Category Archives: Astronomy

The Ann Arbor Optical Society of America: The James Webb Telescope

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osaNext Tuesday (March 12th), the Ann Arbor chapter of the Optical Society of America is having a presentation by Dr. H. Philip Stahl, Senior Optical Physicist at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center.  Dr. Stahl is the James Webb Space Telescope Optical Telescope Element Mirror Optics Lead, responsible for its primary, secondary and tertiary mirrors.

Scheduled to begin its 10 year mission after 2018, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will search for the first luminous objects of the Universe to help answer fundamental questions about how the Universe came to look like it does today. At 6.5 meters in diameter, JWST will be the world’s largest space telescope. This talk reviews science objectives for JWST and how they drive the JWST architecture, e.g. aperture, wavelength range and operating temperature. Additionally, the talk provides an overview of the JWST primary mirror technology development and fabrication status. (JWST_Poster_FINAL_LoRes)

You can like this group on Facebook to find out about more fun, future events.

 

Planetarium Shows at the Museum of Natural History – December/January

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Planetarium Shows for December and January

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The Sky Tonight: Star Talk

Saturdays at 11:30 am, 1:30 & 3:30 pm; Sundays at 1:30 & 3:30 pm PLUS: December 27 and 28 at 11:30 and 1:30 PLUS January 2, 3, 4 & 21 at 11:30 am & 1:30 pm And on Martin Luther King Day. January 21, at 11:30 and 1:30

Bright stars, constellations, planets, and telescopic objects in the current night sky will be discussed in this live “star talk.” Then leave Earth and “fly” out into space to examine the planets in the current sky.

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Season of Light

December weekends: Saturdays and Sundays at 2:30 PLUS December 27 and 28 at 12:30 PLUS January 2, 3 & 4 at 12:30 pm

An elegant and sophisticated program about the coldest and darkest of seasons — a time which holds some of the warmest and brightest celebrations of the year. The show traces the history and development of many of the world’s most endearing holiday customs, all of which involve lighting up the winter season.

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Light Years from Andromeda

STARTING JANUARY 5th:  Saturdays at 12:30 & 2:30 pm

A beam of light leaves the Andromeda Galaxy and travels across intergalactic space. On a nearby planet, intelligent life evolves. As the light speeds across the light years, the primitives on the planet form cultures and civilizations — and begin to wonder about the universe surrounding them. When the light reaches Earth, some of the descendants of the early hunters have just escaped the bonds of their world’s gravity, and visited the Moon.

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Black Holes

STARTING JANUARY 6th: Sundays at 2:30 pm

Recorded narration by Liam Neeson. Features striking, immersive animations of the formation of the early Universe, star birth and death, the collision of giant galaxies, and a simulated flight to a supermassive black hole.

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Larry Cat in Space

Monday, January 21 (Martin Luther King Day) at 12:30 pm

A playful, imaginative cartoon about an inquisitive cat who stows away aboard a space ship and visits the Moon. Primarily targeted at grades K-3 but enjoyable for everyone, the show teaches several things about the Moon and includes a short live night sky discussion.

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All ages admitted.  Planetarium prices are $5 for adults, seniors, & children.

About the Museum – www.lsa.umich.edu/ummnh
The University of Michigan Museum of Natural History is open Monday through Saturday, 9 am-5 pm, and Sunday 12-5 pm. The Museum is located at 1109 Geddes Avenue in Ann Arbor; the main entrance is one block west of Washtenaw Avenue.  Admission to the Museum is free for individuals and families; groups of 10 or more must call to make a reservation.  For more information, call (734) 764-047.

Introducing the Michigan Astronomy Student Blog

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I wanted to bring attention to a neat astronomy blog called Michigan Astronomy Student Blog.  It’s a blog started by students and community who have an interest in, or are studying Astronomy at the university.

I’m enjoying it because it does a good job of concisely explaining astronomical phenomena to the lay public.  And I also like how it brings attention to people who are doing research about astronomy.

The url is http://michastrostudent.blogspot.com and I’d recommend you to bookmark it or subscribe to it, so you can help support local science communication.

Meet-Up (06/05) – “Transit of Venus” & “Skeptics in the Pub” – Updated

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The Ann Arbor Science & Skeptics will be having a special meet-up on Tuesday, June 5th.  We have been invited to assist the University of Michigan Astronomy Department with the Transit of Venus event.  We will be meeting at Angell Hall, located on 435 S. State Street, help the public with using the telescopes (and look through them ourselves).  Try to arrive by 5:30pm.  The transit is supposed to take place at approximately 6:00pm. So you won’t want to be late.

(check back to this website or our Facebook group page, in case the event gets canceled due to poor visibility)

After 2012, the next transits of Venus will be in December 2117 and December 2125, which may be difficult to see in Michigan because it’ll be winter.

Updated: The Skeptics in the Pub part of the event at Cubs A.C. is canceled. Sorry for the inconvenience. Feel free to stay at Angell Hall for as long as you want.

Afterwards, we’ll head over to Colonial Lanes/Cubs A.C. restaurant from 7:00pm to 9:00pm. We’ll be in the back room located down the short hallway, just past the bar.

Colonial Lanes is located on South Industrial (off of Eisenhower). As you walk up to the building, the entrance to the restaurant part of the establishment is on the left.

RSVP here.

UM Scientists’ Recommendations on Science Books

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At the Scientists Fair, the participating scientists provided recommendations of books about the topics of which they have expertise, that are written for non-scientists.  If you were unable to attend the event, or would like to get the full listing, then see below.  And there are links to the Ann Arbor District Library for convenience in case you’d like to check them out. Continue reading →

REVIEW: “Star Talk” at the Planetarium

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I attended a recent showing of Star Talk at the Museum of Natural History this weekend.  I say ‘recent’ because I try to make it out at least twice a year.  The program is about 45 minutes long and it starts with an overview of what planets, stars, and constellations are in the night-time sky in the Ann Arbor area.

This is the main reason why I go twice a year is because the night-time sky is constantly changing, and the Star Talk presentation is constantly updating its show to inform you of these changes.

Continue reading →