Monthly Archives: June 2022

When Donald York was a student beginning his career in astronomy in the 1960s, it was very difficult to get enough time on a telescope to make observations.

We were suffering from a deficit of data, said York, the University of Chicago Horace B. Horton Professor Emeritus in the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics and the Enrico Fermi Institute.

What he envisioned instead was a comprehensive map of the universe.

More than half a century later, the American Astronomical Society has announced that it will present its2022 George Van Biesbroeck Prizeto York for his work to found and design the Sloan Digital Sky Survey.

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey was the first very large telescope survey. It revolutionized access to data and built a tool for the professional astronomer and novice alike to explore a vast portion of the sky from their desktop. The American Astronomical Society calls it "one of the most important and transformational facilities in astronomy.

The George Van Biesbroeck Prize is presented biannually and honors a living individual for long-term extraordinary or unselfish service to astronomy. The award cited York for exceptional vision in the conception and design of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, a major imaging and spectroscopic survey that has created the most detailed three-dimensional maps of the universe ever made."

As the prime mover of the Astrophysical Research Consortiums Apache Point Observatory in southern New Mexico, including its 3.5-meter, multi-purpose telescope and the dedicated Sloan Digital Sky Survey projectone of the most scientifically productive projects in astronomyDon York has been a pioneering leader of modern optical astronomy and rebuilt the University of Chicagos leadership in this field, said Prof. Joshua A. Frieman, a UChicago astrophysicistand former head of the Particle Physics Division at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory.

Before the Sky Survey, gaining access to a telescope to make observations and document objects of study was heavily limited by resources.

You could only get about six nights a year for your own personal work on a telescope, said York, who began his career in 1966 as a student at the University of Chicago's Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics. You might find a group to contribute to the data pool for a project and document a small sample, but you were limited by who could work together, how much time people could spend, and how much perfection could be demanded.

These small groups worked on different telescopes to get similar data, which made data quality standardization very difficult. York knew if the observations came from one telescope it would dramatically improve reliability.

With enough eyes, they could document millions and millions of objects and their characterizations in a portion of the sky, opening up possibilities unimaginable to the individual observer. A large collaborative survey could also reinvent how data was collected, published, and shared.

To set about doing this, Yorkalong with UChicago Prof. Emeritus Richard Kron and Princeton University astronomer James Gunnbegan to plan a very large survey using a next generation telescope that could observe faint objects and attain statistical measurements of the way galaxies clustered on large scales.

In 1988, they wrote down the names of people they thought could join them in the effort. York recalled about 20 people met at two meetings at the airport, now known as the OHare meetings. They documented the principles, telescope characteristics, and funding strategies they would pursue.

Any group who joined would be eligible for two-year access to the data. After two years, the data would be released to the public and distributed free to all online, which was revolutionary. Compared to the major institutional investments usually required to join, the cost would be very low. No one could claim possession of the data and it would be available to everybody.

An advantage would be unified and elevated standards for data to qualify for inclusionan endeavor York was proud to lead. The data needed to be the very best that we could measure such that all agreed to the highest standards for data reduction and quality, he said. And everybody took that very seriously.

Prof. Emeritus Stuart Ricethe former dean of the Physical Sciences DivisionandJerry Ostriker, PhD64, then the chair of Princetons Department of Astrophysical Sciences, were brought onto the Board. Fermilab would join in 1990 to provide an experimental group. The National Science Foundation contributed support for the telescope build. Kron mainly did the organizing and Gunn specified the technology and project design.

The technology they would needa camera using many charge-coupled devices (CCDs) that was 100 times more efficient than photographic plateshad recently become feasible to build, and they already had a site in mind for the telescope at a newly-built observatory at Apache Point, New Mexico.

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Donald G. York honored for 'exceptional vision' in helping to found the Sloan Digital Sky Survey - UChicago News

Mary Hall Reno, a professor in the UI Department of Physics and Astronomy, has received an award from NASA as part of a simulation package that will aid in the design of new instruments aboard balloons andsatellites.

Reno received a three-year, $209,977 grant from NASA through the Goddard Space Flight Center. The award funds the continued development of nuSpaceSim, a simulation for the modeling of extensive air shower signals from cosmic neutrinos for space-based experiments, an open-source softwarepackage.

Our focus is on weakly interacting particles called neutrinos that come from the highest energy cosmic accelerators, Reno says. We are modeling how neutrinos interact in the Earth to ultimately yield particles that leave detectable signals in the atmosphere. In the future, our software package will help us interpret data from space-based neutrinotelescopes.

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Reno Wins NASA Funding for Simulation Package | Physics and Astronomy - The University of Iowa - The University of Iowa

image:The three 2022 IAU Astronomy Outreach, Development and Education Recipients. From left: Development: Michele Gerbaldi, Outreach: Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) a website created by Robert J. Nemiroff and Jerry T. Bonnell and Education: Rosa Doran. view more

Credit: IAU

The IAU has announced the first winners of three new prizes that were created earlier this year: the IAU Astronomy Outreach Prize, the IAU Astronomy Development Prize and the IAU Astronomy Education Prize.

The IAU Astronomy Outreach, Development and Education (ODE) Prizes (https://www.iau.org/science/grants_prizes/ode_prizes/) have been created with generous funding from IAU Past President Ewine van Dishoeck (https://www.iau.org/administration/membership/individual/7248/). The three awards recognise individuals and organisations who have made outstanding contributions to the fields of astronomy outreach, development and education.

In February 2022, the first call for nominations (https://www.iau.org/news/pressreleases/detail/iau2202/) went out with a deadline of 15 March 2022. A total of 40 valid nominations were received, with both the nominators and nominees spanning the entire globe.

Following recommendation by the ODE Prize Committees, the IAU Executive Committee (https://www.iau.org/administration/executive_bodies/executive_committee/) approved the following nominees to win the first set of prizes:

* Outreach: Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) (https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html) a website created by Robert J. Nemiroff and Jerry T. Bonnell* Development: Michle Gerbaldi* Education: Rosa Doran

The awards will be presented at the IAU XXXI General Assembly (https://www.iauga2022.org/) (IAUGA2022) in Busan, South Korea, in August this year. Brief commendations for each of the winners are below.

#### IAU Astronomy Outreach Prize

The 2022 ODE Outreach Prize is awarded to Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) for their more than 25 years of curating the daily Astronomy Picture of the Day, which is now available in more than 20 languages, seen by millions each day, and used in classrooms throughout the world. APOD has been influential in encouraging interest in astronomy around the world: each of the images is accompanied by explanatory captions which is one reason it is widely adopted in primary/secondary school and university-level courses. Pictures are contributed by professional and amateur astronomers, and increasingly also by astrophotographers, for whom an APOD publication is a gold standard. Featured images cover a wide range of topics from the Cosmic Microwave Background and the most distant galaxies to aurorae on Earth.

Robert J. Nemiroff and Jerry T. Bonnell said: Were honoured to receive this recognition for APOD by the IAU and proud that an effort that started as an informal collaboration and persisted as a labour of love of science outreach has become international in scope. We are very grateful to have been joined in APOD by so many like-minded individuals around planet Earth.

#### IAU Astronomy Development Prize

The 2022 ODE Development Prize is awarded to Michle Gerbaldi for her exceptionally wide and sustained contributions to development and capacity building using astronomy as a tool during her long career. She has had a special focus on the developing world, where her efforts have legacy value. Particularly notable is her leading role in the organisation of, and hands-on teaching at, numerous International Schools for Young Astronomers (ISYA - https://www.iau.org/training/office_for_young_astronomers/) for MSc students in developing countries. The AstroLab (https://www.astro4dev.org/astrolab-starlight-in-the-university-lab/) program that she has co-founded and developed has been much used around Africa and South America. This programme links students and teachers to tutors and professional astronomers, and introduces them to creative thinking, research skills and methodologies by means of remote observing with real telescopes. Michle Gerbaldis work goes beyond astronomy education, bringing about capacity building and development in a sustainable way.

Michle Gerbaldi said: I have always loved to meet and to discuss with people of different cultures and backgrounds: this is the drive for my passion for education as a tool for development. I receive this prize with great emotion, and feel deeply honoured. Nothing would have been possible without the freedom to create and develop that characterises the IAU. The continued support of the IAU Officers and the IAU Offices is the crucial key that makes such development possible.

#### IAU Astronomy Education Prize

The 2022 ODE Education prize is awarded to Rosa Doran for her powerful, inclusive, innovative, inspirational, far-reaching, even transformational astronomy education achievements over more than three decades. She set up, secured funding for, helped coordinate and lead numerous small- and large-scale projects in developed and developing countries, projects which have reached many thousands of teachers and kids all over the globe. She is a powerhouse and has become a global leader. As one nominator wrote: her goal is to change the world through astronomy education.

Rosa Doran said: I always felt connected with the Universe and the urge to know more. At some point in my life, I understood that astronomy can be a strong drive to transform the perception humans have about themselves and their place in the cosmos. This prize is really unexpected and I feel very honoured and humbled to receive it. I will carry this treasure with me to ensure that my journey has even more impact in inspiring new generations to embrace their power.

Ewine van Dishoeck said: It is high time that the IAU not only celebrates excellence in research, but also in other areas that are increasingly important aspects of being an astronomer. These first winners embody the highest standards in outreach, development and education and provide an inspiration to so many of us.

Further information on eligibility, the definitions of each area and the selection process for the prizes can be found here (https://www.iau.org/science/grants_prizes/ode_prizes/). The next set of ODE prizes will be awarded at the 2024 General Assembly in South Africa.

More information

The IAU is the international astronomical organisation that brings together more than 12 000 active professional astronomers from more than 100 countries worldwide. Its mission is to promote and safeguard astronomy in all its aspects, including research, communication, education and development, through international cooperation. The IAU also serves as the internationally recognised authority for assigning designations to celestial bodies and the surface features on them. Founded in 1919, the IAU is the world's largest professional body for astronomers.

Links

* The IAU Astronomy Outreach, Development and Education (ODE) Prizes (https://www.iau.org/science/grants_prizes/ode_prizes/)

Contacts

Ewine van DishoeckPast President of the IAUEmail: ewine@strw.leidenuniv.nl

Lars Lindberg ChristensenIAU Director of CommunicationsTel: +1 520 461 0433Cell: +49 173 38 72 621Email: lars.christensen@noirlab.edu

Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.

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IAU announces winners of first prizes for Astronomy Outreach, Development and Education - EurekAlert

Newswise Seven new scientific results from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), the Very Large Array (VLA), and the Very Large Array Sky Survey (VLASS) will be revealed at multiple press conferences during the 240th meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) between June 13-15, 2022 in Pasadena, California.

The new results range across a wide variety of astronomical phenomena, from star systems to pulsars, and from young galaxies to stellar feedback loops.

Press conferences will be held in person during the conference, and streamed live on the AAS Press Office YouTube Channel.

Note: Each press conference consists of a panel of scientists presenting 4-5 unique scientific results. The number listed in parentheses indicates the order of presentation for the listed result.

All press conferences are listed and will occur in Pacific Time.

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Erin Guilfoil-Cox, Northwestern University (2)The Twisted Magnetic Field in a Protobinary System

Embargo access for members of the press must be requested from [emailprotected] or [emailprotected].

Meredith MacGregor, University of Colorado Boulder (2)A New ALMA View of the HD 53143 Debris DiskEmbargo access for members of the press, please contact [emailprotected].

Ambesh Singh, University of Arizona (4)ALMA Reveals the Molecular Outflows in the Ejecta of VY Canis Majoris

Embargo access for members of the press, please contact [emailprotected] or [emailprotected].

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Hollis Akins, Grinnell College (5)ALMA Reveals Extended Cool Gas and Hot Ionized Outflows in a Distant Star-Forming Galaxy

Embargo access for members of the press, please contact [emailprotected].

Michael Jones, University of Arizona (1)Young, Blue, and Isolated Stellar Systems in the Virgo Cluster

Embargo access for members of the press, please contact [emailprotected] or [emailprotected].

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Tony Wong, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (3)ALMA Unravels a Star Formation Standoff in the Tarantula's Gaseous Web

Embargo access for members of the press, please contact [emailprotected].

Dillon Dong, California Institute of Technology (2)Discovery of an Extremely Luminous, Decades-Old Pulsar Wind Nebula in the Very Large Array Sky Survey

Embargo access for members of the press, please contact [emailprotected].

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The full press conference program is available on the AAS Press Web Site.NRAO Public Information Officerswill be available to assist journalistswith all listed press conferences during the live conference.

In addition to the press conferences, dozens of papers with new and ongoing science results from NRAO facilities will be presented during AAS 240 conference sessions. AAS 240 marks the first full in-person meeting of the AAS since January 2020.

About NRAO

The National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) is a facility of the National Science Foundation, operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.

About ALMA

The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), an international astronomy facility, is a partnership of the European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere (ESO), the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Natural Sciences (NINS) of Japan in cooperation with the Republic of Chile. ALMA is funded by ESO on behalf of its Member States, by NSF in cooperation with the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) and the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) and by NINS in cooperation with the Academia Sinica (AS) in Taiwan and the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI).

ALMA construction and operations are led by ESO on behalf of its Member States; by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), managed by Associated Universities, Inc. (AUI), on behalf of North America; and by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) on behalf of East Asia. The Joint ALMA Observatory (JAO) provides the unified leadership and management of the construction, commissioning and operation of ALMA.

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Science Results From NRAO Facilities to Be Presented at Multiple AAS 240 Press Conferences - Newswise

I was spending a slow Sunday morning drinking my coffee and procrastinating on Twitter shocking, I know when I came across a lovely video created by the European Southern Observatory. It demonstrates just how amazing the observations of the Milky Ways central supermassive black hole are: The size of the ring of material around it on the sky is about the same as a donut would be sitting on the surface of the Moon.

The video itself is great, giving you a sense of just how small that would be by zooming in and in and in on the Moon, until you can see the donut sitting on the surface. I want you watch it all the way through its less than 30 seconds long and to pay particular attention to the surface of the Moon when the video stops zooming in. Why? Youll see. Literally.

Did you see it? When the video stops zooming and the scene is stationary, the ground around the donut appears to move, looking like its receding from you, or sinking into the Moon! If you didnt see it, watch the video again and dont focus on the donut so much and relax your vision so youre just taking in the whole scene at once.

The effect only lasts a few seconds, but when I first watched it was overwhelming; I couldnt stop it from happening even if I tried. I literally laughed out loud I love optical illusions and had a pretty good idea of why it happened. I did a little poking around and sure enough, I was right.

First, this effect is colloquially known as the waterfall illusion, after it was described in the early 1800s by scientist Robert Addams, who noticed that after staring at a waterfalls downward motion for some time, when he looked at the rocks around it they appeared to be moving upward. He was by no means the first person to observe this Aristotle wrote about it but he did popularize it.

The more scientific term for it is motion aftereffect, and like many illusions the cause of it is actually quite complicated. To simplify it, though, your eyes see a scene and send signals to the brain about things like overall brightness, contrast, and the like. They do this rapidly, over and again, and the brain then tries to make sense of those signals.

If something moves over time, its position will change relative to other objects in the scene, and your brain has neurons that can detect that motion. Some are sensitive to motion to the left, others to the right, some up, some down, and so on. Your brain is constantly comparing these signals it gets, contrasting them to get a sense of motion.

If you watch something that continuously moves in one direction, say downward, then the neurons that sense that motion are being activated, while the ones that detect upward motion are not. After a while the downward-sensing neurons get tired, fatigued, and dont get activated as strongly. The upward sensing neurons are still sending the same signal they always have been, though, so when the downward signal weakens it thinks the upward signal is getting stronger. So when you look at the rocks at the side of the waterfall they appear to move up, even though theyre actually stationary.

Same thing with inward and outward motion! When the lunar zoom-in stops, the neurons that detect it are tired, but ones that detect zoom-out are not, so the surface of the Moon around the donut appears to move away from you. To me it looks like its subsiding, sinking into the Moon. Cool, and more than a little weird.

This is more than just a trick of the eye and brain, though. Studying these effects help us understand how our organs work, and that can lead to some interesting and important science.

For example, when I was a kid there was this popular trick where you stand in a narrow doorway and raise your arms to your sides as if trying to widen the doorframe. Youd do this for a few seconds, then relax your arms. When you do, theres a strong sense that your arms are starting to float up again! This is called the Kohnstamm phenomenon, and is similar to the waterfall illusion except it deals with involuntary muscles. Scientists have looked into seeing what happens if the person does this trick and then tries to suppress it by holding their arms down at their sides. They found that the brain suppresses the involuntary lift signal before it reaches your arms this could have implications for people who suffer from involuntary movements, like with Parkinsons disease or Tourettes syndrome.

I love illusions because theyre fun and trippy, but also because they give us a lot of insight into how we perceive the world, and how our brains and sensory organs work. That, in turn, can help scientists mitigate diseases that affect our perceptions.

And another underrated aspect is that they tell us that how we do perceive the world is not how the world really is. Despite what so many people think, seeing is not believing.

I've written about illusions dozens of time; like this one on how we perceive colors, or the perception of contrast, or color and contrast, or of illusory motion, and this absolutely maddening one on how we see shapes. Enjoy!

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Bad Astronomy | Donut on the Moon optical illusion | SYFY WIRE - Syfy