunar surface structures for manned habitation.

March 16, 2012

The Cosmic Challenge: The Ultimate Observing List for Amateurs

Phil Harrington, astronomy author and educator

Listing more than 500 sky targets in 187 challenges, this observing guide will test novice astronomers and advanced veterans alike. Its unique mix of Solar System and deep-sky targets will have observers hunting for the Apollo lunar landing sites, searching for satellites orbiting the outermost planets, and exploring hundreds of star clusters, nebulae, distant galaxies, and quasars. The guide introduces objects often overlooked in other observing guides, and it features targets visible in a variety of conditions, from the inner city to the dark countryside. Challenges are provided for the naked eye, binoculars, and the largest backyard telescopes.

Phil has been an amateur astronomer since 1968, and is an adjunct professor at Suffolk County Community College in Seldon, New York where he teaches courses in stellar and planetary astronomy. He is a founding member of the Westport Connecticut Astronomical Society and is one of the coordinators of the annual Astronomer's Conjunction held every summer in Northfield, Massachusetts. He is also a contributing editor for Astronomy magazine, and he has written the magazine's monthly "Binocular Universe" column. In addition, he has written for Sky and Telescope and Deep Sky magazines.

April 20, 2012

The Cosmic Microwave Background: From Curiosity to Tool

Dr. Michele Limon, Columbia University

Discovered in 1965, the Cosmic Microwave Background is the relic thermal radiation from the hot Big Bang that gave birth to our Universe. The CMB has developed into a powerful tool for studying the evolution of the Universe. Dr. Limon will discuss the major theoretical and observational milestones of the past 50 years, the current state of the art in CMB research, and he will speculate on future results.

Dr. Limon holds a doctorate in physics from the Universita degli Studi in Milan, Italy, and is currently a Research Associate at the Columbia University Astrophysics Laboratory in New York where he is working on QIET and EBEX. Both are experiments dedicated to the study of the polarization of the CMB.