IYA PODCAST: The Celestial Alignment of 2012 December 6, 2009
Posted by jcconwell in Astronomy, IYA 2009, Podcast, planets.Tags: 2012, EIU, International Year of Astronomy, IYA 2009, planets, Podcast, Venus
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December 5th’s Podcast
is sponsored by the Department of Physics at
Eastern Illinois University:
The Celestial Alignment of 2012….but not the one in the movies
An astronomical alignment in 2012 heralds the second coming (in the 21st century) of a significant global event. Share the enthusiasm of adventurous astronomers from the past as you witness the heavens in motion, the means by which we learned the size of our solar system—a transit of Venus.
Tuesday November 10: “Other Star Other Planets” November 9, 2009
Posted by jcconwell in IYA 2009, planets.Tags: EIU, exoplanet, International Year of Astronomy, IYA 2009
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Poster by J Boshart
IYA Talk: “OTHER STARS, OTHER PLANETS” in one week November 3, 2009
Posted by jcconwell in Astronomy, IYA 2009, planets.Tags: EIU, exoplanet, International Year of Astronomy, IYA 2009
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“OTHER STARS, OTHER PLANETS” by Jim Kaler Ph.D. , on Tuesday November 10th, 7:00 PM , Phipps Lecture Hall , Physical Science Building. Celebrating the International Year of Astronomy
Take a tour of our Solar System. Then gaze into the heavens and wonder if it is replicated elsewhere. Are there planets in orbit around other stars? If so, how do we find them, what are they like? In this talk we will explore not just “extra-solar planets” (more than 400 found), but extra-solar planetary SYSTEMS, some of
which are beginning to look a lot like our own. Are there then “earths” among the crowd, and is there life? Let the stars themselves tell the story.
Other Stars, Other Planets
Jim Kaler Ph.D. Professor Emeritus of Astronomy at U of I
Past President Astronomical Society of the Pacific, author of over 120 research articles and 20 books,
Asteroid 1998 JK was named 17853 Kaler in honor of his outreach activities, and in 2008 he received the American Astronomical Society’s Education Prize.
Oblers’ Paradox Podcast! October 11, 2009
Posted by jcconwell in IYA 2009, Podcast.Tags: Eastern Illinois University, EIU, International Year of Astronomy, IYA 2009, Podcast
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The October 10 podcast at 365 days of Astronomy is sponsored by EIU Physics department. Learn about Obler’s paradox, its solution, and what that means about the life of stars.
http://365daysofastronomy.org/2009/10/10/october-10th-i-know-why-its-dark-at-night-do-you/
Astronomy Night at the White House October 8, 2009
Posted by jcconwell in Astronomy, IYA 2009.Tags: International Year of Astronomy, IYA 2009
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Last night, October 7, President Obama hosted the first star party at the white house.
Open House Tonight! September 25, 2009
Posted by jcconwell in IYA 2009, telescopes.Tags: Observatory, EIU, IYA 2009
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Rain or Shine! Come rotate the dome, and if the weather clears, which it looks like it will we will be looking through the 16″ telescope. There will also be other smaller telescopes and giant binoculars. So come on by.
EIU Observatory
We’ve also had a lot of astronomy events last week. Our thanks to Dr. Brian Field who packed the house with 88 people for last Thursday’s IYA talk, “When Stars Attack” . Last Friday we had the faculty appreciation picnic and afterword, we opeded up the dome and had 98 faculty and staff, with their families, look at the majesty of Jupiter.
Sunspots at last & Astronomy Club tonight! September 23, 2009
Posted by jcconwell in Astronomy, IYA 2009, Solar and Space weather.Tags: EIU, International Year of Astronomy, IYA 2009, Solar, Sunspots
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After many months of a dry season the first major group of sunspots for this solar cycle 24 have appeared around the bend. Now we can try our new solar filter for the 16 ” telescope….if only it would stop raining. To see more live pictures go to SOHO’s web site.
SUNSPOTs from SOHO 9/23/2009
Also telescope training tonight at teh Astronomy club. Room 2153 physical science building at 8:00 PM.
“WHEN STARS ATTACK” September 16, 2009
Posted by jcconwell in IYA 2009, supernova.Tags: EIU, International Year of Astronomy, IYA 2009, supernova
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THURSDAY, Sept 17 in the Phipps Lecture Hall at 7:00 P.M
Crab Supernova.
“When Stars Attack! In Search of Near-Earth Supernova Explosions,” a presentation by a University of Illinois faculty member, will continue Eastern Illinois University’s yearlong celebration of the International Year of Astronomy.
Brian Fields, associate professor of astronomy and physics at the U of I, is to speak at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 17, in the EIU Physical Science Building’s Phipps Lecture Hall. The event is free and open to the public.
In a supernova, a massive star is destroyed in an extremely powerful explosion, leaving behind a neutron star or a black hole. A shock wave carries the star’s ashes — newly created heavy elements — through space, stirring interstellar gas and, at times, spurring the formation of new stars. Fields will discuss how recent evidence suggests that radioactive iron atoms found deep in the Earth’s ocean are debris from a star exploding near Earth about 3 million years ago.
In addition to giving scientists a clue of what powers supernovae, the findings suggest that the explosion’s proximity to Earth might have had major results on the planet, Fields wrote. “An explosion so close to Earth was probably a ‘near-miss,’ which emitted intense and possibly harmful radiation,” Fields wrote on his Web site. “The resulting environmental damage may even have led to extinction of species which were the most vulnerable to this radiation.”
Fields’ presentation will be the first event of the fall semester in EIU’s yearlong celebration of the International Year of Astronomy. IYA is a worldwide commemoration of many historic astronomical achievements, including the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s first look through a telescope and the 40th anniversary of man’s first steps on the moon.
EIU’s IYA events are sponsored by the EIU College of Sciences and the EIU Department of Physics.
At the Tarbel Art Center: Art and Archeoastronomy ! September 7, 2009
Posted by jcconwell in Art, Astronomy, IYA 2009.Tags: Archeoastronomy, EIU, International Year of Astronomy, IYA 2009, Tarbel Art Center
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Summer solstice setting at an Anasazi Ruin (Credit: J Krebhiel)
We are lucky to be having a return visit from one of our IYA speakers from the spring. Professor Jim Krehbiel, chair of the Department of Fine Arts at Ohio Wesleyan University. This month EIU’s Tarbel Art Center will be showing an exhibit of Jim’s work. The digital art prints by Jim Krehbiel are based on his exploration and photography of the architecture, art and astronomy of the ancestral Pueblo peoples; presented in conjunction with the International Year of Astronomy; funded in part by the College of Arts & Humanities Excellence in Fine Arts Visiting Artist Fund. The opening artist lecture will be Tuesday, September 8th, at 7:00PM, in the Tarbel Atrium with refreshments.
New Podcast on Saturn’s Moon Enceladus August 28, 2009
Posted by jcconwell in Astronomy, IYA 2009, Podcast, moon, planets.Tags: EIU, Enceladus, International Year of Astronomy, IYA 2009, Podcast
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The podcast for today at “365 days of astronomy” is sponsored by the Physics department at EIU. This podcast covers the history, current understanding, and upcoming plans for Enceladus, and is moderated by David Seal, Cassini Mission Planner at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
The permanent link is at
