Public Outreach

Titanian Rain Fills Polar Terrain

Posted by admin on November 28, 2023
Posted in: First Friday Astronomy, Public Outreach. Tagged: , .
Huygens lander descending to Titan’s surface. From https://www.esa.int/var/esa/storage/images/esa_multimedia/images/2005/11/huygens_descent_and_landing_in_2005/9836090-3-eng-GB/Huygens_descent_and_landing_in_2005_pillars.jpg.

Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, was discovered by the Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens in 1655, the same year courts in Virginia first ruled slavery was legal in the American colonies. It took another 350 years before humans visited Titan upclose, leaving this, the largest moon in the Solar System, an object of wonder and speculation. But even after many years of intimate study, Titan remains enshrouded, both figuratively and literally. Its secrets may persist until NASA’s Dragonfly mission visits the world again in 2034, and if history is any guide, probably long after too.

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Shedding Light on Dark Matter

Posted by admin on October 1, 2023
Posted in: First Friday Astronomy, Public Outreach. Tagged: .
Although the Cold Dark Matter Theory predicts the merger of dwarf galaxies, this image captures the first example to be studied in detail. From cosmotography.com/images/dwarf_galaxy_dark_matter.html.

Boise State Physics will host Prof. Yao-Yuan Mao of University of Utah on Friday, Oct 6 for our First Friday Astronomy lecture. Prof. Mao will talk about his work on low-mass galaxies and dark matter, and if the weather permits, we’ll stargaze on Boise State’s Quad after the lecture. In the meantime, let’s explore some of the most common questions people have about dark matter.

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The Solar Eclipse on Oct 14

Posted by admin on August 30, 2023
Posted in: First Friday Astronomy, Public Outreach. Tagged: .
Artist’s depiction of the annular solar eclipse.

On the morning of Saturday, Oct 14, the Sun will transform into the eye of Sauron, a dark circle wreathed in otherworldly flame. Sauron’s gaze will cross the surface of the Earth from the Pacific Ocean, through the Pacific-Northwest and Southwest, and down the spine of Central America, before fizzling out of the east coast of Brazil. Though not as dramatic as total eclipses, annular eclipses like this one are more rare, owing to the eccentricities of orbital mechanics. And the same celestial forces have also woven a tapestry of occultations connecting the Oct 14 eclipse back to the founding of the Cologne Cathedral, a turning point in modern science, and the dawn of a new age.

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Dark Stars and Dark Matter

Posted by admin on August 1, 2023
Posted in: First Friday Astronomy, Public Outreach. Tagged: , , .
This is a reprint of a blog post originally run Jun 2022.
Gravitational lensing of distant galaxies observed by Hubble. From https://www.nasa.gov/content/discoveries-highlights-shining-a-light-on-dark-matter.

Although our current understanding of gravity, the theory of general relativity, arose only one hundred years ago, scientists were speculating about exotic gravitational effects going back to before the word “scientist” even existed. Today, astronomers employ gravity in a variety of ways to study the cosmos, to look for planets outside our solar system and even to weigh some of the largest celestial bodies in existence. These measurements have shed light on some of the darkest of astronomical mysteries.

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How Will JWST Study Exoplanets?

Posted by admin on July 6, 2023
Posted in: First Friday Astronomy, Public Outreach. Tagged: , , .

From https://webbtelescope.org/resource-gallery/articles. (This is a slightly updated reprint of an article originally run Nov 2021.)

An artist’s concept of the Webb Space Telescope. From https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/james-webb-space-telescope/in-depth/.

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), scheduled to launch on December 18, will primarily use its spectrographs – specialized instruments that capture and spread out light like a rainbow – to study exoplanets. By analyzing this data, known as spectra, researchers will be able to measure exoplanets’ compositions and chemistries. Spectra will help refine what we know about any exoplanet Webb observes, including massive gas giants, mid-sized ice giants, and smaller rocky exoplanets (some of which could be similar to Earth). In a few cases, JWST will deliver images of exoplanets to reveal more about them.

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