Observatory

The next talk (and last talk this semester!) as part of George Mason Observatory’s ‘Evenings Under the Stars’ series (where you’ll also get to look at awesome galaxies, stars, planets and more through our 0.8 meter telescope!) will be ‘Blue Skies and Rainbows‘ by Dr. Joe Weingartner.  As always the event is free and everyone is invited (details about the event: Tuesday 14 May 2013: 1st talk at 7:30PM, same talk at 8:15PM, observing starts at 8PM until 9:30PM. Arrive at the lobby of Research Hall. )!  The talk will go on even if the weather isn’t good enough for observing so definitely come out! – updates will be available here – Observatory Twitter

A little about the upcoming talk:

Blue Skies and Rainbows aren’t just the domain of ELO and anthropomorphized green frogs – they’re a part of the type of normal weather everyone experiences!  Come learn about why exactly the sky is blue and why rainbows form during and after storms!  Not only is the physics behind it not that complicated but it’s fascinating!

And the speaker:

Dr. Joe Weingartner is an associate professor in the School of Physics, Astronomy and Computational Science at George Mason University. From 1999 through 2003, …

The next talk as part of George Mason Observatory’s ‘Evenings Under the Stars’ series (where you’ll also get to look at awesome galaxies, stars, planets and more through our 0.8 meter telescope!) will be ‘Flying Dinosaurs: On the Origin and Early Evolution of Birds‘ by Advait Jukar.  As always the event is free and everyone is invited (details about the event: Tuesday 7 May 2013: 1st talk at 7PM, same talk at 7:45PM, observing starts at 7:30PM until 9PM. Arrive at the lobby of Research Hall. )!  Just keep an eye out for weather – the event may be postponed or cancelled due to bad conditions – updates will be available here – Observatory Twitter

A little about the upcoming talk:

Everyone has probably seen or heard of the film Jurassic Park by Steven Spielberg. It was one of the speakers’ favourite films growing up. However cool the dinosaurs were, the filmmakers got something wrong. They forgot to put feathers on the dinosaurs! Ever since the discovery of archaeopteryx in 1861, just a few years after Darwin published the Origin of Species, palaeontologists have become convinced that birds are the descendants of feathered dinosaurs. However, for a long time, archaeopteryx was …

The next talk as part of George Mason Observatory’s ‘Evenings Under the Stars’ series (where you’ll also get to look at awesome galaxies, stars, planets and more through our 0.8 meter telescope!) will be ‘The Mysterious Origins of Supermassive Black Holes‘ by Nathan Secrest.  As always the event is free and everyone is invited (details about the event: Tuesday 23 April 2013: 1st talk at 7PM, same talk at 7:45PM, observing starts at 7:30PM until 9PM)!  Just keep an eye out for weather – the event may be postponed or cancelled due to bad conditions – updates will be available here – Observatory Twitter

A little about the upcoming talk:

Supermassive black holes reside in the centers of nearly every galaxy in the Universe.  Where did they come from?  What is their relationship with their host galaxies?  What can they tell us about the early Universe?  The talk will discuss our understanding of how supermassive black holes relate with their hosts, and what they can tell us about the conditions of the very early Universe.

And the speaker:

Nathan Secrest is a graduate research assistant at George Mason University.  He began his studies at George Mason in 2011 after graduating from the University …

*********  April 16th Update  *********

The Observing Session scheduled for Tuesday, April 16th has been postponed due to weather to Tuesday, April 23.  More updates will be posted soon!

The next talk as part of George Mason Observatory’s ‘Evenings Under the Stars’ series (where you’ll also get to look at awesome galaxies, stars, planets and more through our 0.8 meter telescope!) will be ‘The Autism-Vaccine controversy in the Media‘ by Professor Chris Clarke.  As always the event is free and everyone is invited (details about the event: Tuesday 2 April 2013: 1st talk at 7PM, same talk at 7:45PM, observing starts at 7:30PM until 9PM)!  Just keep an eye out for weather – the event may be postponed or cancelled due to bad conditions – updates will be available here – Observatory Twitter

A little about the upcoming talk:

High profile risk controversies dominating today’s news often feature lively debates about scientific evidence – what “the data” suggest or refute. Research has focused on the challenges of communicating risk information via news media, including the concept of “false balance,” in which an issue supported by an overwhelming amount of evidence is presented alongside other perspectives with comparatively less/no support. Falsely balanced coverage may …

The next talk as part of George Mason Observatory’s ‘Evenings Under the Stars’ series (where you’ll also get to look at awesome galaxies, stars, planets and more through our 0.8 meter telescope!) will be ‘Observing Jupiter with a Telescope’ by Darryl Wilson.  As always the event is free and everyone is invited (details about the event: Tuesday 19 March 2013: 1st talk at 7PM, same talk at 7:45PM, observing starts at 7:30PM until 9PM)!  Just keep an eye out for weather – the event may be postponed or cancelled due to bad conditions – updates will be available here – Observatory Twitter

The planet Jupiter is bright and easy to find in the night sky. It is also large enough to show recognizable detail with almost any size telescope. This talk will describe Jupiter and its satellites, with an emphasis on the features of the Jovian system that are visible to the eye when viewed through a telescope. Specific details will be described so that the audience will be prepared to identify semi-permanent global atmospheric features, transient storms, satellites, and satellite transits, when viewed through the 0.8 meter Cassegrain reflector in the GMU observatory. A video of Jupiter, taken through …

The next talk as part of George Mason Observatory’s ‘Evenings Under the Stars’ series (where you’ll also get to look at awesome galaxies, stars, planets and more through our 0.8 meter telescope!) will be ‘Introduction to Explosives and Explosive Effects’ by Matthew Miller.  As always the event is free and everyone is invited (Check updates on the time and date at the bottom of this post)!  Just keep an eye out for weather – the event may be postponed or cancelled due to bad conditions – updates will be available here – Observatory Twitter

The talk is an introductory discussion on the subject of explosions. Since so much inaccurate information on the subject floats around in various print and digital media, the discussion will focus itself on what exactly an explosion is, what they do, and what they look like. The talk will discuss the 3 types of explosions before focusing on chemical high explosives and detonations. From there the properties and hazards of detonations will be discussed, and why you shouldn’t walk away from your explosion in slow motion while it’s exploding! Finally, if there’s time, the speaker will discuss a few popular explosion scenes in movies.

Matthew Miller was an Army …

On June 5, 2012, the observatory hosted students, faculty, and interested persons in an observing session for the transit of Venus. Despite cloudy conditions, there were enough breaks to give people a chance to see Venus through the telescopes set up by the observatory.