9:30-10:30     Edward DeLuca, PhD., Supervisory Astrophysicist, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA
 

 Title: Solar Physics in the Solar Dynamics Observatory Era

Ed DeLuca has worked as a professional astrophysicist since graduating from the University of Colorado in 1986. He has had appointments at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder CO, the University of Chicago, the Institute for Astronomy at the University of Hawaii and most recently at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge MA. His early research work involved numerical simulations of generation and evolution of magnetic fields in the solar convection zone. Since coming to SAO in 1993 he has worked on 2 rocket programs and 5 space instrumentation missions. He is the Principal Investigator for the X-Ray Telescope on Hinode, and a Co-Investigator on the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly on Solar Dynamics Observatory Ed graduated from Wesleyan University in 1979 with a BA in Astronomy and in 1980 with an MA in Astronomy.

Abstract:  NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory is going to revolutionize the fields of solar physics and space weather. SDO gives continuous monitoring of the sun from the photosphere through the corona with high time resolution, high spatial resolutions and at many temperatures. The wealth of information (~1.5TBytes/day) will change the way we approach the questions of the origins of flares, coronal mass ejections and the solar wind.

 11:00-12:00     Charles Blue - Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT.ORG)
 

Charles is the Media Relations Specialist for the Thirty Meter Telescope Project, and has more than 20 years of strategic communications experience in science, engineering, and technology. Charles has worked as Public Information Officer for the National Academy of Engineering and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory. He also served as the Writer/Editor for the National Science Foundation’s Directorate for Engineering. Charles received his bachelor’s degree from Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pa., and his master’s degree from the American University in Washington, D.C. He is a member of the National Association of Science Writers, the American Astronomical Society, and the American Geophysical Union. Charles also is an avid martial artist and fitness instructor.

 Title: The Thirty Meter Telescope: Astronomy’s Next-generation Observatory

Abstract:  Scheduled for first light in 2010, the Thirty Meter Telescope will push the boundaries of today’s technology while integrating the latest innovations in instrumentation and design. With nine times the collecting area of today’s largest optical telescopes, TMT will open new horizons in research and help answer the grand challenges of astronomy.

 1:30-2:30     Matt Holman, PhD, Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
 

Holman finished a bachelors degree in mathematics in 1989 and a Ph.D. in planetary sciences in 1994, both at M.I.T. For his graduate work he developed, with Jack Wisdom, the symplectic maps for the n-body problem. These algorithms for numerically integrating the long-term trajectories of solar system bodies are an order of magnitude faster than conventional techniques and have now been adopted as a standard tool in the field of solar system dynamics. Holman was a postdoctoral fellow at the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan and at the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, before joining the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in 1997. Holman has continued theoretical work on solar system dynamics. With Norman Murray of the University of Toronto, Holman established that three-body resonances among Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus are responsible for the dynamical chaos seen in seen in long-term simulations of the motion of the planets. For their results, Holman and Murray were awarded in 2000 the Newcomb Cleveland Prize from the American Association for the Advancement of Science, presented annually to the author or authors of an outstanding paper published in Science. Since joining the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Holman has been involved in ground-based and space-based searches for distant bodies in the outer solar system. He has participated in the discovery and tracking of irregular moons of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, as well as dozens of Kuiper belt objects (comet-like object orbiting beyond Neptune), Holman is the leader of the Outer Solar System key project for the Pan-STARRS-1 Science Consortium. In addition, Holman has been involved in the characterization of transiting extrasolar planets and is a member of the Kepler Science Team.
 

                     Title:  “The Kepler Mission of Discovery: How Common are Planets Like the Earth?"

Abstract:  The Kepler Mission of Discovery was designed and developed to detect Earth-sized planets in the habitable zones of Sun-like stars.  Kepler launched on 9 March 2009 and began a 3.5 year mission.  It has since been montoring the light from roughly 160,000 stars, looking for signs of planetary transits.  In this talk I will review the Kepler Mission's progress toward answering the age-old question, "How common are planets like the Earth?"

Professor Dell'Antonio has been at Brown University since 1999. Before that, he worked at National Optical Astronomy Observatories and at Bell Laboratories in Murray Hill, New Jersey. His research involves using gravitational lensing to uncover the distribution of dark matter and dark energy in space. He is involved in the design of the next generation ground- and space-based missions to map out the distribution of matter in the Universe.

Title:  "Astronomy Projects that Amateurs Can Do."

Abstract:  Brown University runs laboratories for four classes that range from introductory level courses for non-majors to intense junior and senior-level astrophysics courses. Over the past decade, we have been working to introduce observational labs that help reinforce the astrophysical concepts we cover in the classes. I will describe a few of the more intensive labs and the equipment and conditions in which we perform them, and hopefully show that the observations and analyses can be easily duplicated by amateur astronomers.