Tonight is a NO GO!
Exclusively for AAC members!
AAC has organized a dark sky star party at one of the darkest skies on the east coast!
Sunset is 8:08 pm.
Arrive at least one hour before sunset for setup and to get familiar with the observing field before dark.
Please review the Star Party etiquette for Chiefland. http://shorturl.at/cgkMO
You need to register to attend and receive directions to observing field.
Event Alerts - Members please register to attend. A "GO" or "NO GO" will be emailed to registrants by noon the day of the event. Your need to be registered for me to send you updates! Also, please double check weather conditions before heading out to Chiefland. Summertime weather in Florida changes fast!
The Far Out Journal Club invites you to join us for an online conversation with TV/Film Producer James Tralie
From the outer limits of the Milky Way, the Alachua Astronomy Club has started the Far Out Journal Club. Produced by Rich Russin and hosted by past president Terry Smiljanich, the goal is to have a personal, in-depth visit with the authors, artists, musicians, curators, and other cultural icons who bring us the vast world of cultural science and science fiction.
Get ready for a special evening as we host James Tralie for an online conversation about his career as a TV/Film producer, animator, and live TV host at NASA.
James Tralie
TV/Film Producer, Live TV Host at NASA
About our Guest:
James Tralie is a TV/film producer, animator, and live TV host at NASA. He leads scripting, production, direction, editing, animation, and distribution of TV shows, feature films, podcasts, AR/VR/360 media, outreach materials, environment art/concepts, and digital content for NASA’s flagship platforms - engaging over 200 million followers with his content. He directs live TV coverage for spacecraft launches and major scientific discoveries as a host in front of the camera and as a producer, reaching audiences of over 10 million live viewers.
His latest productions have aired on PBS, Prime Video, Delta Airlines in-flight Entertainment, Hulu, and at film festivals around the world. He is an Emmy Winner and 10-time Webby Award Winner.
His most recent feature length film about the James Webb Space Telescope, entitled “Cosmic Dawn,” was acquired by Giant Pictures for distribution on Prime Video, Tribeca Films, Drafthouse Films, and at over 150 planetariums, museums, and educational institutions around the world.
He is one of the top digital artists in the world and has exhibited worldwide including in Times Square New York, at the Met Gala, on the Sphere in Las Vegas, at Shibuya Crossing in Japan, in Abu Dhabi, Art Basel Miami, and in Montreal. His client list includes top companies such as Nissan, Porsche, Apple, Adobe, NVIDIA, HP, Dell, NBA, Taco Bell, Fox, Facebook, Bombay Sapphire, Marriott, Warner Music, Zara, Paramount, Martha Stewart, and more.
He scaled his personal social media accounts to over 700K followers with over 5 million monthly impressions. He is a member of the Television Academy and graduate of Princeton University, where he majored in Geosciences with minors in French and Environmental Studies. He is a Scholastic Art & Writing Gold Key winner, YoungArts Alumnus, was an official selection for the SIGGRAPH Computer Animation Festival, and was invited to the White House to meet President Obama as part of the White House Student Film Festival.
Just Released:
Cosmic Dawn is the incredible true story of the James Webb Space Telescope – humanity’s largest and most powerful space telescope – on a mission to unveil the early universe, against all odds.
To watch, click link below:
Cosmic Dawn (NASA+ Original Documentary)
To further enhance your enjoyment of this episode, The Far Out Journal Club recommends you watch the movie Cosmic Dawn prior to the session.
Join Zoom Meeting:
Http://bit.ly/FarOutJournalClub
https://sfcollege.zoom.us/j/91733146162?pwd=Ib7KD0Sd1UKU8cbeUR0u7bxbOzmSOj.1
Agenda:
7:00 - 7:15 General Meeting & Announcements 7:15 - 7:30 Short topic presentation by a club member
7:30 - 7:45 Refreshment break
7:45 - Public Presentation
Speaker: Dr. Zachary Slepian - UF
Title: Dark Energy
Abstract:
About the Speaker:
Originally from Fairfield, Connecticut, an early interest in philosophy led to his current interest in cosmology. He attended public high school, received a BA summa cum laude from Princeton (2011), working with J. Richard Gott, III on his senior thesis, an MSt in philosophy of physics at Oxford (2012), and a PhD in Astrophysics (2016) from Harvard, advised by Daniel J. Eisenstein. During his PhD, he focused on Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAO) in the 2-point and 3-point correlation function (3PCF) of galaxies, constraining a possible systematic sourced by high-redshift baryon-dark matter relative velocities using the 3PCF. This entailed developing a transformatively fast 3PCF algorithm, enabling the first high-significance detection of BAO in the 3PCF and a measurement of the cosmic distance scale six billion years ago to percent precision. Post-PhD, he spent one year as a Chamberlain Fellow and one year as an Einstein Fellow at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, where highlights included an implementation of the 3PCF algorithm capable of computing the 3PCF for the entire observable Universe in 20-hours on NERSC’s Cori supercomputer, application of the 3PCF to MHD turbulence, and novel analytic solutions for the Friedmann equation in the presence of neutrinos or warm dark matter.
Research Interests:
Dark energy, dark matter, structure formation, large surveys, analytic methods, star formation. His current research follows three broad paths: creating theoretical models for large-scale structure, designing fast algorithms to measure it, and applying them to datasets such as BOSS, eBOSS, and DESI. Cutting across these areas are a strong attraction to analytic methods and excitement about effective use of high-performance computing.
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Member's Corner Speaker: Dave Froiseth
Topic: Criterion Dynascope 12.5 Restoration
Speaker: Jessica Li - UF Astronomy
Title: UV Emissions Surrounding Galaxies
The circumgalactic medium (CGM) and intergalactic medium (IGM), the tenuous gas surrounding galaxies represent a significant portion of matter in the universe as indicated by both theoretical and observational studies. This faint and diffuse gas is not well studied since it is very challenging to observe. Studying the CGM is essential for understanding astrophysical principles that govern the formation and evolution of stars and galaxies throughout the universe. It is believed to be the reservoir of gas and material that is both the source and regulator of star-forming fuel, controlling the exchange between the intergalactic medium (IGM) between galaxies and interstellar medium (ISM) within galaxies. We advance our understanding of these processes through ultraviolet (UV) spectroscopic CGM emission line observations in high redshift galaxies in addition to instrumentation work for balloon-borne and space telescopes that target low redshift galaxies. I present four distinct but interrelated projects that combine observational astronomy, instrument building, and technology development. This includes quasar observations from the Palomar Cosmic Web Imager (PCWI), instrument work on FIREBall-2 (Faint Intergalactic-medium Redshifted Balloon) telescope and Aspera SmallSat mission, and technology development of UV reflective gratings.
Jess received her B.Eng. with a triple major in physics, astronomy, and mechanical engineering in 2015, and her M.S. in mechanical engineering in 2016 from Stony Brook University. At Brookhaven National Laboratory, she worked as a mechanical design engineer for the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment, and the Short Baseline Near Detector. Jess graduated with a Ph.D. in Physics and worked on a combination of UV astrophysics and instrumentation. Her thesis projects included: 1) analyzing Palomar Cosmic Web Imager data to understand the circumgalactic medium around quasars, 2) developing the Faint Intergalactic Medium Redshifted Balloon Telescope calibration system, 3) working on the Aspera SmallSat mission's grating characterization testing, and 4) measuring novel small-scale gratings manufactured with electron beam lithography for technology development in UV spectroscopy (collaboration with UIowa). She is continuing to work in UV astrophysics and instrumentation here as a postdoc with Keri Hoadley.
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Member's Corner Speaker: Warren Schmitt
Topic: My Work with Skylab
7:00 - 7:15 General Meeting & Announcements 7:15 - 7:30 Members Corner:
Speaker: James Albury, Planetarium Director and host of the YouTube Series "The Sky Above Us"
Topic: TBD
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Member's Corner Speaker: Rich Russin
Topic: H.H. Ninninger, Master of Meteorites
