SJ-Astronomy / Speaker Talks

Topic: Science and Technology Innovation at Lick Observatory

Speaker: Dr. Elinor Gates

Abstract:
Lick Observatory has a long history of being at the forefront of science and technology. Lick Observatory persevered through the challenges of the COVID pandemic and the SCU Lightning Complex Fire, recovering to full operations and introducing new telescopes and instruments, such as PANOSETI and PEAS. I’ll give an overview of our research telescopes, and the exciting new technologies and research in progress, such as the search for extrasolar planets, extraterrestrial life, and my own research on quasars.

Bio:
Dr. Elinor Gates is a staff astronomer at Lick Observatory specializing in laser guide star adaptive optics and near infrared camera instrumentation and observations. She did her undergraduate studies, majoring in Mathematics and Astrophysics, at Mount Holyoke College. She received her Ph.D. in Physics/Astronomy from the University of New Mexico in 1998.
Before moving to Lick Observatory, she worked at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, IAU Minor Planet Center, the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, and the Air Force Phillips Laboratory. Dr. Gates’s current research interests are studying quasars and their host galaxies, discovering dust obscured quasars, and measuring the masses of quasar and AGN central black holes. Asteroid (2650) Elinor is named in Dr. Gates’s honor.

Topic: You can almost touch the stars

Speaker: Tom Field  

Description: Even if you wanted to touch a star, they’re all impossibly distant. Despite these great distances, astronomers have learned an enormous amount about stars. How? The most common method to study the stars is called spectroscopy, which is the science of analyzing the colorful rainbow spectrum produced by a prism-like device.

Until recently, spectroscopy was too expensive and too complicated for all but a handful of amateurs. Today, though, new tools make spectroscopy accessible to almost all of us. You no longer need a PhD, dark skies, long exposures, enormous aperture … or a big budget! With your current telescope and FITS camera (or a simple web cam or even a DSLR without a telescope) you can now easily study the stars yourself. Wouldn’t you like to detect the atmosphere on Neptune or the red shift of a quasar right from your own backyard?!

This talk, with lots of interesting examples, will show you what it’s all about and help you understand how spectroscopy is used in research. Even if you are an armchair astronomer, understanding this field will enhance your understanding of the things your read and the night sky. We’ll do a live Q&A after Tom’s 45-minute presentation.

Topic: A Cosmic Perspective: Searching for Aliens, Finding Ourselves
Speaker: Dr. Jill Tarter, SETI

Description:

Are we alone? Humans have been asking this question throughout history. We want to know where we came from, how we fit into the cosmos, and where we are going. We want to know whether there is life beyond the Earth and whether any of it is intelligent.
Since the middle of the twentieth century we have had tools that permit us to embark on a scientific exploration to try to answer this old question. We no longer have to ask the priests and philosophers what we should believe about extraterrestrial life; we can explore and discover what’s actually out there. Our tools are getting ever better. We have discovered extremophiles in the most unexpected places on this planet and we have discovered that there really are far more planets than stars out there. We haven’t yet found life beyond Earth, but there is a vast amount of potentially-habitable real estate to explore. The 21 st century will be the century in which we will find some answers to this old question; there are many paths we will investigate.
As we look up and look out, we are forced to see ourselves from a cosmic perspective; a perspective that shows us as all the same, all Earthlings. This perspective is fundamental to finding a way to sustain life on Earth for the long future.

Topic: Launching to Mars in 2020, a Primer on the NASA Perseverance Rover’s Mission to Return Samples and Search for Life on Mars.
Speaker: J.R. Skok, PhD, Planetary Scientist, SETI Institute

Description:
NASA is launching the Perseverance Rover to Mars in July 2020. This Rover will be the first in a three-step, $10 billion process to return samples from one of the most interesting places on Mars and provide our best chance of finding evidence of past life on the red planet. SETI Institute scientist, J.R. Skok, has been working on the Perseverance Rover Landing Site selection process since 2012 and will share the story about how NASA committed to a Sample Return Mission to Mars and how the scientific community decided where on the planet we should search for life. This talk will give you the deep background for the mission and help set the stage for understanding NASA’s efforts on Mars for the next few decades.

Speaker Bio:
John Roma (J.R.) Skok, Ph.D. is a planetary scientist working as Research Scientist at the SETI Institute. Dr. Skok’s life and work focus has been on the exploration of Mars and the development of a human future in space. Dr. Skok has been involved in Martian studies since 2000 and has been a member of NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter teams. Since 2006, he has been working to study landing sites for the Curiosity and Perseverance (Mars2020) Rovers and partnering with NASA to develop and test the next generation of Mars missions.

No description provided.

Astronomy Talk: Fantasy Flights to the Moon, Robert A. Garfinkle, author of Luna Cognita, A Comprehensive Observer's Handbook of the Known Moon.

This talk is in part based on the same section in my new major lunar observers handbook, Luna Cognita. The 3-volume set is scheduled to be published by Springer before the end of this year. Harrison Schmitt of Apollo 17 wrote the Introduction. The book is available on Amazon.

Bob Garfinkle writes astronomy books, articles, and book
reviews and is recognized as an independent scholar on the history
of astronomy and observing the night sky. His first book, Star-
Hopping: Your Visa to Viewing the Universe, was published in
1994 by Cambridge University Press. This best-selling book was
republished as both a hardback and paperback in 1997. He co-
authored another best-selling book Advanced Skywatching. This
book has been translated into German and Spanish. Bob’s 3-
volume lunar observers’ handbook, Luna Cognita, will soon be
published by Springer. In 1987, he was elected a Fellow of the
Royal Astronomical Society of London. In May 2018, Bob was
notified that the International Astronomical Union had renamed
Minor Planet 2000 EY70 to be 31862 Garfinkle in his honor.
Bob received his first BA in History and a second BA in
English Literature from Cal State-HAYWARD. He is a Past
President of the California Writers Club (2010-12) and Mayor of
Union City. Bob is also the Membership Chair of the Niles
Essanay Silent Film Museum in Fremont.

San Jose Astronomical Association. Dr. Elinor Gates on Adaptive Optics.