Category Archives: Astronomy

Its a rare thing when every single part of an astronomy news story is super cool, but here we are. Youll want to stick around for all of this.

A telescope the size of the planet has observed a binary red dwarf star system for 14 years, nailing down the positions of the two stars to incredible accuracy, and happened to discover a planet more massive than Jupiter orbiting one of them in a plane hugely tilted to the orbits of the stars around each other.

Oh, yes. This is my kind of story [link to paper].

The star system is called GJ 896, and its a pair of low-mass red dwarfs 20.37 light-years from Earth and yes, as Ill get to, the distance is known that accurately. The more massive of the two, GJ 896A, is about 0.44 times the mass of the Sun, and its companion star, GJ 896B, is much smaller at 0.165 solar masses. So both are dinky. Even though theyre among the closest stars known to the Sun, theyre so faint you need a telescope to see them at all.

Between 2006 and 2011, and again in 2020, these stars were observed using the Very Long Baseline Array, a collection of radio dishes spread across Earth. They observe at the same time, and their data are then combined in a way that makes their vision as keen as if they were a single dish the size of the planet. This technique, called interferometry, has been used for decades, and perhaps is currently most famous as used by the Event Horizon Telescope to look at the black holes in the center of the Milky Way and M87.

The resolution of a telescope its ability to very accurately measure the position of an object, or separate two objects in the sky depends in part on its size, so a telescope over 10,000 km wide has phenomenal resolution. The observations of GJ 896 are accurate to about 60 microarcseconds, a very tiny angle in the sky. There are 3,600 arcseconds in a degree, for example, and the Moon is 0.5 degrees = 1,800 arcseconds across. A microarcsecond is a millionth of an arcsecond, so this resolution is like being able to see a cell phone sitting on the Moons surface.

Even older, lower resolution observations were accurate enough to see the orbital motion of the two stars around each other. The orbital period is about 229 years, and theyre separated by about 4.5 billion kilometers from each other, the same distance Neptune is from the Sun.

The new measurements are easily enough to pick up the parallax induced by the Earths motion around the Sun. As we go around the Sun we see the stars from one angle and then a different angle six months later. This parallax is the same idea as holding your thumb in front of your face and closing first one eye then the other; your thumb will appear to move against the background. This technique is used to get the distances to stars, and in fact is why the distance to GJ 896 is so well determined.

Once that effect is subtracted, and the orbital motion of the two stars around each other is subtracted, something very strange can be seen: The primary star, GJ 896A, is corkscrewing through space, making one cycle around every 284.4 days. The cause must be something small orbiting it, its gravity tugging on the star and causing it to spiral through the galaxy. Given the period of the tug, the astronomers have determined its a planet with about 2.3 times the mass of Jupiter.

The planet itself is invisible, but the effects of its gravity can be seen in the positions of GJ 896A over time. The process of measuring a stars position is called astrometry, and its very rare indeed to find a planet using this method. This one, called GJ 896Ab, is one of the very few to have been found this way.

And it gets better: Very careful measurements of the planets orbit show it orbits the star in a plane wildly tilted to the orbital plane of the two stars, tipped by 148. Thats weird. Like, really weird.

All the major planets in the solar system orbit in more or less the same plane. A handful of exoplanets have been found to orbit at large angles to other planets on their systems, and its not clear why. Perhaps one planet migrated too close to another and the gravitational interaction slingshot it into the tilted orbit. Maybe over time the gravitational influence of the second star pumped the inclination of the planets orbit until its tilt changed to where it is now. Or maybe it had something to do with the way the planet and stars formed in the first place. We dont know yet.

And mind you, the planet itself is weird. We know of lots of planets orbiting red dwarf stars, but far and away the majority of them are small, Earth-sized planets. Very few are gas giants, let alone with more than twice the mass of Jupiter. This system is bizarre in almost every way we look at it, which of course makes it more fun to study.

This is the first time the full three-dimensional motions of a binary star and an exoplanet orbiting one of them have been determined. That in itself is pretty cool, but when you add everything else in, this becomes one of the most interesting star/planet systems we know. And the cherry on top is that its so close to us we can actually study it in some detail.

Its proximity makes me wonder, too. If such systems were super-rare in the galaxy, youd expect the nearest one to be thousands of light-years away. The fact that GJ 896 is one of the closest star systems to the Sun in the entire galaxy implies these sorts of things are common. The only way we can find out is to study as many binary red dwarfs as we can, and keep watching GJ 896 closely. Hopefully longer-term observations will solve the mystery of the planets tilted orbit, why its so big, and just how this wild and wonderful system came to be.

Read more from the original source:

Bad Astronomy | Exoplanet around GJ 896 is as bizarre as they come | SYFY WIRE - Syfy

Comets are comets, and asteroids are asteroids except when they're not. Some asteroids appear to be active, forming the familiar comae, and even tails, of their cometary cousins. Astronomers know of only a few dozen examples of these active asteroids, but they suspect more are out there and you can join the hunt. The asteroids you spot could unlock secrets about the history of the solar system.

Asteroids are relatively simple. The leftover bits of stillborn rocky planets, they are rich in carbon, iron and other heavier elements. They're basically just big balls of rock.

Comets, however, are much more active. They're a mixed bag of ices and looser, lighter materials that formed in the outer edges of the solar system during its infancy. Because of their lighter elements, when comets get too close to the sun, they become agitated, with the light elements sublimating from the surface to form a coma, and sometimes even a tail of gas that can stretch for millions of miles.

Related: Comets vs. asteroids: How do these rocky objects compare?

So asteroids and comets are very different. But in 1950, astronomers found the first-ever signs of activity around an unexpected place. They discovered that asteroid (4015) Wilson-Harrington has a coma, just like a comet does. But the object definitely wasn't a comet. It most certainly was an asteroid, given that it had a mostly rocky composition.

In the past 70 years, astronomers have identified fewer than 30 active asteroids, and they still present a major mystery to our understanding of the evolution of the solar system. So how did these small, rocky bodies get enough of the light elements to form a coma or a tail?

The active asteroids are telling us something important about the history of the solar system. For example, one of the major outstanding mysteries in planetary evolution is how Earth got its water. Our planet originally formed with a lot of water, but most of it either boiled off when Earth's surface was molten or got locked up deep within the mantle. To get water on the planet's surface requires some sort of delivery system. Comets are one obvious vehicle, but there may not have been enough of them wandering through the inner solar system to do the job.

Maybe active asteroids did the job of enriching Earth, but we have so few examples in the modern solar system that it's too hard to tell.

Thankfully, these active asteroids are not alone. There's another distinct population of small bodies inhabiting the solar system: the Centaurs. These asteroid-like objects sit between the orbits of Jupiter and Neptune. Astronomers think the Centaurs were once members of the Kuiper Belt, a ring of small objects well beyond the orbit of Neptune, that wandered in too close and got captured by the gravity of the giant planets.

The Centaurs themselves share characteristics with both asteroids and comets, forming a sort of hybrid population. Fewer than 20 of them produce visible comae just like comets do. This is especially puzzling, since many of those active Centaurs spend most of their time beyond the orbit of Jupiter, where it should be too cold to sublimate any frozen light elements.

This small but distinct population of active asteroids and Centaurs presents astronomers with many mysteries. For instance, how are the Centaurs active despite being so far from the sun? What do these active objects tell us about the history of light elements during the formation of the solar system?

To answer these questions, we need more data. Surely, more active asteroids are out there, but they are notoriously difficult to detect. Not only are the asteroids relatively small, dim and distant from the sun, but signs of their activity are exceedingly faint. It takes dedicated time and attention to search through catalogs of asteroid images, hunting for signs of a coma or a tail.

This is definitely a task beyond the capabilities of even the most sophisticated automated algorithms which means it's up to us to find new active asteroids.

A paper recently published to the preprint database arXiv discusses a new citizen-science project to hunt for active asteroids. The project takes images of asteroids from the Dark Energy Survey (DES). Even though the DES telescope was not designed to hunt for asteroids, its imaging capabilities turn out to make it an ideal asteroid finder.

However, to find more active asteroids, somebody needs to look at the images and decide if there's any sign of activity. And here's where you come in: You simply visit activeasteroids.net and click to get started. After a brief tutorial, you can begin flipping through images of asteroids and deciding if you think they're active.

Don't worry; the fate of astronomy doesn't rest entirely on your shoulders. Your answers will be compared against others before getting passed on to the researchers.

With a larger catalog of known active asteroids, astronomers hope to begin characterizing these objects and studying them in more detail. From there, they can begin to understand what these active asteroids might tell us about the history of the solar system.

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Help find weird comet-like asteroids that could reveal solar system secrets - Space.com

After enrolling in a special topics astronomy course offered at the University of Michigan-Flint, Patrick Ross, a 2015 graduate with a bachelor's degree in physics, found himself fascinated with the field of astrophysics. The combination of interesting coursework and strong faculty mentorship is what drove Ross to embark on a six-year journey from intern to manager at Flint's Longway Planetarium.

When Ross began his academic journey at UM-Flint, he started looking for ways to connect with faculty and immerse himself in research. He found those opportunities through Rajib Ganguly and James Alsup, both associate professors of physics. The pair were focused on the areas of quasars, which are massive celestial objects emitting large amounts of energy, and black holes.

"Being able to sit down directly with the faculty as an undergraduate student and have a research group to look at problems in astronomy was very unique and influential in where I chose to go with my degree," said Ross.

During his undergraduate work, Ross began an internship as a part-time presenter, introducing and talking about show content at Longway. The experience helped build his passion for astronomy and his interest in continuing education. That interest would propel Ross to earn a master's degree in physics from Texas A&M University-Commerce. While in graduate school, he worked at Ritter Planetarium in Toledo, Ohio, and later found himself back in Texas in a management position at the A&M Commerce Planetarium and Observatory.

While working in Texas, Ross got a tip from Ganguly the planetarium manager position at Longway was available. Ross applied shortly after and was hired. He oversees a team of staff and educators, as well as the portable planetarium that travels from the main venue to schools outside the Flint area, thereby bringing the Longway experience to school-aged children throughout the region. Ross is also responsible for all new program content like the more recent James Webb Space Telescope images that he has included in their shows.

"Working at the planetarium is great," said Ross. "You have a very diverse group of people working together, from scientists who are published and well-known in the field, to educators with various backgrounds."

As for his time and experiences at UM-Flint, Ross believes that immersing himself in the opportunities presented by faculty is what made him successful and is an approach that current students could also benefit from.

"[Students should] find a research group or professors that will let [them] participate in a project that interests them so that they can not only learn more about the subject, but learn more about the workflow of research," he said. "It's a great experience to see what the other side of the degree looks like if you continue into the field. Diversify your research groups if you can in order to get different perspectives. Last but not least, learn computer science and learn how to code. It's becoming more important than ever in the field to have those types of skills."

Ross attributes his success in graduate school to his coding skills so that he was able to dive right into the research, while many in his cohort were still learning the ropes.

He plans to continue his career in the planetarium field and hopes to find a PhD program that bridges the gap between science and public outreach in the future.

Originally posted here:

UM-Flint alum puts the stars within reach at Longway Planetarium - University of Michigan-Flint

Its that time of year again. The days are getting shorter and the temperatures cooler. That means fall is just around the corner, and it kicks off with the Fall Equinox pumpkin spice enthusiasts and astronomers rejoice.

The astronomical event of the Fall Equinox (or Spring Equinox for those in the Southern Hemisphere) happens at a certain time every year. This year the autumnal equinox will occur on Thursday, September 22 at 9:04 p.m., Eastern. It will happen at the same point in time all across the Northern Hemisphere.

It is no mystery that the Earth is in constant motion around the Sun. On September 22, the Earth will be at a point in its orbit around the Sun in which the Sun will be aligned with Earths celestial equator. The celestial equator is the point in space that is directly above Earths equatorial line; the invisible line marks the halfway point between the North and South poles.

On the equinox, not only is the Sun aligned directly with the middle of the Earth, but the day and night are also of equal length. The name equinox is derived from the Latin term aequus, meaning equal, and nox, meaning night. The days become shorter until the Winter Solstice, when the Suns points more toward the Southern Hemisphere.

The tilt of the Earth with respect to the Sun during each equinox. Shutterstock

The autumnal equinox marks the beginning of the days becoming shorter in the Northern Hemisphere, as the sun is aligned more towards the South. The reverse happens in the Southern Hemisphere as countries in that part of Earth experience their spring equinox, the days becoming longer.

This phenomenon is due to Earths tilt, or axis, which never changes, staying at 23.4 degrees. When Earth is at a point in its orbit around the sun where the sun is directly aligned or just around the celestial equator, our planet experiences equal day and night. In the case of the autumnal equinox for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, the orbit of Earth moves into where the position of the Northern Hemisphere points away from the Sun. Meanwhile, the Southern Hemisphere begins to be pointed towards the sun, which kicks off spring.

Picture zooming out into space, looking back at Earth and the Sun as a system. The Earth is titled 23.4 degrees to one side, rotating within 24 hours, creating a day, while it continues on its 365-day journey around the sun, giving us our year. The Northern Hemisphere is moving away the Suns direction, which makes the nights longer and days shorter.

Many well-known winter constellations are beginning to appear earlier in the night. With the nights getting longer, its the perfect time to observe the constellations before winter approaches.Brooke Edwards

With the days getting shorter, there are many more opportunities for astronomy; one positive to a time of year many view as negative! Two days after the Fall Equinox, the New Moon will appear in the sky. This means the Moon will be completely covered in shadows, giving amateur astronomers a chance to see fainter objects that might normally be drowned out by the light of the moon at other phases. Astronomy buffs will also have a chance to view the Draconid and Orionid meteor showers in October.

The cycle will start all over again a year from now. The next autumnal equinox falls on September 23, 2023, at 2:49 a.m., Eastern.

LEARN SOMETHING NEW EVERY DAY.

Read more from the original source:

Fall Equinox 2022: Date, time, and opportunities for astronomy during this yearly event - Inverse

The new observations provide new insight into the process of planet and star formation. They will be used to validate upcoming James Webb Space Telescope observations that will peer even further into the relatively nearby region of space.

"It was thrilling being the first, together with my colleagues of the 'PDRs4All' James Webb Space Telescope team, to see the sharpest images of the Orion Bar ever taken in the near-infrared," explained Carlos Alvarez, a staff astronomer at Keck Observatory and co-author of the study.

The researchers, whose work will be published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, and is available in preprint format on arXiv.org, say the Orion Nebula is the closest massive star formation region to Earth, meaning that this investigation into its PDR the region heated by starlight could provide valuable clues about the way stars and planets are formed.

"Observing photo-dissociation regions is like looking into our past," said Emilie Habart, an Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale associate professor at Paris-Saclay University and the lead author of a paper on this study. "These regions are important because they allow us to understand how young stars influence the gas and dust cloud they are born in, particularly sites where stars, like the sun, form."

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Astronomers capture the most detailed image ever of a star formation zone in Orion's 'sword' - Interesting Engineering

September 10, 2022, 12:00 PM HST

If a picture is worth 1,000 words, then looking through a telescope into the depths of space and the twinkling stars staring back at you while imagining all the possibilities is priceless.

Keiki and their families had the opportunity to do just that during the first Ohana Stargazing event Aug. 27 at Mookini Heiau in Kohala. The event, meant to inspire children to reach for the stars, was hosted by Ohana Kilo Hk, a Native Hawaiian nonprofit organization that supports astronomy and space programs in Hawaii.

Ohana Stargazing shares traditional and modern methods of Hawaii astronomy including storytelling and telescope viewing. The event at Mookini Heiau featured guided tours through the heiau, Hawaiian star compass demonstrations, a question-and-answer session with a Native Hawaiian panel of astronomy and space science professionals, storytelling about Hawaiian sky lore and Mookini Heiau, star tours including Polynesian Voyaging Starlines and international constellations, interactive space themed activities and telescope viewing.

Under a sea of stars, including Mauis fish hook on the horizon and the great dark fish of the dusty Milky Way above, the event closed by honoring two individuals Ohana Kilo Hk founding director and Imiloa Astronomy Center navigator in residence Kalepa Baybayan and Paul Coleman, the first Native Hawaiian astrophysics professor who treasure Mookini Heiau and continue to be guiding lights in perpetuating the practice of Hawaii astronomy.

The mission of Ohana Kilo Hk is to cultivate and support children who have or hope to have a relationship with the study of the skies above. Through Ohana Stargazing, the nonprofit hopes to engage families in fun events, where everyone can be inspired by Hawaiian and international star stories.

Ohana Kilo Hk seeks to inspire keiki, especially Native Hawaiian keiki, by bringing them Native Hawaiian role models who perpetuate the culture of celestial navigation and natural observation through contributions to the study of space, astronomy and the stars. For more information, click here.

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Ohana Stargazing Event Inspires Keiki to Reach For The Stars - Big Island Now

Jennifer Muir didnt know that her lifelong aspirations to become a teacher would eventually take her to the edge of space.

I wasnt set on science till I started going to college, said Muir, a science teacher at Draper Park Middle School. I took a geology class for my physical science requirement and absolutely loved it and majored in earth science education best decision Ive ever made.

Muir was selected in December to attend a prestigious NASA-affiliated teacher training program that includes a trip to the stratosphere aboard the worlds largest flying observatory, the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, or SOFIA.

She learned about the program last year after Canyons School District teachers Milo Maughan, who now works at the Utah State Office of Education, and Hillcrests Clief Castleton received their flight jackets from NASA.

I didnt think it was open to middle school science teachers, so when I found out it was through our district science specialist, I was like, Well, Im going to apply because the worst they can tell me is no, Muir said.

Except they didnt say no and Muir joined a list of 24 other teachers across the nation who will be embarking on the journey with her as airborne astronomy ambassadors. She is the only teacher from the Beehive State in this years program.

The group includes K-12 teachers and community college instructors fromacross the country.

Science teacher Jennifer Muir teaches a class of eighth grade students at Draper Park Middle School on Friday, Sept. 2, 2022. Muir, who was chosen last year to attend a prestigious NASA-affiliated teacher-training program that includes a flight to the stratosphere, leaves Monday, Sept. 12, for the five-day trip. Muir is also one of 24 U.S. educators from 13 states selected as 2022 Airborne Astronomy Ambassadors.

Laura Seitz, Deseret News

Qualifications to become an ambassador include at least three years of teaching experience in such subjects as physical science, earth and space science, astronomy, astrobiology or integrated science. Teachers also must be scheduled to lead physics and astronomy in the coming years.

Muir was at IKEA when she found out she had been selected.

I was freaking out, she said. I was pulling up the confirmation email for the (IKEA) pickup and thats when I saw the email that Id been selected.

While many have assumed that Muir will be going all the way to space, she is quick to dispel this notion (she is a science teacher, after all).

Its a Boeing 747 called SOFIA. It flies in the stratosphere so it goes higher than regular planes but its not actually going to space, Muir said.

Still, the opportunity is once in a lifetime.

Its going to be amazing because its got a huge telescope on it and you fly at night and youre flying with these amazing research scientists, Muir said. The telescope opens up and you get to be there while live data comes in.

Science teacher Jennifer Muir works with eighth grader Samantha Hillstead at Draper Park Middle School on Friday, Sept. 2, 2022. Muir, who was chosen last year to attend a prestigious NASA-affiliated teacher-training program that includes a flight to the stratosphere, leaves Monday, Sept. 12 for the five-day trip. Muir is also one of 24 U.S. educators from 13 states selected as 2022 Airborne Astronomy Ambassadors.

Laura Seitz, Deseret News

Muir said she doesnt know exactly what her role will be while on board quite yet, but acknowledged that she will help with whatever they need help with.

Aside from her upcoming journey being an incredible individual experience, Muir is eager to take what she learns aboard the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy and bring it back to her middle school students.

In eighth grade science, we learn about light and sound and especially the electromagnetic spectrum. So teaching the kids that not all light is visible with the human eye, Muir said. This telescope actually uses infrared or thermal energy to collect pictures and data, so Ill get to show them some of the discoveries made using other wavelengths of light besides just the visible light that the human eye can see.

Ambassadors also are given curriculum and equipment to bolster the classroom experience after they return from a weeklong immersive training.

Science teacher Jennifer Muir is pictured in her classroom at Draper Park Middle School on Friday, Sept. 2, 2022. Muir, who was chosen last year to attend a prestigious NASA-affiliated teacher-training program that includes a flight to the stratosphere, leaves Monday, Sept. 12 for the five-day trip. Muir is also one of 24 U.S. educators from 13 states selected as 2022 Airborne Astronomy Ambassadors.

Laura Seitz, Deseret News

She said that she hopes her experience and teaching style will influence some students into a STEM career.

Obviously Im happy with whatever they choose as a career, but if they choose STEM, it makes me happy, she said. The fact that I get this opportunity, to me, is a huge thank you for doing my job and doing my job well.

Muir leaves for her five-day trip on Monday, and while most people would understandably have some jitters leading up to a trip of this magnitude, Muir is ready to go.

Im not really one to say no if I have an opportunity to do something, Muir said. I wouldnt say Im nervous, Im excited to take back what I learn to my students but Im also just excited to have the experience.

Science teacher Jennifer Muir works with eighth graders Sophie Daynes and Maddison Ellis at Draper Park Middle School on Friday, Sept. 2, 2022. Muir, who was chosen last year to attend a prestigious NASA-affiliated teacher-training program that includes a flight to the stratosphere, leaves Monday, Sept. 12 for the five-day trip. Muir is also one of 24 U.S. educators from 13 states selected as 2022 Airborne Astronomy Ambassadors.

Laura Seitz, Deseret News

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Utah teacher hopes to inspire students with her journey to the edge of space - Deseret News

Humanity is blinding itself with light and losing sight of the starry night skies that once guided our ancestors and filled them with wonder, according to the European Southern Observatory (ESO), and the international astronomy organization is doing something about it.

More than 80% of the worlds population has their view of the night sky curtailed due to light pollution, according to the ESO. The increasing number of satellites in orbit are photobombing the views of professional telescopes at the few remaining dark sky sites, such as the Very Large Telescope the ESO operates in Chile.

In response the ESO has launched a campaign to educate people about light pollution and the negative impacts of satellite mega-constellations on both professional and amateur astronomy. They launched a website spelling out the problem and created a social media hashtag, #ProtectDarkSkies, to spread the word. In a Tweet posted Wednesday using the new hashtag, the ESO pointed out that about one third of humanity can no longer see the Milky Way the thick disk of our galaxy rich with dust and stars in the night sky from where they live.

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Astronomers launch campaign to protect the dark night sky - The Independent

Astronomy Chair Priyamvada Natarajan has been named the Joseph S. and Sophia S. Fruton professor of astronomy and professor of physics.

Elizabeth Watson 12:23 am, Sep 09, 2022

Staff Reporter

Priyamvada Natarajan

Priyamvada Natarajan, chair of Yales Astronomy Department, has been named the Joseph S. and Sophia S. Fruton professor of astronomy and professor of physics.

Natarajans new title honors the legacy of Joseph S. Fruton and Sophia S. Simmonds, both biochemists who taught at Yale and were known for their contributions to research and education. Natarajan was notified of the appointment in May by University President Peter Salovey.

I came into this country as an international undergrad; I was at MIT, and my family was in India, Natarajan said. I lived here as an international scholar, and of course Im an American citizen, but this kind of thing really adds a sense of belonging. [The position] aligns with my values. For me, that was really important. Here are people who know me, who know and understand what I stand for. I stand for equality of opportunity and recognition for all genders in science.

After graduating from MIT and completing her doctoral degree at the University of Cambridges Institute of Astronomy, Natarajan came to Yale as an assistant professor in the physics and astronomy departments in 2000. Since then, Natarajan has been working on research in theoretical physics, specifically pertaining to black holes.

Black holes were often thought to form after the final stages in the life cycle of a star. However, the black hole seeds, or early black holes, that result from this process are often only a few times the mass of our solar systems sun, and there is not enough time for these seeds to reach the size of known supermassive black holes, which can be tens of billions times larger than the mass of the sun, according to Natarajan. To explain this discrepancy, Natarajan and collaborators proposed a theory that these larger black holes result from extremely large black hole seeds that came into being without star formation.

We have very clear-cut predictions out there for the James Webb Space Telescope, and we made these predictions well before the telescope was launched in 2017, Natarajan said. Ive been working for nearly more than a decade on making those predictions. It was very challenging because computers were not fast enough and you just couldnt simulate it all. So we had to wait for computers to become more sophisticated and for the instruments on a new facility like James Webb before it could be tested. Thats what Im really excited about right now.

Natarajan is also one of the principal investigators working on the Harvard Black Hole Initiative. As part of this initiative, she maps dark matter with gravitational lensing, which relates to the way that light bends in response to matter. Natarajan observes this light bending and uses the degree of distortion to ascertain details about the dark matter within a given galaxy. This kind of mapping can help scientists develop a better understanding of dark matter and in turn, the universe.

Its without question that professor Natarajan is one of the worlds foremost experts in studying massive black holes and dark matter, said Michael Tremmel, a postdoctoral fellow at the Yale Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics. Over her career, her work has pushed the field forward and, in many cases, opened up entirely new avenues of research which remain active today.

Erica Nelson, an assistant professor of astrophysics at the University of Colorado, Boulder, who was mentored by Natarajan as a graduate student, agreed.

It always felt like she had my back and was on my side, Nelson said. Grad school is a very vulnerable time in terms of your confidence and whether or not you feel like you deserve to be there, and she always gave me confidence and inspiration that I could do it and that I was doing a good job and that she respected my intelligence. She was always a very positive influence in my graduate career. I literally wouldnt be here if it wasnt for her.

Natarajan currently serves as the director of the Franke Program in Science and the Humanities at Yale.

Elizabeth Watson covers breakthrough research for SciTech and illustrates for various sections. She is a sophomore in Pauli Murray College and is planning to major in science and the humanities.

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Yale professor appointed to inaugural position in physics and astronomy department - Yale Daily News

The Moorpark College Astronomy faculty and Ventura County Astronomical Society will present the summers final Star Party at 6:30 p.m. Sat., Sept. 17 at the Moorpark College Observatory, 7075 Campus Road.

Guest speaker Kevin McKeegan will provide a short lecture on meteorites. He is a professor of geochemistry and cosmochemistry in UCLAs Department of Earth, Planetary and Space Sciences, where he served as chair from 2012-16.

McKeegan earned a Bachelor of Science from St. Lawrence University and his doctorate from Washington University of St. Louis.

Moorpark College Astronomy Professor Hal Jandorf will provide a walk-through of the summer stars, constellations, planets and other objects in the evening sky at 7:30 p.m.

Saturn, nebulae, star clusters and galaxies will be visible through the telescopes set up by the VCAS. Attendees can also take a trip through the observation dome.

Star parties are always special because the community can learn about the night sky, learn the constellations, look through dozens of powerful telescopes and learn more about the universe. Wait until you see Saturn for the first time. Its not a photo in a book or on a computer monitor, Jandorf said.

The event is free for all ages and recommended for ages 6 and up. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis.

Attendees should bring cushions for the concrete seating, a light jacket and binoculars. Leave pets at home.

This years series of star parties have drawn 250 to 300 people at each event.

The observatory enables students to participate in courses and labs and allows the college to share the experience with the community, said Debi Klein, chief development officer of the Moorpark College Foundation, which has sponsored the observatory and astronomy programs for more than 30 years.

While this is the last event of the year at the observatory, Molly Shelton, a power systems engineer at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, will speak at 7 p.m., Frid., Oct. 21, at the Moorpark College Forum in the Applied Arts Building.

The Astronomy Department, VCAS and the Moorpark College Foundation will coordinate the event.

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Reach for the stars at astronomy party - Moorpark Acorn