Colloquia Schedule Spring 2016

"Spirals, Gaps, and Cavities: Signposts of Planets in Protoplanetary Disks?"

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Robin (Ruobing) Dong

LBNL/Berkeley

host: Adam Kraus

"The Key Influence of AGB Stars on the Evolution and Global Properties of Galaxies"

Asymptotic Giant Branch stars play a variety of important roles in the Universe, from light-element enrichment of globular clusters to potential domination of a galaxy's dust production and total infrared luminosity. Consequently, they can significantly affect the evolution of their host galaxy and bias galaxy parameters derived from rest-frame near- to to mid-infrared observations. Despite their important role, AGB stars remain poorly modeled in part because of insufficient calibrating observations. I will discuss recent surveys of nearby galaxies that have significantly increased the sample of AGB stars across a wide span of ages and metallicities. In particular, I will focus on the survey of DUST in Nearby Galaxies with Spitzer (DUSTiNGS) and the Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasure (PHAT) program. The DUSTiNGS survey investigated the effect of metallicity on AGB dust production by imaging 50 resolvable dwarf galaxies at mid-IR wavelengths. The survey identified hundreds of 'extreme' dusty AGB stars - the first detected in very metal-poor environments and the first detected beyond the Magellanic Clouds. The PHAT program imaged a third of M31's disk from optical to near-IR wavelengths, resulting in a vast catalog of AGB stars at solar metallicity and known distance. I will summarize the results from both programs and review some future prospects for AGB work in nearby galaxies.

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Martha L. Boyer

NASA Goddard

host: Kristen McQuinn

"CAMPARE and Cal-Bridge: Two Synergistic Programs Forming a Successful New Model for Promoting Participation of Women and Underrepresented Minority Students in Astronomy"

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Alexander L. Rudolph

California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

host: William Cochran

"Exoplanet Atmospheres in High Resolution"

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Jayne L. Birkby

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

host: Daniel Jaffe

"The Dynamical Evolution of Young Stellar Complexes in the Milky Way"

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Alison I. Sills

McMaster University, Hamilton, ON

host: Natalie Gosnell

"The Evolution of Galaxy Structural Properties"

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Rachel Somerville

Rutgers University, Downsbrough Chair in Astrophysics

host: Shardha Jogee

"A PHAT New Measurement of the High-Mass Stellar IMF"

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Daniel Weisz

UC Berkeley/University of Washington

host: Michael Boylan-Kolchin

"The Role of Dwarf-Dwarf Galaxy Interactions in Galaxy Assembly"

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Sabrina Stierwalt

NRAO/University of Virginia

host: Kristen McQuinn

No colloquium scheduled. (Spring Break)

"Exploring the z~2.3 Cosmic Web with 3D Lyman-Alpha Forest Tomography"

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Khee-Gan Lee

UC Berkeley/LBNL

host: Caitlin Casey

"Understanding Galaxy Evolution with Massive Starburst Galaxies"

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Hai Fu

University of Iowa

host: Caitlin Casey

"Implications from the Detection of the Binary Black Hole Inspiral GW150914"

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Matthew Benacquista

University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

host: J. Craig Wheeler

Stellar Seminar talk Date/Time: Wed., 12 Noon: "Title: TBA"

David Yong (Stellar Tinsley Scholar)

Mt. Stromlo Observatory, Australia

host: Fritz Benedict

"The Calm Before the Storm: Exploring the Post Accretionary Doldrums Prior to the Late Heavy Bombardment"

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William F. Bottke (Planetary Tinsley Scholar)

Southwest Research Instutite, Boulder, Colorado

host: Mike Endl/Judit Ries

"Disk Galaxy Assembly Across Cosmic Time: Combining Magnitude-limited Survey with Gravitational Lensing"

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Tiantian Yuan (Exgal Tinsley Scholar)

Australia National University

host: Chao-Ling Hung

"The Discovery and Characterization of the Y Dwarfs"

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Michael Cushing

University of Toledo

host: Brendan Bowler

"What can Binaries tell us about Planet Formation?"

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Kaitlin M. Kratter (ISM Tinsley Scholar)

Steward Observatory, University of Arizona

host: Adam Kraus