Astronomy Department Events for the week of February 5th, 2012

Upcoming Events

NASA Internship Info Session
with Sam Grunblatt (aka yours truly)

Tuesday 2/7, 9:30pm

Pike House Common Room, 536 W 114th St

Besides NSF REUs, NASA internships are another great way to get quality research 

experience with funding. There are many NASA Internships out there and the process 

can be confusing. The deadline this year has been extended to March 1st so there is 

still plenty of time to apply! Last summer, Sam Grunblatt did a summer internship at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center where he researched gamma ray signals from neutron stars. Sam will share his experience and tips on how to apply. Snacks will also be provided.

Astro Snippets

The Sun is going through a period of high magnetic activity right now, which means solar flares and epic aurora. (BadAstro)

NASA's replacement for the spaceshuttle, Orion, goes on tour. (UniverseToday)

How do you measure a black hole’s rotation? Jets might be the answer! (Astrobites)

How to attend your first astronomy conference (Astrobites)

The American Museum of Natural History Unveils a Planetarium-Sized Video Game (NPR)

Events for Week of Feb. 5th

Upcoming Events

Top 11 Astronomy Stories of 2011

Public Outreach Lecture by Jana Grcevich followed by Rooftop Observing

Friday, 7pm

Pupin 301

Earth's last loop around the sun has been a busy one for astrophysics! The Kepler mission discovered over 3,000 new planets, one of which orbits two stars. NASA launched a space shuttle for the very last time. The Nobel Prize in physics was awarded to a group of astronomers for proving that the expansion of the universe is accelerating. In this talk I will rank, present, and explain 11 of the most compelling astronomical discoveries and events of the past year. Come to get caught up on the past year's astronomy stories, to reminisce, or to ask about something from the news. Lecture: 7:00-7:30 PM  Telescope Observation: 7:30-9:00 PM  

Astrophotography Slideshow: 7:30-9:00 PM

Astro Department Events for Week of Jan 23, 2012

We have plenty of events this semester to look forward to, including some great ones this Thursday: Columbia College alum, Dr. Beth Willman (CC '98), is an assistant professor of physics and astronomy at Haverford college and will be visiting the department this week. She is giving the department colloquium on Wednesday and on Thursday joining a handful of lucky undergrads like yourselves out for a group lunch. Also, if you have always wanted to help out the department with all the great outreach events we put on for the public, then this Thursday is your chance to get in the loop.

Upcoming Events

Undergrad Lunch Out
w/ Special Guest Dr. Willman

Thursday, 11:30

RSVP

We'll have the pleasure of taking Dr. Willman out to a local restaurant to enjoy lunch and chat about her successful career as an astronomer. This meal will be paid for, out of the generosity of the department, but our funds are limited so we can only guarantee seats for the first six students. Professor Willman used to be in your shoes as an undergrad at Columbia and she is very active in research with students at Haverford, so this is a great opportunity. To hear her research presentation, you are welcome to come to the Astronomy Department colloquium on Wednesday at 4pm in Pupin 1402.

Outreach Informational

Thursday, 4pm

Astro Library, Pupin 1402

The Columbia Astro Outreach team is made up of grad students, undergrads and other department members who volunteer for various events that we put on for the public. Please come to learn about how you can volunteer for our awesome events this semester. Refreshments will be served. Check out the outreach website at outreach.astro.columbia.edu

Astro Snippets

Columbia Prof. Johnston, "The Milky Way is not 1 galaxy. Formed from 1000 galaxies with different star formation histories, dark matter profiles." (Astrobetter)

Always discuss dark energy and exoplanets with people; this is still exciting and big news for non-astro people. (Astrobetter)

Columbia Prof. David Helfand “Why aren’t you more like fourth graders?” (New York Times)

Stars surrounded by debris disks are likely to harbor terrestrial planets (Astrobites)

Photos of Russian Cosmonauts for make benefit glorious nation Kazakhstan (Universe Today)