HOWARD
ASTRONOMICAL
LEAGUE
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HAL Meetings in 2023
HAL General Meetings (Open to the Public)
- Meetings are currently held virtually via Zoom. Watch for updates!
- For specific meeting dates, see the HAL Calendar.
- Additional information is announced via the HowardAstro Google Group.
- All HAL Meetings (and star parties) are held in locations which are smoke free by law. Help us protect our ability to use these facilities by not smoking.
General Meetings are held from 7:00PM to approximately 9:00 on the 3rd Thursday
of every month via Zoom (until further notice).
HAL Planning Meetings (Open to All Members)
Planning Meetings to discuss future club direction, events, meeting topics, outreach, etc. are open to all members. Attendance is encouraged.
They are usually held from 7:00 to 8:00PM on the 1st Monday
of every month via Zoom (until further notice).
Sometimes these meetings are rescheduled or cancelled due to holidays or board member unavailability.
Check our home page, posts to the HowardAstro Google Group, or the HAL calendar.
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HAL's COVID-19 Policy for Events - Updated May 2023
- In Howard County, COVID-19 community level is Low. We are following Howard County guidelines:
https://www.howardcountymd.gov/health/covid-19
https://www.howardcountymd.gov/News021822
- Face coverings are optional inside the Alpha Ridge HALO building. People may choose to mask at any time.
- If you are experiencing any flu-like symptoms or have tested positive for COVID, please be
considerate of others and refrain from attending HAL events.
- For HAL impromptu and member-only star parties, participants should wait for an invitation before approaching to look through others’ telescopes; respect each other’s desires for social distancing.
2023 General Meeting Topics / Speakers |
Jan. 19 |
Thursday, January 19th, 2023 beginning at 7:00PM
Topic: NOAA'S Joint Polar Satellite System, JPSS-2, the Sequel
Presenter: Ted Leoutsakos, NASA - JPSS Deployed Systems Team Senior Engineer
Artifacts:
Presentation PDF
| Video Recording on YouTube
| Chat Log
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Back by popular demand! Ted presented to HAL about the
first JPSS mission in January 2021. His 2023 presentation
will provide details about JPSS-2, the new mission.
JPSS-2 successfully lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Nov. 10, 2022.
The Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) is the nation's new generation polar-orbiting operational environmental satellite system.
JPSS is a collaborative program between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and its acquisition agent,
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). JPSS provides critical environmental satellite data to support NOAA's
ongoing mission to understand and predict changes in the weather, oceans and climate.
Ted Leoutsakos has extensive NASA/DOD and commercial experience with
broad end-to-end satellite systems engineering knowledge in complex
system integration, testing, operations, training, and ground system
development with over a dozen missions under his belt. A life-long
Star Trek fan, Ted recalls his dad taking him to the library at age 5
to check out his first read entitled "The Book of Rockets", and the rest is history…
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Feb 16 |
Thursday, February 16th, 2023
Topic: Defending Planet Earth: The Double Asteroid Redirection Test
Presenter: Dr. Angela Stickle, DART Impact Modeling Working Group Lead, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory
Artifacts:
Presentation PDF
| Video Recording on YouTube
| Chat Log
NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART)
was the first
planetary defense test mission. The DART spacecraft
purposefully ran into a small asteroid,
Dimorphos, on September
26, 2022, in order to test asteroid deflection. DART was a huge
success, changing Dimorphos’s orbital period by around 30
minutes and generating many tons of ejecta. We will discuss
planetary defense, the DART mission, initial results from the
team and how we are using those results to learn more about
Dimorphos, Didymos, and future applications to
planetary defense.
Dr. Angela Stickle is a planetary geologist with a background
in Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, and impact processes
on planetary surfaces. She specializes in hypervelocity impact
processes and dynamic failure of materials. Dr Stickle is
currently a senior research scientist at the Johns Hopkins
University Applied Physics Laboratory. She is the Deputy
Principal-Investigator for the Mini-RF radar, a Co-I for the
LRO-LAMP instrument aboard the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter,
the impact modeling working group lead for the Double Asteroid
Redirection Test mission, and a Co-I on the Dragonfly mission.
Her research includes analyzing young impact craters on the
Moon to better understand ejecta emplacement processes, impact
modeling on asteroids and rocky/icy bodies, planetary defense
testing, and working to understand and evaluate available
technology for future lunar surface missions.
Asteroid 36986
Stickle is named in her honor.
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Mar 16 |
Thursday, March 16th, 2023
Topic: Dragonfly: Flights of Exploration on an Exotic Ocean World
Presenter: Dr. Melissa Trainer, NASA GSFC / Planetary Scientist
Artifacts:
Presentation PDF
| Video Recording on YouTube
| Chat Log
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Titan
is the only moon in our solar system with a dense atmosphere,
which supports an Earth-like hydrological cycle of methane clouds,
rain, lakes, and seas. Complex organic surface materials may
preserve, in a deep freeze, the types of organic chemicals that
would have been present on Earth before life developed. The
Dragonfly mission to Titan
will characterize its habitability and
determine how far prebiotic chemistry has progressed in
environments known to provide the necessary ingredients for life.
The mission comprises a single rotorcraft lander with a
sophisticated scientific payload, designed to take advantage of
Titan's environment and achieve wide-ranging exploration goals by
flying to sites in different geologic settings.
Dr. Melissa Trainer is a planetary scientist at NASA's Goddard
Space Flight Center (GSFC) with expertise in the composition of
planetary atmospheres and the production of organic molecules and
aerosols via in situ synthesis pathways. Dr. Trainer currently
serves as a Deputy Principal Investigator (PI) for the Dragonfly
mission to Saturn's moon Titan, part of the
NASA Planetary Science New Frontiers Program.
She is also the lead for the Dragonfly Mass
Spectrometer (DraMS), which enables the investigation of Titan's
surface composition and characterization of potential prebiotic
chemistry.
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Apr 20 |
Thursday, April 20th, 2023
Topic: Discussion
Presenter: HAL Members
Artifacts:
Presentation PDF
| Video Recording on YouTube
| Chat Log
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May 18 |
Thursday, May 18th, 2023
Topic: Exploring the Solar System and Beyond – the Role of NASA’s Deep Space Network
Presenter: Glen Nagle, Science Communicator, Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex
Artifacts:
Presentation PDF
| Video Recording on YouTube
| Chat Log
Glen will be speaking on the role that Canberra plays as part of NASA’s
Deep Space Network,
and the dozens of deep space robotic missions exploring our solar system and beyond. He will
also discuss the vital role of communications in the success of the
Artemis missions designed
to return humans to the surface of the Moon in the next few years.
Glen Nagle is the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
(CSIRO) communications officer for the
Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex (CDSCC).
He has been employed there since March 2002.
His work focuses on educating and promoting space science to the wider community
and especially to the younger generation, with the goal of exciting them about
engineering, science and mathematics.
Glen's professional career in the space and education sector has spanned over 38
years. He has worked with organisations to promote international and domestic
development of space science related services and technology and has supported
several space conference and industry groups. Glen has been an active grassroots
promoter of science to schools and the public and shares his enthusiasm through
public speaking and media appearances.
Glen has also worked at the CSIRO’s
Parkes Radio Telescope,
the Australia Telescope Compact Array
and is currently also supporting NASA Operation activities at the
Canberra complex.
Glen Nagle’s work has also extended to areas such as the internet, either designing
or contributing to a number of science related websites, and as a keen graphic
designer has produced artworks that have appeared in several books, magazines and
scientific journals.
He is a regular guest on several syndicated radio programs and on television
through programs such as Catalyst and Sunrise. For three years and 100 episodes,
Glen also hosted his own weekly television program about space exploration and
astronomy on ABC2 called ‘Skywatch’.
Glen’s knowledge, enthusiasm and passion for space exploration comes across in all
his work, presentations and public outreach activities.
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June 15 |
Thursday, June 15th, 2023
Topic: The First Isolated Black Hole
Presenter: Dr. Jay Anderson, Observatory Scientist, Space Telescope Science Institute
Quick Zoom Link.
More options on home page.
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Since Black Holes emit no light, they are hard to find.
Some super-massive black holes
can be found at the centers
of galaxies, since gas often dribbles onto them and lights up. Other
regular-sized black holes
can be seen when they are part of a
binary system,
either from orbital motion
or from dribble from their companion. Kailash Sahu and
I have been pursuing a HST program to find
isolated black holes
that have been meandering through the Galaxy.
I will report on our recent finding of an isolated BH of
about 7 solar masses.
Brief Bio:
- 1986-1990: BA in Physics and French from Rice University
- 1990-1997: PhD in Astronomy from UC Berkeley
- 1997-2007: Post-doc on grant money
- 2007-present: Observatory Scientist at Space Telescope Science Institute
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Jul 20 |
Thursday, July 20th, 2023
Topic: TBA
Presenter: TBA
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Aug 17 |
Thursday, August 17th, 2023
Topic: TBA
Presenter: TBA
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Sept 21 |
Thursday, September 21, 2023
Topic: The Art and Science of Visualizing Webb Imagery
Presenter: Alyssa Pagan, Science Visuals Developer, Space Telescope Science Institute
Zoom link will appear here early in September.
The amazing visions from the
Webb Space Telescope have captivated the world. However,
there is a long and involved process by which the scientist's black and white observational
data are transformed into dynamic color imagery for the public. Join image specialist
Alyssa Pagan as she demonstrates, in detail, the art and science of translating infrared light
beginning with acquiring the data to finalizing the press release imagery which is intended to inform, inspire and engage the public.
Alyssa Pagan is a Science Visuals Developer who works in the
Office of Public Outreach within the
Space Telescope Science Institute.
Using her background in Art and Science, she works closely with
astronomers to create color images of space that are intended both to educate, inspire and showcase the beauty of our Universe.
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Archives:
2013 Meetings - Speakers and Topics
2014 Meetings - Speakers and Topics
2015 Meetings - Speakers and Topics
2016 Meetings - Speakers and Topics
2017 Meetings - Speakers and Topics
2018 Meetings - Speakers and Topics
2019 Meetings - Speakers and Topics
2020 Meetings - Speakers and Topics
2021 Meetings - Speakers and Topics
2022 Meetings - Speakers and Topics
© 1999-2023 Howard Astronomical League All Rights Reserved Last modified: May 29, 2023 @ 11:15 EST |