Colloquia Schedule Spring 2012
Colloquia are on Tuesdays (unless otherwise indicated) at 3:30 pm in RLM 15.216B
"Searching for Clues to the Black Hole-Galaxy Relationship Through Nearby AGN Surveys" University of Colorado at Boulder host: Shardha Jogee |
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Tinsley Visiting Scholar (Stars Group) "Heavy Element Nucleosynthesis in the Brightest Asymptotic Giant Branch Stars" Mt. Stromlo Observatory, Canberra, Australia host: Harriet Dinerstein |
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"Probing the Cosmic History of Star Formation in Galaxies with the Herschel Space Observatory and CCAT" University of Colorado at Boulder host: Shardha Jogee |
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"New Observational Insights into Cosmic Reionization" University of Cambridge, Kavli Institute for Cosmology, UK host: Milos Milosavljevic |
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"Early Star Forming Galaxies and Reionization" Steward Observatory, Arizona hosts: Sally Dodson-Robinson & Shardha Jogee |
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"Fueling Cosmic Star Formation: The Molecular Gas Mass Density of the Universe" California Institute of Technology hosts: Shardha Jogee & Milos Milosavljevic |
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"Direct Imaging of Exoplanets: Prospects for Comparative Exoplanetology" Direct detection, and direct spectroscopy in particular,
have great potential for advancing our understanding of extrasolar
planets. In combinations with other methods of planet detection,
direct imaging and spectroscopy will allow us to eventually: 1) fully
map out the architecture of typical planetary systems and 2) study the
physical properties of exoplanets (colors, temperatures, etc.) in
depth. I will discuss initial results from the ongoing 500 hour NICI
Planet-Finding Campaign using the novel Near-IR Coronagraphic Imager
(NICI) at the 8-m Gemini South telescope. NICI combines a number of
techniques to attenuate starlight and suppress superspeckles for
direct detection of exoplanets: 1) Lyot coronagraphic imaging, 2) dual
channel imaging for Spectral Differential Imaging (SDI) and 3)
operation in a fixed Cassegrain rotator mode for Angular Differential
Imaging (ADI). The combination of these techniques allows
unprecedented contrasts of dmag > 14 (median value) at 1" in H
band, sufficient to image giant planets (< 5 MJup) around stars in
nearby young moving groups and superjupiters (< 10 MJup) around stars
in the immediate solar neighborhood. I will also discuss the discovery
of a tight substellar companion to the young solar analog PZ Tel
(Biller et al. 2010), a member of the Beta Pic moving group observed as
part of the Gemini Near-Infrared Coronagraphic Imager Planet-Finding
Campaign. PZ Tel B is one of the few young substellar companions
directly imaged at orbital separations similar to those of giant
planets in our own solar system. Max-Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg, Germany host: Anita Cochran |
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"Understanding Galaxy Evolution in the Early Universe" University of Texas at Austin host: Shardha Jogee |
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"Giant Planets Caught at Formation" University of Hawaii, Institute for Astronomy host: Chris Sneden |
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"The Dark Art of Detecting and Characterizing Planets by Direct Imaging" NASA, Goddard Space Flight Center host: Chris Sneden |
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"Molecular spectroscopy of planet-forming regions: A quest to understand the diversity of planets and planetary systems" National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO) host: Sally Dodson-Robinson |
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Spring Break: 12 - 16 March. No Colloquium scheduled. |
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No talk scheduled. |
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"Dark Matter Properties from the Faintest Galaxies" Stanford University / Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology host: Karl Gebhardt |
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Antoinette de Vaucouleurs Medalist and Lecturer "The Carnegie Supernova and Hubble Constant Projects" Director, Observatories of the Carnegie Institution for Science host: Dan Jaffe |
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Antoinette de Vaucouleurs Medalist and Lecturer (visiting: 4/2-4/8) Public Talk: "A Journey of Discovery: Our Expanding Universe" Director, Observatories of the Carnegie Institution for Science host: Dan Jaffe |
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"The ABCs of Low-Mass Stars" Boston University host: TBD |
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"The History of Massive Galaxy Formation as a Cosmological Tool" University of Nottingham, UK host: Shardha Jogee |
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"Black Holes and Neutron Stars in the Local Universe" University of Warsaw and University of Texas, Brownsville host: Milos Milosavljevic |
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Tinsley Visiting Professor (visiting: 4/23-5/17) "The First Billion Years of our Universe" Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa, Italy host: Volker Bromm |
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Texas Cosmology Center Distinguished Visitor "Constraining Cosmology through the Growth of Structure: New Results from the South Pole Telescope" University of Chicago host: Eiichiro Komatsu |
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PhD Defense Presentation "Dark Matter Halos and Stellar Kinematics of Elliptical Galaxies" University of Texas at Austin |
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PhD Defense Presentation "An Experiment in Integrated, Guided-Inquiry Science Classes and Implications for Teaching Astronomy" University of Texas at Austin |
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PhD Defense Presentation "Tests of the Episodic Mass Accretion Model for Low-Mass Star Formation" University of Texas at Austin |
Visitors to the Department of Astronomy can find detailed information and maps on our Visiting Austin Page.
Please report omissions/corrections to: G. Orris at argus@astro.as.utexas.edu.
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