IAP 2017 Activities by Sponsor - Kavli Institute for Astrophysics & Space Research

Dr. Tom Chang, Mr. Ryan McKinnon

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Prereq: none

Two Talks! 1:30-2:30pm

Complexity and Multifractals in Space and the Universe (Dr. Tom Chang)

This talk comprises a series of descriptive narratives geared toward the general audience. "Dynamical complexity" is a phenomenon observed in interacting many-body systems within which multitudes of different sizes of large scale coherent structures emerge, resulting in stochastic behaviors vastly different from those that could be surmised from the underlying equations of interactions. Everywhere one peers into space and the cosmos, there is complexity with the appearance of intermittent fluctuating events involving the mixing and distribution of correlated structures at all spatial and temporal scales. Read the full abstract

Simulating the Universe on a Supercomputer (Mr. Ryan McKinnon)

Galaxies in the universe form and grow over time in a complicated nonlinear fashion. Recent advances in supercomputing ability make it possible to numerically model the essential physics and evolve a "mock" universe from shortly after the Big Bang to the present day, producing a fairly realistic population of galaxies. In this talk, I will highlight the key topics in physics that govern galaxy formation, display visualizations from state-of-the-art astrophysics simulations, and discuss the supercomputing resources needed to simulate the universe.

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

George Ricker, Jenn Burt, Diana Dragomir

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/17
Limited to 12 participants
Prereq: attending talks preceding the tour

Unlocking the Secrets of Nearby Exoplanets with the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite
Dr. George Ricker, 1:00-1:30pm

abstract

Exoplanet Science in the era of TESS
Dr. Jenn Burt, 1:30-2:00pm

abstract

The Mystery of Super-Earth Exoplanets
Dr Diana Dragomir, 2:00-2:30pm

abstract

Tour of the TESS Test Facility

The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) will discover thousands of exoplanets in orbit around the brightest stars in the sky. In a two-year survey of the solar neighborhood, TESS will monitor more than 200,000 stars for temporary drops in brightness caused by planetary transits. This first-ever spaceborne all-sky transit survey will identify planets ranging from Earth-sized to gas giants, around a wide range of stellar types and orbital distances. No ground-based survey can achieve this feat.  A tour of the TESS test facility is available for a small number of attendees on a first-come-first-served basis.  The tour will depart from Marlar Lounge at 2:30pm and walk as a group to NE83.

PLEASE NOTE:

No enrollment limit for talks, no advance sign-up required.

Advance sign up required for the tour which is limited to 12 individuals.  Sign up by 12noon on January 17 (email meinbres@mit.edu).  Please provide your name as it appears on your official ID (passport, valid driver's license, or state-issued ID).  Be sure to bring your ID with you for the tour. Tour pre-requisite--attendance at the talks preceding the tour.

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

Dr. Michael Nowak, Research Scientist, Dr. Norbert Schulz

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/23
Limited to 20 participants
Prereq: attend 2:30pm talk to take Chandra OCC tour that follows

The Universe in X-ray Light

Exploring the Universe from Near to Far with the Chandra X-ray Observatory

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.

Talk followed by Tour of Operations Control Center for Chandra X-ray Observatory, One of NASA's Great Observatories

Tour departs 37-252 @ 3:00pm following 2:30pm talk above. Tour signup deadline: Monday, Jan 23 @ noon.  Email meinbres@mit.edu your first & last name (as it appears on your ID) & the country of your citizenship. Your tour attendance will be confirmed the week of Jan 23.

The tour is limited to the first 20 people who sign up by Jan 23 @ noon.

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

Dr. Paul Hemphill, Dr. Norbert Schulz, Dr. Herman Marshall

Enrollment: no limit or advanced sign up for talk; tour signup at 1:25
Sign-up by 01/20
Limited to 20 participants
Prereq: none

X-ray Spectroscopy: Talk and Tour. Learn about the development and application of x-ray spectroscopy.

Heavier than the Sun, Smaller than a City: The Neutron Star

Dr. Paul Hemphill

Abstract:
Neutron stars are some of the most extreme objects in the knownUniverse. More massive than the Sun, but just a few miles across, theyhave some of the highest densities, strongest magnetic fields, and highest temperatures of any celestial objects. In this talk I will give an overview of the origins and properties of the various types of neutron stars that we observe, as well as how we can detect them and their usefulness for astrophysics as a whole.

Tour of the X-ray Polarimetry Lab -- please note tour limit and prerequisite below

Drs. Norbert Schulz and Herman Marshall

Tour of MIT's X-ray Polarimetry Lab, where new X-ray instrumentation is currently being developed.

Please Note:
20 people max for tour. Advance sign-up required starting at 1:25pm in 37-252 immediately before Dr. Hemphill's talk. Attendance of talk is required for tour of the Lab. Tour will leave from 37-252 at 2:00pm, and last until about 3:00pm.

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

Dr. Ralf Heilmann, Principal Research Scientist, MIT Kavli Institute

Enrollment: no limit or advanced sign up for talk; signup for tour at 2:25pm on Feb 3
Sign-up by 02/03
Limited to 6 participants
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 and shaped further using ion implantation. 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 posted on the MKI website.

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

Maggie Tse, Antonios Kontos

Enrollment: no limit or advanced sign up for talk;signup for tour at 1:55pm on Jan 25
Sign-up by 01/25
Limited to 6 participants
Prereq: attending Maggie Tse's 2pm talk in order to take tour

Discover the techniques which make LIGO work with hands-on demonstrations.

Michelson Interferometer Demonstration

Ms. Maggie Tse

How do you measure distances smaller than one-thousandth the diameter of a proton? Why do we care? Come find out in this hands-on interactive demo, where you will learn about Michelson interferometery, the basic principle behind how LIGO detects explosions in outer space. These explosions happen when two black holes merge and create gravitational waves, ripples in the fabric of spacetime that were predicted by Einstein in 1916 and measured by LIGO in 2016. In this demo we will show you how giant lasers make this measurement possible, with real lasers included!

If you stay with us after 2:30pm, you can apply your new knowledge and operate a real suspended interferometer with Dr. Kontos in the LIGO lab!

Directions to NW22-258: Enter through the front doors of NW22, the doors on the right are for LIGO. The doors will be open for the event. Once inside, follow the signs to the second floor.

TOUR: Lock a Suspended Interferometer -- please note tour limit and prerequisite below

Dr. Antonios Kontos, 2:30 - 4:00pm leaving from NW22-258

Work with LIGO scientists to lock a suspended Michelson-style interferometer using real-time automated control systems.

Note: 6 people max for tour. Advance sign-up required starting at 1:55pm in NW22-258 immediately before Ms. Tse's. Attendance of talk is required of tour participants.

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

Ronald Remillard, Principal Research Scientist

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Prereq: none

NASA's Neutron star Interior Composition ExploreR ("NICER"), will be launched to the International Space Station. The NICER detector team at the MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics has delivered Si drift detectors and signal processing electronics for the 56 cameras that constitute the Instrument. The cameras are sensitive to X-ray photons in the range 0.2-12 keV, and each event will be time-tagged with an instrument clock that ticks at 40 ns. This talk will review the science goals, the instrument technology, and the calibration equipment that allows us to accomplish requirements, including the achievement of timing accuracy to 100 ns in the Solar System barycenter.

See all IAP listings for Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research

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

Hans Moritz Guenther

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Prereq: none

Roman warships in Experiment: Reconstruction and Sailing Tests

Warning: This talk is non-astronomical and contains actual videos and possibly sound. After the climax of its power internal struggle weakened the military position of the Roman Empire. A series of attacks in the 2nd and 3rd century AD forced an adjustment of the military strategy in central Europe. Instead of further expansion, the borders of the empire were increasingly fortified. In Germany this lead to the construction of an impressive naval fleet on the rivers Rhine and Danube. Several of the boats have been excavated. Our team has attempted a reconstruction of two types of vessel, the "navis lusoria" and the "Oberstimm" with a level of detail down to the hand-smithened nails with the correct metallurgy. A series of three working boats have been built in original size. I will show pictures of the reconstruction phase, but concentrate on the on-the-water tests we have performed with different teams to access the speed, maneuverability and sailing performance of these boats. Particularly in sailing the possibilities far exceeded the expectations. This result indicates a much larger operating radius of these vessels than previously estimated and thus a much higher flexibility of the river defense scheme which the empire relied on to keep the barbarians at bay. See, e.g.: this movie

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

Dr. Carl Rodriguez

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Prereq: none

A billion years ago in a distant galaxy, two black holes collided, releasing more energy than the combined starlight of the entire universe.  A billion years later on September 14th, 2015, LIGO observed these energetic ripples in spacetime as they traveled past Earth, officially beginning the era of gravitational-wave astronomy.  But what are gravitational waves, and how do we use them for astronomy?  In this talk I’ll describe how black holes come together and merge, and how different features of gravitational waves allow us to answer questions about the dark side of the universe.  I’ll also describe other discoveries--beyond black holes--that LIGO is expected to make in the coming years.

please note: A talk by Dr. Ronald Remillard on "NICER to the Space Station: Astrophysics of Neutron Stars and Black Holes via X-ray Astronomy" will be held from 1:30-2:00pm and will precede Dr. Rodriguez' talk.  Each talk is 20 minutes in length with a 10 minute Q&A following.

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