Colloquia Schedule Spring 2017

One Minute Colloquium

Astronomy Department and McDonald Observatory Personnel

The University of Texas at Austin

Organizer: Brendan Bowler

The OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample Return Mission

abstract

Ed Beshore

The University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory

host: Anita Cochran

Observing the Evolution of Solids in Protoplanetary Disks

abstract

Sean Andrews

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

host: Adam Kraus

Theory Frontiers Meeting

Faculty Candidate Talks

Faculty Candidate Talks

Faculty Candidate Talks

Faculty Candidate Talks

Spring Break
No colloquium

External Review
No colloquium

PostDoc Colloquium (3 talks)

Effect of supersonic gas streams on the primordial star formation

Shingo Hirano, The University of Texas at Austin

IGRINS (the traveling spectrometer) and what it can tell us about YSOs

Kim Sokal, The University of Texas at Austin

A Faint Flux-Limited LAE Sample at z = 0.3

Isak Wold, The University of Texas at Austin

host: Mike Boylan-Kolchin

Debris Disks: Tracers of Planet Formation

abstract

Kate Su

The University of Arizona Steward Observatory

Harriet Dinerstein/Adam Kraus

Small Planets Transiting Nearby Small Stars

abstract

Zach Berta-Thompson

University of Colorado, Boulder

host: Cynthia Froning

The Grand Planetary Ensemble

The Solar System furnishes our most familiar planetary architecture: many planets, orbiting nearly coplanar to one another. However, a typical system of planets in the Milky Way orbits a much smaller M dwarf star. Small stars present a very different blueprint in key ways, compared to the conditions that nourished evolution of life on Earth. My research program combines detailed individual planetary studies with ensemble studies of hundreds-to-thousands of exoplanets. Single planets provide crucial case studies, but understanding planet occurrence and formation requires a wider lens. I will describe ongoing efforts to understand the links between planet formation from disks, orbital dynamics of planets, and the content and observability of planetary atmospheres. Studies of exoplanets with the James Webb Space Telescope comprise the clear next step toward understanding the hospitability of the Milky Way to life. Our success hinges upon leveraging the many thousands of planet discoveries in hand to determine how to use this precious and limited resource.

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Sarah Ballard

MIT Kavli Institute

host: Michael Endl

The Growth of the Most Massive Galaxies in the Highest Density Regions: Evidence for In-Situ Star Formation in SpARCS Brightest Cluster Galaxies

abstract

Tracy Webb

McGill University

host: Caitlin Casey

Planet Formation: the Direct Approach

abstract

Lisa Prato

Lowell Observatory

host: Fritz Benedict