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(Safely) Observe the Sun
Zach Berta-Thompson, Torres Postdoctoral Fellow, MKI
Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions
Join us for daytime stargazing! We will have solar telescopes set up so you can safely observe our closest star, the Sun. Swing on by for a quick look, and feel free to stay and chat with MIT astronomers over cups of cocoa.
This activity is being co-sponsored with EAPS.
weather permitting
A complete listing of all IAP activities being offered by MIT's Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research is available here.
Sponsor(s): Kavli Institute for Astrophysics
Contact: Zach Berta-Thompson, 37-673, 617-253-5084, zkbt@mit.edu
| Jan/14 | Wed | 10:30AM-12:00PM | Student Center Steps |
First of three solar observing days -- weather permitting.
Zach Berta-Thompson - Torres Postdoctoral Fellow, MKI
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Jan/21 | Wed | 10:30AM-12:00PM | Student Center Steps |
Second solar observing day out of three -- weather permitting
Zach Berta-Thompson - Torres Postdoctoral Fellow, MKI
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Jan/23 | Fri | 12:00PM-01:30PM | Student Center Steps |
Final day of solar observing -- weather permitting.
Zach Berta-Thompson - Torres Postdoctoral Fellow, MKI
An Introduction to the Chandra Xray Observatory
Dr. Michael Nowak, Research Scientist, MIT Kavli Institute
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Jan/22 | Thu | 03:15PM-03:35PM | 37-252 Marlar Lounge |
Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Prereq: 2pm (Grinberg) & 2:30pm (Marshall)
A brief introduction to the Chandra X-ray Observatory will be given prior to tour of the X-ray Polarimetry Lab.
Please note: to attend the 3:40pm tour of the Polarimetry Lab, you must attend this talk as well as the 2:00pm talk by Dr. Victoria Grinberg and the 2:30 talk by Dr. Herman Marshall. Lab tour limited to 20 people. Sign up sheet available at 1:55 in 37-252.
The group will depart Building 37 at 3pm and walk together to NE83-530.
Sponsor(s): Kavli Institute for Astrophysics
Contact: Debbie Meinbresse, 37-241, 617 253-1456, MEINBRES@MIT.EDU
Creating an Apple Pie from Scratch: A Universe in a Supercomputer
Brendan Griffen, MKI Postdoctoral Fellow
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Jan/15 | Thu | 02:00PM-02:30PM | 37-252 Marlar Lounge |
Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Describing the evolution of the Universe from the Big Bang to what we see today is not an easy undertaking. The advent of powerful parallel computers has created a unique opportunity for astronomers to study the build up of structure over cosmic time. In particular, these machines are now helping us understand when and how galaxies formed. Current models have remarkable success at reproducing the large scale features of our Universe, for example. Although a great deal of our modern understanding of the Universe has come from studying it in this way, current models are still struggling with the details, particularly on small scales. In my talk I will discuss the current state of the art in computational astrophysics, some of the problems in the models and how astronomers are working hard to solve them.
For additional information, please go to the event website.
Sponsor(s): Kavli Institute for Astrophysics
Contact: Debbie Meinbresse, 37-241, 617 253-1456, MEINBRES@MIT.EDU
(CANCELED) Exoplanets with TESS: Alien Worlds in our Backyard
Dr. Zach Berta-Thompson, Torres Postdoctoral Fellow
| Jan/28 | Wed | 02:30PM-03:00PM | 37-252 Marlar Lounge |
Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
MIT is building a new satellite to search the entire sky for exoplanets, planets orbiting other stars. Set to launch in 2017, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) aims to find the best exoplanet targets for detailed characterization with upcoming big telescopes like the 6.5m James Webb Space Telescope or the 25-meter Giant Magellan Telescope. TESS will help astronomers understand what planets are made of, explore their atmospheres, and potentially (if we're really lucky) start to search for alien life beyond our Solar System. Come hear about this exciting MIT-led satellite mission!
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up.
Sponsor(s): Kavli Institute for Astrophysics
Contact: Dr. Zach Berta-Thompson, 37-673, 617-253-5084, zkbt@mit.edu
(CANCELED) Exploring the Universe from Near to Far with the Chandra X-ray Observatory
Dr. Michael Nowak, Research Scientist, MIT Kavli Institute
| Jan/27 | Tue | 02:30PM-03:00PM | 37-252 Marlar Lounge |
Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Prereq: none
In the summer of 1999, NASA launched the third of its great observatories -- the Chandra X-ray telescope. Like the Hubble Space telescope which preceded it, Chandra is designed to have an unprecedented ability to create images and spectra of astrophysical objects, except working with high energy X-rays instead of optical light. This means that Chandra views some of the universe's most exotic and energetic phenomena: supernovae, neutron stars, black holes, jets traveling at nearly the speed of light emanating from near the center of clusters of galaxies. In this talk, we'll take a tour of the discoveries made by the Chandra X-ray telescope, starting with studies of our own solar system, moving outward to nearby stars, to the center of our own Galaxy where a black hole 40 millions times the mass of our Sun lurks, to distant clusters of Galaxies where the most massive black holes, billions of times the mass of our Sun, reside.
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up.
PLEASE NOTE: Following this talk there will be a tour of the Chandra Space Telescope Operations Control Center by
Dr. Norbert Schulz (MIT Kavli Institute)
Tour will be limited to max 20 people. Advance sign-up for tour required! Sign up deadline 12:00noon on JANUARY 22.
Prerequisites: Attendance of talks preceding the tour
For a complete listing of all IAP Events sponsored by MIT's Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, please look at our IAP website.
Sponsor(s): Kavli Institute for Astrophysics
Contact: Debbie Meinbresse, 37-241, 617 253-1456, MEINBRES@MIT.EDU
(CANCELED) Fast X-ray Detectors for NICER: Astrophysics of Neutron Stars and Black Holes from the International Space Station
Ronald Remillard, Principal Research Scientist
| Jan/28 | Wed | 02:00PM-02:30PM | 37-252 Marlar Lounge |
Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
The NICER team at the MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics will deliver detectors that are a key portion of the 56-camera Instrument for X-ray astronomy that will be deployed on the International Space Station in 2016. The project is known as the Neutron star Interior Composition ExploreR ("NICER"). The cameras are sensitive to 0.2-12 keV photons, and each event will be time-tagged with instrument clock ticks that run at 40 ns. This talk will review the science goals, the instrument technology, and the calibration equipment that will help us to accomplish the goal to time-tag every event to the Solar system barycenter, to an accuracy of 100 ns.
Sponsor(s): Kavli Institute for Astrophysics
Contact: Debbie Meinbresse, 37-241, 617 253-1456, MEINBRES@MIT.EDU
Gravitational Mirages
Paul Schechter, William A M Burden Professor of Astrophysics
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Jan/13 | Tue | 02:30PM-03:00PM | 37-252 Marlar Lounge |
Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
According to Einstein's theory, gravity produces what is, in effect, an index of refraction. Light passing in the vicinity of an astronomical object will be delayed, deflected and distorted by the variations in this index of refraction, in a manner exactly analogous to terrestrial mirages. Such cosmic mirages are a major tool for the study of dark matter in galaxies and clusters of galaxies.
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up.
A listing of all IAP activities being offered by MIT's Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research is available here.
Sponsor(s): Kavli Institute for Astrophysics
Contact: Debbie Meinbresse, 37-241, 617 253-1456, MEINBRES@MIT.EDU
High-resolution x-ray optics at the Space Nanotechnology Laboratory: From nanometers to gigaparsecs
Dr. Ralf Heilmann, Principal Research Scientist, MIT Kavli Institute
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Jan/20 | Tue | 02:30PM-03:00PM | 37-252 Marlar Lounge |
Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Prereq: none
The Space Nanotechnology Laboratory (SNL) develops advanced lithography and nano-fabrication technology for high performance space instrumentation, as well as nanometer-accuracy metrology and assembly technology. Two current efforts are the development of nanofabricated soft x-ray gratings, the so-called critical-angle transmission (CAT) gratings, and the development of high-precision focusing X-ray mirrors. CAT gratings require the fabrication of sub-micron structures with extreme geometries and sub-nanometer precision, while x-ray mirrors are formed at 600 deg C while floating on porous air bearings. These efforts are aimed at instruments that can help find the missing baryons in the Cosmic Web and reveal the secrets of dark matter.
PLEASE NOTE: There will be a tour of the Space Nanotechnology Laboratory (SNL) from 3:15-4:15pm. The pre-requisite for going on the SNL tour is attending this talk. The tour is limited to SIX people; advance sign-up required starting at 2:25 pm in 37-252. You must attend this talk to take the tour.
A complete listing of IAP activities being offered by MIT's Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research is available here.
Sponsor(s): Kavli Institute for Astrophysics
Contact: Debbie Meinbresse, 37-241, 617 253-1456, MEINBRES@MIT.EDU
Hunting Dark Matter
Mr. Adam Anderson, MIT Kavli Institute
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Jan/29 | Thu | 02:00PM-02:30PM | 37-252 Marlar Lounge |
Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Hunting Dark Matter
Understanding the composition and properties of the matter in the universe is one of the most basic goals of physics, yet we know scandalously little about most of the matter. A concordance of diverse evidence from astrophysics and cosmology suggests that 85% of the matter in the universe is "dark": it is non-electromagnetically interacting and fundamentally different than the familiar matter of atoms that we experience in our day-to-day life. Though the existence and astrophysical properties of dark matter are established, its particle properties are unknown. I will describe the different pieces of evidence that have led to our current understanding of dark matter, culminating in the state-of-the-art direct searches that are probing its particle properties.
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up for this talk.
Sponsor(s): Kavli Institute for Astrophysics
Contact: Debbie Meinbresse, 37-241, 617 253-1456, MEINBRES@MIT.EDU
Observing Black Holes
Dr. Victoria Grinberg, Postdoctoral Associate, MIT Kavli Institute
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Jan/22 | Thu | 02:00PM-02:30PM | 37-252 Marlar Lounge |
Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Black holes are perhaps the most mind-boggling objects ever conceived by physicists and there is hardly any science fiction series today that will not feature them in some capacity. However, black holes are also very much observable and one of the major topics of today's X-ray astronomy.
In this talk I will give a very short overview of what black holes are, where we find astrophysical black holes, why we need X-ray astronomy and thus satellite-based telescopes such as Chandra to observe black holes, and how observations of both, supermassive black holes in the centers of galaxies and the "small" black holes of only a few solar masses in binary star systems, improve our understanding of the physics of our universe.
Please note: In order to attend the tour of the Polarimetry Lab, you must attend this talk. Tour limited to 20 people. Sign up sheet available at 1:55pm in 37-252.
Sponsor(s): Kavli Institute for Astrophysics
Contact: Debbie Meinbresse, 37-241, 617 253-1456, MEINBRES@MIT.EDU
(CANCELED) Quasar Absorption Spectroscopy: Shining a Flashlight Through the Universe
Thomas Cooper
| Jan/15 | Thu | 02:30PM-03:00PM | 37-252 Marlar Lounge |
Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Intergalactic gas accounts for most of the (non-dark) matter in the Universe, but is typically too diffuse to observe directly. We can study this gas indirectly via the absorption signature it imprints on observations of bright background sources, learning how the chemistry of the Universe changes over time as stars and galaxies form. In addition to the science, I’ll also showcase some of the largest operational and future optical telescopes that allow us to explore further into cosmic history.
Sponsor(s): Kavli Institute for Astrophysics
Contact: Debbie Meinbresse, 37-241, 617 253-1456, MEINBRES@MIT.EDU
Searching for Gravitational Waves with LIGO
Dr. Adam Libson, Postdoctoral Associate
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Jan/06 | Tue | 02:00PM-02:30PM | 37-252 Marlar Lounge |
Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Prereq: No enrollment limit, no advance sign up.
Einstein's theory of general relativity predicts the existence of gravitational radiation. Since gravity is a weak force, it takes extreme masses and energies to produce a detectable gravitational wave signature. Indirect evidence for the existence of this radiation has been collected using pulsar measurements. The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) is an experiment designed to directly detect this radiation, and use it to study exotic astrophysical phenomena. To do this, LIGO must measure length changes with a precision of 10-19 meters, less than a thousandth of a proton diameter. In this talk, I will briefly discuss gravitational radiation and its sources, and I will also describe the LIGO detectors and the physics involved in their operation. Finally, I will discuss some of the quantum limits on making this type of precision measurement, and the ways in which LIGO hopes to beat these limits.
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up for this talk.
Please Note: A tour of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) Lab will follow this talk. To take the tour (2:45-4:00pm), you must attend this talk and register for the tour.
See website for additional information.
Sponsor(s): Kavli Institute for Astrophysics
Contact: Debbie Meinbresse, 37-241, 617 253-1456, MEINBRES@MIT.EDU
Seeing the Formation of the Universe with Radio Eyes
Abraham Neben
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Jan/14 | Wed | 02:30PM-03:00PM | 37-252 Marlar Lounge |
Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Radio astronomy has been a crucial probe of the early universe since the discovery of the Cosmic Microwave Background in 1964. But most of the first billion years, during which the modern universe emerged out of a nearly homogenous soup of hydrogen, has remained hidden. I’ll discuss a new generation of radio telescopes just beginning to reveal the first stars and galaxies which are thought to have re-ionized the neutral hydrogen left over from the Big Bang. Using the Murchison Widefield Array in the remote Australian desert, we have begun to sift through Petabytes of data for hints of this theoretical Epoch of Reionization.
For additional information, please go to the event website.
Sponsor(s): Kavli Institute for Astrophysics
Contact: Debbie Meinbresse, 37-241, 617 253-1456, MEINBRES@MIT.EDU
Stellar Archaeology: New Science with Old Stars
Anna Frebel, Silverman (1968) Family Career Development Assistant Profess
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Jan/13 | Tue | 02:00PM-02:30PM | 37-252 Marlar Lounge |
Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
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 composition, 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.
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up.
A complete listing of all IAP activities being offered by MIT's Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research is available here.
Sponsor(s): Kavli Institute for Astrophysics
Contact: Debbie Meinbresse, 37-241, 617 253-1456, MEINBRES@MIT.EDU
The Illustris simulation: Evolving the Universe on a Supercomputer
Dr. Federico Marinacci, MKI Postdoctoral Fellow
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Jan/29 | Thu | 02:30PM-03:00PM | 37-252 Marlar Lounge |
Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Numerical simulations are a fundamental tool in Theoretical Astrophysics to understand how the objects that populate our Universe formed and evolved. In this talk I am going to present the results of the Illustris simulation, one of the largest cosmological simulations ever performed, that follows the evolution of the Universe from the Big Bang to the present day. In particular, I will give a brief illustration of our current view on how galaxies are formed and what are the most important processes that shape their evolution.
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up.
Sponsor(s): Kavli Institute for Astrophysics
Contact: Debbie Meinbresse, 37-241, 617 253-1456, MEINBRES@MIT.EDU
Tour of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) Lab
Dr. Adam Libson, MKI Postdoctoral Associate
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Jan/06 | Tue | 02:45PM-04:00PM | 37-252 Marlar Lounge |
Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/06
Limited to 10 participants
Prereq: Attendance of same day MKI sessions
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.
Max 10 people, advance sign-up required starting at 1:55 pm in 37-252
Sponsor(s): Kavli Institute for Astrophysics
Contact: Debbie Meinbresse, 37-241, 617 253-1456, MEINBRES@MIT.EDU
(CANCELED) Tour of the Operations Control Center for the Chandra X-ray Observatory, One of NASA's Great Observatories
Dr. Norbert S. Schulz, MIT Kavli Institute, Research Scientist
| Jan/27 | Tue | 03:15PM-04:15PM | Tour departs 37-252 |
Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/13
Limited to 20 participants
Prereq: Attendance of same day MKI sessions
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. We will take our visitors on a tour of the OCC and show where scientists and engineers direct the flight and execute the observing plan of Chandra, and where they receive the scientific data from the observatory. during the tour the visitors will learn about the basics of X-ray astronomy and about the latest, exciting discoveries made by MIT scientists with data acquired with Chandra.
Max 20 people, advance sign-up required by email to Debbie Meinbresse (meinbres@mit.edu) by 12:00 noon on 1/22/2015.
Prerequisites: Attendance of 2:30pm talk by Dr. Michael Nowak (Marlar Lounge, 37-252) preceding the tour
Sponsor(s): Kavli Institute for Astrophysics
Contact: Debbie Meinbresse, 37-241, 617 253-1456, MEINBRES@MIT.EDU
Tour of the Space Nanotechnology Lab
Ralf Heilmann, Associate Director, Space Nanotechnology Laboratory
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Jan/20 | Tue | 03:15PM-04:15PM | 37-252 Marlar Lounge |
Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/20
Limited to 6 participants
Prereq: Attendance of same day MKI sessions
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.
Max 6 people, advance sign-up required starting at 2:25 pm in 37-252.
***PLEASE NOTE***
The prequisite for taking the tour is attending the 2:30-3:00pm talk preceding the tour.
For additional information, please see the event website.
Sponsor(s): Kavli Institute for Astrophysics
Contact: Debbie Meinbresse, 37-241, 617 253-1456, MEINBRES@MIT.EDU
Using X-ray Spectroscopy to Measure a Binary's Relativistic Outflow
Dr. Herman Marshall, Principal Research Scientist, MIT Kavli Institute
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Jan/22 | Thu | 02:30PM-03:00PM | 37-252 Marlar Lounge |
Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
The stellar binary SS 433 was once featured on Saturday Night Live as the "comin' and a-goin' star". By means that are still somewhat mysterious, the system ejects blobs of plasma in opposite directions at a speed of about a quarter of the speed of light. The compact object that is responsible for providing the impetus for this plasma is probably a black hole about 10 times the mass of the Sun. I show what we've come to understand about the system and its jets such as how their directions trace out twin cones on the sky. X-ray spectroscopy, using the Chandra High Energy Transmission Grating Spectrometer that were built here at MIT, shows that the plasma temperature reaches at least 100 billion degrees and can be used to measure the density and location of the outflows we call jets.
Please note: to attend the tour of the Polarimetry Lab, you must attend this talk as well as the 2:00 pm talk "Observing Black Holes". Lab tour limited to 20 people. Sign up sheet available at 1:55 in 37-252.
Sponsor(s): Kavli Institute for Astrophysics
Contact: Debbie Meinbresse, 37-241, 617 253-1456, MEINBRES@MIT.EDU
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