MIT: Independent Activities Period: IAP

IAP 2019 Activities by Category - Earth and Planetary Sciences

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Advanced Propulsion

Charles Chase

Add to Calendar Jan/09 Wed 09:00AM-11:30AM 54-100
Add to Calendar Jan/10 Thu 09:00AM-11:30AM 54-100
Add to Calendar Jan/14 Mon 09:00AM-11:30AM 54-100
Add to Calendar Jan/15 Tue 09:00AM-11:30AM 54-100
Add to Calendar Jan/16 Wed 09:00AM-11:30AM 54-100
Add to Calendar Jan/17 Thu 09:00AM-11:30AM 54-100
Add to Calendar Jan/23 Wed 09:00AM-11:30AM 54-100
Add to Calendar Jan/24 Thu 09:00AM-11:30AM 54-100
Add to Calendar Jan/30 Wed 09:00AM-11:30AM 54-100

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Attendance: Repeating event, participants welcome at any session

We will be exploring the edges of our understanding of how to engineer the quantum vacuum and the space-time metric.  We will have lectures from innovative professors and researchers in the field, and working salon-like discussions.  We will cover theory, modeling, experimental approaches and fabrication techniques as we explore fundamental physical assumptions.  We are focused on moving the field forward, and based on discussions during the session, we will be developing the best next steps to further experimental and theoretical understanding.  Students will be encouraged to present their thoughts at all times.

The session will be led by Charles Chase, who recently retired from Lockheed Martin Skunk Works where he founded and ran the Revolutionary Technology Programs organization, developing a wide range of disruptive technologies.  These included a new compact approach to hot fusion, novel electromagnetic beams, and engineered materials for energy and propulsion. 

Sponsor(s): Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences
Contact: Charles Chase, 818-472-5756, cjchase.jsm@gmail.com


Artificial Intelligence in Science

Dr. Victor Pankratius, Principal Research Scientist, MIT Kavli Institute

Add to Calendar Jan/29 Tue 01:00PM-01:30PM Marlar Lounge 37-252

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up

How can Artificial Intelligence help advance science? This presentation will outline new avenues for Computer-Aided Discovery in astronomy and geoscience.

Please note: this talk will be followed by two other talks and a lab tour!

Roman warships in Experiment: Reconstruction and Sailing Tests (1:30-2:30pm)

The Future of X-ray Polarimetry in Astronomy (2:30-3:30pm)

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 2:25pm in 37-252 immediately before Dr. Marshall's talk. Attendance of talk is required for tour of the Lab. Tour will leave from 37-252 at 3:30pm. Tour attendees will walk as a group to NE83.

 

 

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


CELESTIAL NAVIGATION LITE: THEORY AND PRACTICE

Max Mulhern, MIT Bluewater Captain

Enrollment: Limited: First come, first served (no advance sign-up)
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: N/A

A SHORT INTRODUCTION TO CELESTIAL NAVIGATION INCLUDING THE PRACTICE OF THE "NOON SIGHT" TO DETERMINE LONGITUDE AND LATITUDE.

Contact: Max Mulhern, maxmulhern@hotmail.com


Add to Calendar Jan/08 Tue 11:30AM-01:30PM 4-158
Add to Calendar Jan/10 Thu 11:30AM-01:30PM 4-158
Add to Calendar Jan/15 Tue 11:30AM-01:30PM 4-158
Add to Calendar Jan/17 Thu 11:30AM-01:30PM 4-158
Add to Calendar Jan/22 Tue 11:30AM-01:30PM 4-158
Add to Calendar Jan/24 Thu 11:30AM-01:30PM 4-158
Add to Calendar Jan/29 Tue 11:30AM-01:30PM 4-158
Add to Calendar Jan/31 Thu 11:30AM-01:30PM 4-158

Some materials need to be purchased by the student i.e. 1. a Practice Chart (16$) 2. Plotting Tools (25$) 3. A Nautical Almanac (30$).

The class is limited to 10 people.

Please send an email to Max and confirm your registration.

Max Mulhern - MIT Bluewater Captain


Electron Microprobe Analysis on the JEOL JXA-8200 Superprobe

Nilanjan Chatterjee, Principal Research Scientist

Add to Calendar Jan/18 Fri 01:00PM-03:00PM 54-1221

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up

This session is to introduce new users to the JEOL JXA-8200 Superprobe. It will involve a demonstration of the capabilities of the electron microprobe, and a discussion on wavelength and energy dispersive spectrometry, and back-scattered electron, secondary electron, x-ray (elemental mapping) and cathodoluminescence imaging. Please fill out the form located here, or e-mail Dr. Chatterjee if you plan to attend.

Sponsor(s): Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences
Contact: Nilanjan Chatterjee, 54-1216, 617 253-1995, NCHAT@MIT.EDU


Exoplanet Science in the Era of TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite)

Dr. Jenn Burt, Torres Postdoctoral Fellow

Add to Calendar Jan/28 Mon 03:30PM-04:00PM Marlar Lounge 37-252

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

Abstract:
The beginning of the TESS spacecraft’s science mission in mid 2018 promises the detection of thousands of exoplanets orbiting bright, nearby stars. These planets will provide astronomers with our best ever opportunity to mount extensive follow up observation efforts and try to understand the composition, distribution and evolution of planets in our galaxy. This talk will describe the anticipated TESS planet yield, its impact on the exoplanet field, and some of the follow up methods that astronomers will use to probe the composition of the planets’ rocky cores and/or gaseous outer atmospheres.

 

 

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


Exploring the Universe from Near to Far with the Chandra X-ray Observatory; Tour of the Chandra Operations Control Center

Dr. Norbert Schulz

Add to Calendar Jan/31 Thu 02:00PM-04:00PM Marlar Lounge 37-252, driver's license/passport needed for tour

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/28
Limited to 20 participants
Prereq: attend 2:00pm talk to take Chandra OCC tour that follows

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.

Tour of Operations Control Center for Chandra X-ray Observatory

Tour signup deadline: Mon, Jan 28 @ 12noon.  Email meinbres@mit.edu your first & last name (as it appears on your ID) & country of your citizenship. Tour attendance will be confirmed by end of day Jan 29.

Tour departs 37-252 shortly after 2:30pm. Walk as a group to NE83.

The tour is limited to the first 20 people who sign up by Jan 28 @ noon. No enrollment limit for talks preceding tour.



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


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

Dr. Paul Hemphill, Postdoctoral Associate

Add to Calendar Jan/31 Thu 01:30PM-02:00PM Marlar Lounge 37-252

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

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

Abstract:
Neutron stars are some of the most extreme objects in the known Universe. More massive than the Sun, but just a few miles across, they have 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.

 

Please note: after Dr. Hemphill's talk, there will be a talk about the Chandra X-ray Observatory led by Dr. Norbert Schulz.  Following Dr. Schulz' talk, there will be a tour of the Chandra X-ray Observatory Operations Control Center.  IMPORTANT--if you are interested in taking that tour, you must sign up by Jan 25.  See the separate IAP listing for the Chandra talk and tour for complete details including the tour requirements and limits: Exploring the Universe from Near to Far with the Chandra X-ray Observatory

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


How Stars are Born

Dr. Hans Moritz Guenther, Research Scientist

Add to Calendar Jan/28 Mon 02:30PM-03:00PM Marlar Lounge 37-252

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

While our Sun is almost 5 billion years old, stars still form in the the dark clouds of our Milky Way. When we observe those regions we can learn how star and planet formation works, so that we also understand the formation of our own solar system and the Earth better. I will describe how we observe those regions that are hidden to the naked eye using infrared and X-ray telescopes to obtain stunning images of stellar nurseries. Zooming in on just a few of the young stars, I show how a gas cloud collapses to form a hot gas core that is the birth place of another sun and possibly a few planets. This is the stage of star formation where I concentrate my own research and I will describe how professional astronomers gain access to space telescopes, share my experiences of how to use the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) for my observations of young stars and I will show an example of how we process the observations to extract scientific conclusions. Star formation is a very active area of research with many open questions to solve and certainly one of the areas in astronomy that delivers extremely beautiful images of the Milky Way that surrounds us.

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

 

 

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


Solar Observing

Michael Person, Duane Lee, Postdoctoral Fellow

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

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.

Weather permitting on the following 3 dates:

Tuesday, January 22 
12noon-2pm
location: Upper Plaza Area outside of MIT Student Center W20

Thursday, January 24  CANCELLED DUE TO WEATHER
12noon-2pm
location: MIT North Court behind Stata and Koch Buildings

Thursday, January 31
12noon-2pm
location: MIT Student Center W20

Sponsor(s): Kavli Institute for Astrophysics , Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Wallace Astrophysical Observatory
Contact: Debbie Meinbresse, 37-241, 617 253-1456, MEINBRES@MIT.EDU


Solar Observing

Add to Calendar Jan/22 Tue 12:00PM-02:00PM W20 upper plaza

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.

Weather Permitting


Solar Observing

Add to Calendar Jan/31 Thu 12:00PM-02:00PM W20 Student Ctr

Weather Permitting -- Solar Observing on January 31 Upper Plaza Area outside of W20 MIT Student Center.


Two Talks and Tour! Formation of Gold and other heavy elements via the R(apid neutron capture)-process; An Explanation of the Science Behind LIGO

Dr. Evan Hall, Postdoctoral Scholar, Mr. Benjamin Lane, Dr. Rana Ezzeddine, Postdoctoral Associate

Add to Calendar Jan/30 Wed 01:30PM-03:00PM NW22 interaction are

Enrollment: two tours with a 10 person limit each
Sign-up by 01/30
Limited to 10 participants

Formation of Gold and other heavy elements via the R(apid neutron capture)-process
Dr. Rana Ezzeddine 1:30-2:00pm
Read full abstract on space.mit.edu

An Explanation of the Science Behind LIGO; tour of the LIGO Lab

Come see how the quantum optics research here at MIT will improve detections of binary neutron stars and black holes in LIGO to be more often and more informative.
Dr. Evan Hall and Mr. Benjamin Lane  2:00-3:00pm

Attendees will be divided into two groups of 10. Group A will hear talk by Dr. Evan Hall, while the Group B starts with the lab tour led by Mr. Benjamin Lane. Group A will take the lab tour following the talk, while Group B will get the talk after the lab tour. Talk and tour 30 minutes each.


Read full abstract on space.mit.edu

 

 

 

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