MIT: Independent Activities Period: IAP

IAP 2013 Activities by Category - Earth and Planetary Sciences

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Black Holes and Jets

Michael Nowak, Research Scientist, Herman Marshall, Principal Research Scientist

Jan/08 Tue 02:00PM-03:00PM 37-252 Marlar Lounge

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Attendance: Repeating event, particpants welcome at any session
Prereq: To attend Chandra tour, individuals must attend both talk

2:00-2:30pm      If black holes are black, then how do we see them? (Answer: sometimes we don't!)
Speaker: Dr. Michael Nowak (MIT Kavli Institute). No enrollment limit, no advance sign up.  For an abstract for this talk and a complete listing of Kavli IAP offerings, please visit:   http://space.mit.edu/home/milleric/iap2013/

2:30-3:00pm      Talk by Herman Marshall, MKI Principal Research Scientist (no pre-requisite; no enrollment limit)

3:15-4:15pm      Tour of the Chandra Operations Control Center and Polarimetry Lab.  Tour will be led by Herman Marshall.  The Chandra X-ray Observatory is the world's most powerful X-ray telescope, allowing scientists to study the origin, structure and evolution of our universe in greater detail than ever before. The spacecraft and science instruments are controlled from the Operations Control Center (OCC) in Cambridge, Massachusetts. For complete details, visit our IAP website:  http://space.mit.edu/home/milleric/iap2013/

Enrollment limit: 20 people, advance sign-up required; contact Dr. Eric Miller (milleric@mit.edu).
Prerequisites: Attendance of talks preceding the tour.

Prerequisite:  attend both talks preceding the tour.  Tour limit = 20 people.  To register for the tour, please contact MKI IAP Coordinator Eric Miller (milleric@mit.edu).

 

 

Sponsor(s): Kavli Institute for Astrophysics & Space Research
Contact: Debbie Meinbresse, 37-241, 617 253-1456, MEINBRES@MIT.EDU


Climate Science 101/Climate Change 101

Daniel Rothenberg

Jan/24 Thu 01:00PM-03:00PM E51-151

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up

Obama cited "the overwhelming judgment of science" about "the devastating impact of raging fires, and crippling drought, and more powerful storms." What IS the climate, anyway? How is it changing, and how do those changes give rise to these major impacts?

This two-part session introduces the fundamentals of climate science and provides an overview of what climate scientists know about our current and future climate. The talk will begin with a walkthrough of the greenhouse effect, highlighting key principles that form the base of climate science. It will continue with an overview of of climate change, including an introduction to human-induced and natural climate forcing components such as greenhouse gas emissions, ozone, and volcanic eruptions and aerosols. Emphasis will be placed on the complexity and uncertainty regarding current understanding and future projections of earth's climate.

Sponsor(s): Joint Program/Science and Policy of Global Change
Contact: Anthony Tran, E19-411R, 617 253-7492, TONES@MIT.EDU


Detecting Gravitational Waves

Dr. Matthew Evans, Professor, To Register for Tour: Dr. Eric Miller, Research Scientist

Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/07
Attendance: must attend talk 2:00-2:30pm preceding tour

Detecting Gravitational Waves
Professor Matthew Evans (MIT Kavli Institute)

Talk:  2-2:30pm; Location:  Marlar Lounge, MIT 37-252 @ 70 Vassar Street
It is an exciting time in the field of gravitational wave astrophysics; new detectors are under construction around the world and significant results are expected in the next 5 years. Laser-interferometric gravitational wave detectors are the most sensitive position meters ever operated, aiming to detect the motion of massive bodies throughout the universe by pushing precision measurement to the standard quantum limit, and beyond. I'll talk about astrophysical sources of gravitational waves, the principals behind gravitational wave detection, and the technological challenges involved in interferometric gravitational wave detection.

No enrollment limit, no advance sign up.

Tour: 2:45-4:00pm  Tour of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) Lab
Professor Matthew Evans (MIT Kavli Institute)
Visitors will be taken on a tour of the LIGO prototyping facilities at MIT. These include a full-scale prototype of the LIGO vacuum chambers, laser, isolation and suspension systems, and laboratories for thermal and optical noise measurements.

Enrollment limit: 10 people, advance sign-up required; contact Dr. Eric Miller (milleric@mit.edu)
Prerequisites: Attendance of talk preceding the tour.

For a complete listing of MKI 2013 IAP Offerings, please visit:   http://space.mit.edu/home/milleric/iap2013/

Sponsor(s): Kavli Institute for Astrophysics & Space Research
Contact: Eric Miller and Debbie Meinbresse, 37-241, 617-253-1456, MEINBRES@MIT.EDU


Detecting Gravitational Waves

Jan/10 Thu 02:00PM-02:30PM Marlar Lounge 37-252

It is an exciting time in the field of gravitational wave astrophysics; new detectors are under construction around the world and significant results are expected in the next 5 years.

For a complete description, please visit:  http://space.mit.edu/home/milleric/iap2013/

No enrollment limit, no advance sign up.

Dr. Matthew Evans - Professor


Tour of LIGO

Jan/10 Thu 03:15PM-04:15PM Depart from 37-252

Tour of the LIGO Lab.  For complete description, please visit:   http://space.mit.edu/home/milleric/iap2013/    or contact Eric Miller (milleric@mit.edu)

You must attend the talk from 2-2:30pm preceding the tour.  Register for tour by emailing Dr. Eric Miller (milleric@mit.edu)

 

Dr. Matthew Evans - Professor


Elevation and Hydrography Data

Jennie Murack

Jan/28 Mon 01:00PM-03:00PM 14N-132

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Limited to 22 participants
Prereq: A basic knowledge of ArcMap

Learn to read a topographic map and learn how to use a digital elevation model to create contour lines and do hydrographic analysis. 

Prerequisite: Parcipants should take the Introducation to GIS workshop or have previous experience using ArcGIS.

Register here: http://libcal.mit.edu/event.php?id=176649

Sponsor(s): Geographic Information Systems Lab, Libraries
Contact: Jennie Murack, 7-238, 617 258-6680, MURACK@MIT.EDU


Evolution of the Early Universe

Dr. Brendan Griffen, Postdoctoral Fellow (MIT Kavli Institute), Professor Anna Frebel, Professor of Physics (MIT Kavli Institute)

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions
Prereq: none

Please visit http://space.mit.edu/home/milleric/iap2013/ for complete details.

2:00-2:30pm     Talk #1: Title & Abstract TBA; speaker Dr. Brendan Griffen (MIT Kavli Institute)

2:30-3:00pm     Talk #2: Stellar Archaeology: New Science with Old Stars
Prof. Anna Frebel (MIT Kavli Institute)
The early chemical evolution of the Galaxy and the Universe is vital to our understanding of a host of astrophysical phenomena. Since the oldest Galactic stars are relics from the high-redshift Universe, they probe the chemical and dynamical conditions of a time when large galaxies first began to assemble. Through analysis of their surface composion, they probe the chemical and dynamical conditions as the Milky Way began to form, the origin and evolution of the elements, and the physics of nucleosynthesis. Some of these stars display a strong overabundance of the heaviest elements, in particular uranium and thorium. They can thus be radioactively dated, giving formation times ~ 13 Gyr ago, similar to the ~ 13.7 Gyr age of the Universe. In addition to talking about the science results, I will show a few video clips about observing with the 6.5m optical Magellan telescopes in the Atacama desert in Chile.

Sponsor(s): Kavli Institute for Astrophysics & Space Research
Contact: Eric Miller and Debbie Meinbresse, 37-241, 617 253-1456, MEINBRES@MIT.EDU


Talk Title TBA

Jan/31 Thu 02:00PM-02:30PM Marlar Lounge 37-252

Title, abstract, and additional details will be posted here:  http://space.mit.edu/home/milleric/iap2013/

Dr. Brendan Griffen - Postdoctoral Fellow (MIT Kavli Institute)


Stellar Archaeology: New Science with Ol

Jan/31 Thu 02:30PM-03:00PM Marlar Lounge 37-252

Stellar Archaeology: New Science with Old Stars

complete event description available here: http://space.mit.edu/home/milleric/iap2013/

Professor Anna Frebel - Professor of Physics (MIT Kavli Institute)


Exoplanets

Kevin Schlaufman, Kavli Postdoctoral Fellow, Bryce Croll, Sagan Postdoctoral Fellow

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions
Prereq: none

Please visit: http://space.mit.edu/home/milleric/iap2013/  for talk titles and abstracts

 

Sponsor(s): Kavli Institute for Astrophysics & Space Research
Contact: Eric Miller and Debbie Meinbresse, 37-241, 617 253-1456, MEINBRES@MIT.EDU


Planet Formation and the Origins of Life

Jan/15 Tue 02:00PM-02:30PM Marlar Lounge 37-252

The first planet outside of our Solar System was discovered in 1995. Since then, over 800 of these "exoplanets" have been identified orbiting other stars in our own Galaxy. Few of these planetary systems resemble the Solar System, & those differences may determine the frequency of life in the Universe. 

See the full abstract here: http://space.mit.edu/home/milleric/iap2013/

 

 

Kevin Schlaufman - Kavli Postdoctoral Fellow


Exoplanets

Jan/15 Tue 02:30PM-03:00PM Marlar Lounge 37-252

How to Find and Characterize a Habitable Earth-like Planet

To many members of the public, and indeed the wider astronomical
community, one of the most pressing questions in the field of extrasolar
planets is how are we going to find a planet similar to the Earth that can
support life, and how are we going to know it when we find it?

complete abstract posted here:  http://space.mit.edu/home/milleric/iap2013/

Bryce Croll - Sagan Postdoctoral Fellow


New Instruments for Understanding the Evolution of the Universe

Professor Jacqueline Hewitt, Prof. of Physics; Dir, Kavli Inst Astrophysics & Space Res, Dr. Ralf Heilmann, Associate Director, Space Nanotechnology Laboratory

Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/14
Attendance: must attend talks 2-3pm to attend tour

2-2:30pm  Looking for the First Stars with a New Radio Telescope in Western Australia
Professor Jacqueline Hewitt (MIT Kavli Institute)

Abstract available here:  http://space.mit.edu/home/milleric/iap2013/

 

2:30-3:00pm High-resolution x-ray optics at the Space Nanotechnology Laboratory: From nanometers to gigaparsecs
Ralf Heilmann

Abstract available here:  http://space.mit.edu/home/milleric/iap2013/



3:15-4:15pm Tour of the Space Nanotechnology Lab
Dr. Ralf Heilmann (MIT Kavli Institute) 

During the tour of the SNL's three clean rooms visitors will see sophisticated optical (interference lithography stations for the fabrication of submicron period gratings, high power UV laser, metrology station for optics shape measurements, sub-nanometer resolution interferometers, etc.) and mechanical systems (XY-air-bearing stage, sub-micron accuracy alignment system, environmental enclosure, active vibration isolation, etc.) that support the development of thin-foil x-ray optics and gratings.

Enrollment limit: 6 people, advance sign-up required; contact Dr. Eric Miller (milleric@mit.edu).
Prerequisites: Attendance of talks preceding the tour.

 

 

Sponsor(s): Kavli Institute for Astrophysics & Space Research
Contact: Eric Miller and Debbie Meinbresse, 37-241, 617 253-1456, MEINBRES@MIT.EDU


Looking for the First Stars with a New R

Jan/17 Thu 02:00PM-02:30PM Marlar Lounge 37-252

Radio astronomers, including some of us at MIT, are building a novel low-frequency radio telescope in Western Australia to search for hydrogen signals associated with the first stars. I will present results from our 32-antenna prototype array, and a report on the construction of our 128-antenna array that's designed to detect the signals we seek.  Complete description: http://space.mit.edu/home/milleric/iap2013/

Professor Jacqueline Hewitt - Prof. of Physics; Dir, Kavli Inst Astrophysics & Space Res


High-resolution x-ray optics at the Spac

Jan/17 Thu 02:30PM-03:00PM Marlar Lounge 37-252

High-resolution x-ray optics at the Space Nanotechnology Laboratory (SNL): From nanometers to gigaparsecs
The SNL develops advanced lithographic and nano-fabrication technology for high performance space instrumentation, as well as nanometer-accuracy metrology and assembly technology. For a complete description of this talk, visit:  http://space.mit.edu/home/milleric/iap2013/

No enrollment limit, no advance sign up.

Dr. Ralf Heilmann - Associate Director, Space Nanotechnology Laboratory


Tour of Space Nanotechnology Laboratory

Jan/17 Thu 03:15PM-04:15PM leave from 37-252

During the tour of the SNL's three clean rooms visitors will see sophisticated optical and mechanical systems that support the development of thin-foil x-ray optics and gatings.  For a complete description, please visit:

http://space.mit.edu/home/milleric/iap2013/

Limit: 6 people, advance sign-up required; contact Dr. Eric Miller.
Prerequisites: Attendance of talks preceding the tour.

Dr. Ralf Heilmann - Associate Director, Space Nanotechnology Laboratory


Preventing Contamination and Maintaining Return-Sample Integrity from Near Planet Missions

Dr. Claudia Mickelson, EHS Deputy Dir. & Special Advisor to the VP for Rsrch, Dr. Catharine Conley, Planetary Protection Officer, NASA

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/02
Limited to 35 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions

The UN Space Treaty of 1967 states "that all parties to the Treaty shall pursue studies of outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies,  and conduct exploration of them, so as to avoid harmful contamination and also adverse changes in the environment of the Earth resulting from the introduction of extraterrestrial matter, and where necessary, shall adopt appropriate measures for this purpose".  The need to ensure that scientific integrity of samples and data obtained during investigations of other planets is not compromised has led NASA to develop five categories of target body/mission categories with a range of contamination controls.  Over the two days this course will give an introduction to these NASA categories and various methods used for detection and control of microbial contaminants with some short hands-on experiments following the morning presentations and discussion to illustrate the difficulties surrounding achieving the appropriate level of spacecraft sterilization.

Register at: http://ehs.mit.edu/site/content/iap-course-registration

Sponsor(s): Environment, Health and Safety Office
Contact: Claudia Mickelson, N52-496, 617-252-1810, claudiam@mit.edu


Day 1: NASA Planetary Protection

Jan/30 Wed 09:00AM-01:00PM N52-496

The first day will include presentation and discussion of NASA planetary and solar system exploration missions, prioritization of missions, issues associated with design of on-board analytical technologies, and development of the NASA Planetary Protection Guidelines.  The associated laboratory will cover an introduction to basic microbiology and sampling methods for different types of materials.

Dr. Claudia Mickelson - EHS Deputy Dir. & Special Advisor to the VP for Rsrch, Dr. Catharine Conley - Planetary Protection Officer, NASA


Day 2: NASA Planetary Protection

Jan/31 Thu 09:00AM-01:00PM N52-496

The second day will focus on discussion of issues surrounding the international nature of space exploration, prevention of target planet or solar body contamination by exploratory mission equipment, maintaining sample integrity, return to earth and prevention of sample and earth contamination, and prioritizing sample testing.  The laboratory will discuss results of the previous day's testing and sampling exercises.

Dr. Claudia Mickelson - EHS Deputy Dir. & Special Advisor to the VP for Rsrch, Dr. Catharine Conley - Planetary Protection Officer, NASA


The Ins and Outs of Galaxy Clusters

Dr. Eric Miller, Research Scientist (MIT Kavli Institute), Dr. Michael McDonald, Hubble Postdoctoral Fellow (MIT Kavli Institute), Dr. Steve Kissel, Research Scientist (MIT Kavli Institute)

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions
Prereq: None for talks; talks required to attend tour

Two talks and lab tour.

2:00-2:30pm TALK #1 -- Clusters of Galaxies: The Cosmic Melting Pot
Dr. Eric Miller (MIT Kavli Institute)

2:30-3:00pm  TALK #2 -- Black Hole Feedback Versus Cooling Flows - An Epic Battle in the Center of Galaxy Clusters 
Dr. Michael McDonald (Hubble Fellow, MIT Kavli Institute)

3:15-4:15pm Tour of the Chandra ACIS CCD Lab
Dr. Steve Kissel (MIT Kavli Institute)
In this tour, we will introduce the participants to the CCD detector development at MIT.

Enrollment limit for tour: 15 people, advance sign-up required; contact Dr. Eric Miller (milleric@mit.edu).
Prerequisites: Attendance of talks preceding the tour.

For titles, abstracts, and details, please visit: http://space.mit.edu/home/milleric/iap2013/

Sponsor(s): Kavli Institute for Astrophysics & Space Research
Contact: Eric Miller and Debbie Meinbresse, 37-241, 617 253-1456, MEINBRES@MIT.EDU


Talk Title TBA

Jan/24 Thu 02:00PM-02:30PM Marlar Lounge 37-252

For title and abstract, see:  http://space.mit.edu/home/milleric/iap2013/

Dr. Eric Miller - Research Scientist (MIT Kavli Institute)


Talk Title TBA

Jan/24 Thu 02:30PM-03:00PM Marlar Lounge 37-252

See description:  http://space.mit.edu/home/milleric/iap2013/

Dr. Michael McDonald - Hubble Postdoctoral Fellow (MIT Kavli Institute)


Tour of the Chandra ACIS CCD Lab

Jan/24 Thu 03:15PM-04:15PM leave from 37-252

Tour of the Chandra ACIS CCD Lab
Dr. Steve Kissel (MIT Kavli Institute)
In this tour, we will introduce the participants to the CCD detector development at MIT.

Enrollment limit for tour: 15 people, advance sign-up required; contact Dr. Eric Miller (milleric@mit.edu).
Prerequisites: Attendance of talks preceding the tour.

Dr. Steve Kissel - Research Scientist (MIT Kavli Institute)


The Life Cycle of Stars

Dr. Norbert Schulz, Research Scientist (MIT Kavli Institute), Dr. Laura Lopez, Pappalardo Postdoctoral Fellow;Einstein Postdoctoral Fellow

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions
Prereq: none

Two talks:

(1)  The High Energy Lifestyle of Young Stars (Speaker: Norbert Schulz)

 

(2)  Dissecting the X-rays from Supernova Remnants  (Speaker:  Laura Lopez)

 

Please visit http://space.mit.edu/home/milleric/iap2013/ for a talk titles, abstracts, and details.

Sponsor(s): Kavli Institute for Astrophysics & Space Research
Contact: Eric Miller and Debbie Meinbresse, 37-241, 617 253-1456, MEINBRES@MIT.EDU


The High Energy Lifestyle of Young Stars

Jan/29 Tue 02:00PM-02:30PM Marlar Lounge 37-252

The abstract and additional details are posted at http://space.mit.edu/home/milleric/iap2013/

Dr. Norbert Schulz - Research Scientist (MIT Kavli Institute)


Dissecting X-rays from Supernova Remnant

Jan/29 Tue 02:30PM-03:00PM Marlar Lounge 37-252

The abstract and additional details are posted at: http://space.mit.edu/home/milleric/iap2013/

Dr. Laura Lopez - Pappalardo Postdoctoral Fellow;Einstein Postdoctoral Fellow