Colloquia Schedule Fall 2016

Colloquia are on Tuesdays (unless otherwise indicated) at 3:30 pm in RLM 15.216B


Aug. 30	*Setting Stellar Chronometers: The PTF(+) Open Cluster Survey* A star's age is one of its most fundamental parameters. It is also, for most stars, notoriously difficult to measure. While we have known for 40 years of the existence of a relation between a star's age, rotation, and magnetic activity, observational limitations have hampered the assembly of uniform samples of rotation and activity measurements for stars spanning a wide range of ages and masses. We are still far from being able to describe fully the evolution of either rotation or activity for stars of a given mass, or from being able to use rotation or activity measurements to estimate accurately the ages of isolated field stars. Fortunately, recent technological advances have transformed our ability to characterize open clusters, which provide the optimal environment for obtaining robust age estimates for individual stars. I will describe results from our efforts to assemble a complete sample of rotation and activity measurements for low-mass stars in six open clusters ranging in age from 35 Myr to 2.5 Gyr, focusing on our recent work in the Hyades, NGC 752, the Pleiades, and Praesepe. Testing our data against theory will allow us to develop a better understanding of the age-rotation-activity relation for these stars from their arrival on the zero-age main sequence to when they are a significant fraction of the age of the Sun. close Marcel Agueros Columbia University host: Adam Kraus
Sep. 6	*Exploring Galaxy Formation in the Epoch of Reionisation* abstract Stephen Wilkins University of Sussex host: Steve Finkelstein
Sep. 13	*The Milky Way Laboratory* abstract Cara Battersby Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics host: Neal Evans
Sep. 20	No talk scheduled
Sep. 27	Spin and Magnetism in Cool Stars abstract Elisabeth Newton Massachusetts Institute of Technology Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research host: Andrew Mann
Oct. 4	A Story of Stellar Nurseries abstract Nia Imara Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics host: Caitlin Casey
Oct. 11	Network Cosmology: What can we learn from galaxy Facebook? Sungryong Hong Comet Update! Adam McKay The Fossil Record of Binary and Planetary Orbits Trent Dupuy UT Postdocs (Three talks)
Oct. 18	Formation and Compositions of Planet Interiors and Atmospheres: Discoveries from Kepler, K2, and beyond abstract Erik Petigura California Institute of Technology host: Brendan Bowler
Oct. 25	The Future of Exoplanet Science at McDonald Observatory abstract Paul Robertson Penn State University host: Greg Mace
Nov. 1	Building Supermassive Black Hole Binaries abstract Kelly Holley-Bockelmann Vanderbilt University host: Craig Wheeler/Eva Noyola
Nov. 8	Towards the Characterization of Potentially Habitable Planets with High Resolution Spectroscopy abstract Matteo Brogi University of Colorado Boulder host: Dan Jaffe
Nov. 15	Controlling Star Formation: From Clouds to Galaxies abstract Eve Ostriker Princeton University host: Volker Bromm
Nov. 22	Drilling the Chicxulub Impact Structure: Study of large impact formation and effects on life abstract Sean Gulick The University of Texas at Austin Institute for Geophysics host: Bill Cochran

Nov. 29	Dust-obscured star formation at the Cosmic Frontier : New observations from the Large Millimeter Telescope abstract Alexandra Pope University of Massachusetts Amherst host: Caitlin Casey
Dec. 6	Moving Near Field Cosmology Beyond the Local Group abstract David Sand Texas Tech University host: Kristy McQuinn