2019
A&A Colloquium: Evan Kirby (Caltech): “Galactic Archaeology: Galaxy Formation and Nucleosynthesis”
3:30–4:30 pm ERC 161
Galactic archaeology is the use of the velocities and abundances of stars to learn about the history of galaxy formation and nucleosynthesis. I will tell three stories of galactic archaeology with three different groups of elements: alpha elements, the iron peak, and the r-process
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First, I will present detailed abundances of individual stars in the dwarf satellites, stellar streams, and smooth halo of M31. The evolution of [alpha/Fe] in these stars supports the hierarchical assembly paradigm of galaxy formation.
Second, I will present abundances of manganese and nickel in dwarf satellite galaxies of the Milky Way. These abundances are best explained by a strong contribution of sub-Chandrasekhar-mass Type Ia supernovae.
Third, I will present measurements of barium abundances in the globular cluster M15. The constancy of barium from the main sequence to the red giant branch indicates that the stars in M15 were born with their unusually large dispersion of r-process elements rather than acquiring it from an external source.
A&A Cookies, Coffee and Conversation
2:30–3:30 pm Hubble Lounge (ERC 501)
KICP seminar - Haibo Yu, University of California, Riverside
12:00–1:00 pm ERC 576
Haibo Yu, University of California, Riverside, “Self-Interacting Dark Matter”
KICP colloquium - Yonatan Kahn, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
3:30–4:30 pm ERC 161
Yonatan Kahn, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, “Axions from the Lab to the Cosmos”
Milky Way Discussion Group
2:00–3:00 pm ERC 419
Chalk Talk: Irina Zhuravleva (UChicago) & Greg Gilbert (UChicago)
12:00–1:00 pm ERC 501
Irina Zhuravleva (UChicago), “Viscosity in the bulk intergalactic plasma: does the gas in galaxy clusters flow like honey?“
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Greg Gilbert (UChicago), “The architectures of Kepler’s multiplanet systems”
A&A Cookies, Coffee and Conversation
2:30–3:30 pm Hubble Lounge (ERC 501)
KICP seminar - Sarah Wellons, Northwestern University
12:00–1:00 pm ERC 576
Sarah Wellons, Northwestern University, “Simulating Galaxy Formation in the Early Universe”
Broader Horizons: Ryan Keisler, Descartes Labs
5:00–6:00 pm ERC 401
Broader Horizons: Ryan Keisler, Descartes Labs
A&A Colloquium: John Grunsfeld (NASA): "Hubble, Chicago, and the Search for Life in the Universe"
3:30–4:30 pm ERC 161
The Hubble Space Telescope story has been a fascinating study in public policy, engineering, ethics, and science. The Hubble is perhaps the most productive scientific instrument ever created by humans. In May 2009, a team of astronauts flew to the Hubble Space Telescope on space shuttle Atlantis. On their 13-day mission and over the course of 5 spacewalks they completed an extreme makeover of the orbiting observatory. They installed the Wide Field Camera-3, the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph, repaired the Advanced Camera for Surveys and the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph, as well as a number of maintenance activities. These Hubble spacewalks are considered the most challenging and daring efforts ever of people working in space. This mission also carried a bit of the University of Chicago with it on board. Now, still going strong on orbit, the Hubble has a full complement of instruments capable of performing state-of-the-art observations from the near infra-red to the ultraviolet end of the spectrum. In this talk we will present a narrative of the adventure, and a look at what some of the scientific results may offer in the search for life beyond Earth in our Solar System.