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 Explosive Ordnance Disposal team leader, which is military speak for ‘on the bomb squad.’ He was a subject matter expert on explosives with a particular area of interest in home made explosives. He was deployed to Afghanistan for a year of EOD/Counter IED work, involving training local bomb squads, police and first responders, and coalition forces. In the United States he has provided advice and EOD support to local police departments on IEDs, military munitions, and hazardous chemicals. Now he is a Masters Degree seeking student in the Experimental Physics program at GMU.

Some early details about the event: Tuesday 16 October 2012: 1st talk at 7 PM in Room 163, same talk at 7 :30 PM, observing starts at 7:30PM until 9PM.

Directions to GMU and Research Hall here: http://eagle.gmu.edu/map/fairfax.php  Zoom in to find Research Hall next to engineering building and York River Rd