Author: Kristen Garofali

Astronomy on Tap Seattle: July 26th at Peddler Brewing

Published by Kristen Garofali

HIS MONTH we will be joined by Dr. Meredith Rawls*, who will speak about her research on “Weighing Stars with Starquakes” with a fantastic technique called asteroseismology. We’ll also hear from our venerable co-host Trevor Dorn-Wallenstein** on “An Unbeerlievable Tale”: how atoms come together in stars to make the most glorious structure in the low-redshift Universe: beer.

Please note that this event will begin at *8pm*, since the sun will set late!

This month we are excited to again be hosted by Peddler Brewing Company in their large outdoor beer garden. Arrive early to get good seats, or bring your own lawn chairs if you’d like to to make your own front-row seating! There will be a food truck at the event, but outside food is also welcome.

Each FREE Astronomy on Tap event features accessible, engaging science presentations on topics ranging from planets to black holes to the beginning of the Universe. Most events have games and prizes to test and reward your new-found knowledge! There is always lots of time to ask questions and interact with the presenters and other scientists who inevitably stick around for the beer.

Be sure to follow us on Twitter and Facebook to get updates on future events!



 

Speaker Bios
————————–———————-
*Dr. Meredith Rawls
Meredith Rawls is a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Astronomy at the University of Washington. She writes software to prepare for the coming onslaught of data from the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope and studies weird binary stars. She holds degrees in physics and astronomy from Harvey Mudd College, San Diego State University, and New Mexico State University. When she’s not science-ing or telling people all about it, she plays viola, volunteers at summer camp, and advocates for more equity and less light pollution. She really hopes you go see the solar eclipse with a plan to arrive in the path of totality at least one day ahead of time.

**Trevor Dorn-Wallenstein
Trevor Dorn-Wallenstein is a second-year graduate student in the University of Washington Astronomy department. When he isn’t thinking about beer, Trevor thinks about how massive stars live, evolve, and die, and the spectacular things they do in the process. Recently, Trevor has begun helping to organize Astronomy on Tap SEA, thus merging his love for beer and excitement about astronomy. If he isn’t doing astronomy, he’s probably baking cookies, eating fire, or playing drums in Night Lunch.

Astronomy on Tap Seattle: June 28th at Peddler Brewing

Published by Kristen Garofali

THIS MONTH we will be joined by Dr. Melissa Graham*, who will speak about her research as “Coroner For The Stars,” working to unravel the mysteries of supernovae. We’ll also hear from our venerable co-host Brett Morris* on “The Weirdest Star in the Universe Gets Weirder”, an update on Tabetha Boyajian’s star (KIC 8462852) in light of its recent misbehavior.

Please note that this event will begin at *8pm*, since the sun will set late!

This month we are excited to again be hosted by Peddler Brewing Company in their large beer garden. Bring lawn chairs if you’d like to to make your own front-row seating! There will be a food truck at the event, but outside food is also welcome.

Each FREE Astronomy on Tap event features accessible, engaging science presentations on topics ranging from planets to black holes to the beginning of the Universe. Most events have games and prizes to test and reward your new-found knowledge! There is always lots of time to ask questions and interact with the presenters and other scientists who inevitably stick around for the beer.

Be sure to follow us on Twitter and Facebook to get updates on future events!



 

Speaker Bios
————-
Brett Morris
Bio: Brett is a fourth year PhD candidate in the dual-title Astronomy and Astrobiology Program at the University of Washington and co-host of Astronomy on Tap. His research interests sit at the intersection characterizing exoplanets and their host stars. Brett works with ground and space-based observations to measure the compositions of exoplanet atmospheres, planet masses, and properties of planet-hosting stars.

Dr. Melissa Graham
Bio: Dr. Graham currently work as an observational astrophysicist in the Astronomy Department at the University of Washington. Her main research focus is supernovae, especially thermonuclear explosions of carbon-oxygen white dwarf stars. Supernovae are stellar explosions so energetic they can produce the light of a billion suns. Supernovae exhibit a variety of characteristics, and most of them are in galaxies so far away that even when pre-supernova images exist, the original star cannot be resolved. It is important to understand how stars explode because supernovae release the heavy elements fused in the star’s interior so they can form metal-enriched objects like planets, and also because supernovae are used as “standard candles” for cosmological studies of dark energy. In her talk, Dr. Graham will describe how her observations with a variety of the world’s prominent astronomical facilities such as the Hubble Space Telescope are helping to untangle the enigma of how different types of stars create the variety of supernovae we find in the Universe, and illustrate the mysteries that remain to be resolved by future facilities such as the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope.

Astronomy on Tap Seattle: May 24th at Peddler Brewing

Published by Kristen Garofali

THIS MONTH we will be joined by Professor Sarah Tuttle* who will illuminate: “Dark Energy, Dark Matter, and Otters – The universe in three parts,” describing among other things her lead role in designing and building the instruments that allow the HETDEX project to measure dark energy. We’ll also be joined by the legendary Portlander Dr. Ethan Siegel** who will foretell “The Fate of the Universe: After 13.8 billion years, where is everything headed?”.

This month we are excited to again be hosted by Peddler Brewing Company in their large beer garden. Bring lawn chairs if you’d like to to make your own front-row seating! There will be a food truck at the event, but outside food is also welcome.

Each FREE Astronomy on Tap event features accessible, engaging science presentations on topics ranging from planets to black holes to the beginning of the Universe. Most events have games and prizes to test and reward your new-found knowledge! There is always lots of time to ask questions and interact with the presenters and other scientists who inevitably stick around for the beer.

Be sure to follow us on Twitter and Facebook to get updates on future events!



 

Speaker Bios
————-

* Professor Sarah Tuttle (bio from her webpage)
Sarah Tuttle is primarily an instrumental astrophysicist who dabbles in observations of nearby galaxies. Her work is focused on novel approaches to observing faint and diffuse matter, as well as techniques supporting integral field spectroscopy. Her past work involved using UV spectroscopy to try and detect the intergalactic medium. She was also the instrument scientist for VIRUS – a massively replicated spectrograph currently coming online at McDonald Observatory to detect dark energy at intermediate redshifts. Professor Tuttle’s current interests include novel materials for astronomical gratings and filters, as well as approaches to bring polarimetry (and spectropolarimetry) to small telescopes.

** Dr. Ethan Siegel
Ethan was born in New York, majored in three different things as an undergrad, and got his Ph.D. in theoretical physics. Yes, you indecisive young people, there is hope. After postdoctoral research focusing on dark matter and cosmic structure formation, he became a physics professor and a professional science communicator. The communication was more fun, so now he writes and speaks full-time, including for Forbes, and NASA. His blog, Starts With A Bang, was voted the #1 science blog on the internet by the Institute of Physics, and, separately, by Real Clear Science. His first book, Beyond The Galaxy, is available today (and yes, he has copies to sign), and his second, Treknology, about the real-life science behind the technologies envisioned by Star Trek, comes out in October.

Astronomy on Tap Seattle: April 26th at Peddler Brewing Co.

Published by Kristen Garofali

THIS MONTH we will be joined by Dr. Bob Abel* who will answer the question “Where are the Martians?” as he delves into the history and current state of our nearby neighbor, Mars, and examines the possibilities of life in its past, present, and future. We will also be joined by University of Victoria PhD student Benjamin Gerard** who will discuss his research on “Imaging Worlds Beyond Our Solar System.” Come prepared to see pictures of other worlds, and learn how we use the most powerful telescopes and specially designed optical systems to distinguish an exoplanet from the overwhelming glare of its host star.

*Dr. Bob Abel is a Professor of Applied Physics at Olympic College and a Collaborator with the University of Washington’s Large Synoptic Survey Telescope Group. He holds a Ph.D. and M.S. in Atmospheric Sciences (Space Physics) from UCLA and an M.S. in Aeronautics and Astronautics (Fluid Mechanics) from the UW.

**Benjamin Gerard is a PhD student in Physics and Astronomy at the University of Victoria in British Columbia. He did his Bachelors in Physics and Astronomy at the University of Colorado at Boulder and is originally from San Francisco, California. His research, supervised by Dr. Christian Marois, focuses on instrumentation techniques and image processing algorithms to image extrasolar planets.

This month we are excited to again be hosted by Peddler Brewing Company in their large beer garden. Bring lawn chairs if you’d like to to make your own front-row seating! There will be a food truck at the event, but outside food is also welcome.

Each FREE Astronomy on Tap event features accessible, engaging science presentations on topics ranging from planets to black holes to the beginning of the Universe. Most events have games and prizes to test and reward your new-found knowledge! There is always lots of time to ask questions and interact with the presenters and other scientists who inevitably stick around for the beer.

Be sure to follow us on Twitter and Facebook to get updates on future events!



 

 

Astronomy on Tap Seattle 2 year Anniversary: March 24th

Published by Kristen Garofali

Join us on March 24th for AoT Seattle’s 2 year anniversary! To celebrate our second trip around the Sun we’ll be hearing from speakers from past events on updates to all the astronomy we’ve covered in the last year. Come hear from LIGO-Hanford control systems engineer Dr. Jeff Kissel on gravitational waves, UW Professor Emily Levesque on keeping stars weird, graduate student Jacob Lustig-Yaeger on exoplanet discoveries galore, UW research scientist Dr. David Reiss on the science to come from the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, graduate student Trevor Dorn-Wallenstein on when a star is not really a star, and more! To commemorate our 2nd birthday we’ll have special trivia and prizes.

As always, we are excited to be hosted by Peddler Brewing Company in their large beer garden. Bring lawn chairs if you’d like to to make your own front-row seating! There will be a food truck at the event, but outside food is also welcome.

Each FREE Astronomy on Tap event features accessible, engaging science presentations on topics ranging from planets to black holes to the beginning of the Universe. Most events have games and prizes to test and reward your new-found knowledge! There is always lots of time to ask questions and interact with the presenters and other scientists who inevitably stick around for the beer.

Be sure to follow us on Twitter and Facebook to get updates on future events!



 

Astronomy on Tap Seattle: Feb 22, 2017 at Peddler Brewing Co.

Published by Kristen Garofali

THIS MONTH Universe Sandbox² creator Dan Dixon** joins us to answer the question “What If You Could Simulate the Universe?” by providing an introductory look at Universe Sandbox ², an accessible space simulator application that allows you to ask fantastical what-if questions and see accurate and realistic results in real-time. It merges real-time gravity, climate, collision, and physical interactions to reveal the beauty of our universe and the fragility of our planet. In addition, we will hear from UW professor in astronomy and astrobiology Dr. Rory Barnes on “Habitability of Planets in Complicated Systems.”

**Dan Dixon is the creator and director of Universe Sandbox ². Dan began work on the original Universe Sandbox in 2006, and continues to work on the latest version, Universe Sandbox ², with the help of a growing team of talented developers, artists, and scientists.

This month we are excited to again be hosted by Peddler Brewing Company in their large beer garden. Bring lawn chairs if you’d like to to make your own front-row seating! There will be a food truck at the event, but outside food is also welcome.

Each FREE Astronomy on Tap event features accessible, engaging science presentations on topics ranging from planets to black holes to the beginning of the Universe. Most events have games and prizes to test and reward your new-found knowledge! There is always lots of time to ask questions and interact with the presenters and other scientists who inevitably stick around for the beer.

Be sure to follow us on Twitter and Facebook to get updates on future events!



 

 

 

Astronomy on Tap Seattle: Jan 27th at Peddler Brewing Co

Published by Kristen Garofali

On Friday, January 27 AoT Seattle will be taken over by local spaceflight company Blue Origin, at Peddler Brewing Company in Ballard!

Former NASA astronaut Dr. Nicholas Patrick will speak on “The New Shepard Astronaut Experience” on Blue Origin’s crewed spaceflight vehicles; and Sarah Knights and Dan Kuchan speak on “Blue Origin: Earth, in all its beauty, is just our starting place” on building the reusable hardware needed to make Blue Origin’s mission to have millions of people living and working in space a reality. Detailed speaker bios are given below the cut*.

In anticipation of a large number of questions for our speakers, we ask you to please submit questions you may have for them in advance to events@aotseattle.org.

As always there will be plenty of beer, and trivia, and at this event we will have special prizes generously furnished by Blue Origin. Don‘t miss it!

 

Be sure to follow us on Twitter and Facebook to get updates on future events!


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*Detailed Speaker Bios:

Blue Origin: Earth, in all its beauty, is just our starting place.
Our mission is to have millions of people living and working in space. We are building the reusable hardware to make that vision a reality.

Sarah Knights fell in love with physics through explosions and thought experiments in her high school classes. At the University of Hawaii she found a particular passion for star formation and the protoplanetary environment. She was an intern at the world’s largest binoculars (W.M. Keck Observatory’s Interferometer) and then worked for several years at Gemini Observatory, working with mid-infrared instrumentation. Upon discovering that many people believe the Moon is not visible in the daytime, she decided to dedicate her life to teaching people science. For most of the last decade you could find her at the Museum of Flight managing the educational outreach programs offered there, before finding the opportunity of a lifetime at Blue Origin. She is now on the Outreach team at Blue, coordinating the internship program and other student engagement. She hopes to someday become the first Blue Origin Outreach Coordinator in space.

Dan Kuchan has been interested in engineering ever since making custom airplanes in Microsoft Flight Simulator as a child. After graduating from Saint Louis University with a BS in aerospace engineering, he began his engineering career at Midcoast Aviation, a company which completes corporate jets. Three years later he returned to school for an MBA. Following a year at Jet Aviation as a design engineer, he was hired by Blue Origin. While at Blue he has taken a unique career path. Starting in 2013 as a systems engineer specializing in mass properties, he has since worked for nearly every product group in the company, holding positions in manufacturing, avionics, fluid systems, structures, and mechanical systems. This cross-training and experience led him to his current position as a Product Development Team lead engineer on the New Glenn program.

The New Shepard Astronaut Experience
Former NASA astronaut Dr. Nicholas Patrick will discuss what the future holds for Blue Origin’s New Shepard astronauts.

Dr. Nicholas Patrick is the Human Integration Architect at Blue Origin, where he ensures that spacecraft requirements and designs are human centered. While at NASA, he flew on two shuttle missions to the International Space Station during its construction: STS-116 and STS-130. On STS-130, he performed three spacewalks to attach and activate the station’s life support module, Tranquility, and its Cupola observation windows.

Dr. Patrick was born and educated in the UK. He received a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Cambridge University and–after moving to the US–a PhD in mechanical engineering from MIT. He then worked for Boeing Commercial Airplanes in Everett on flight deck design. He is an avid pilot and flight instructor, with over 2,500 hours in airplanes and helicopters.

Astronomy on Tap Seattle: Nov 16th at Peddler Brewing Co

Published by Kristen Garofali

THIS MONTH will feature our next installment of Cosmos on Tap, where we air an episode of the original Cosmos: A Personal Voyage series with Professor Carl Sagan. Episode 5 “Blues for a Red Planet” is all about the planet Mars. We will have trivia and bingo based on the episode, and short talks by local astronomers with updates to fill you in on the new discoveries since the episode first aired in 1980.

Each FREE Astronomy on Tap event features accessible, engaging science presentations on topics ranging from planets to black holes to the beginning of the Universe. Most events have games and prizes to test and reward your new-found knowledge! There is always lots of time to ask questions and interact with the presenters and other scientists who inevitably stick around for the beer.

Originally founded in NYC, this is our 21st event in Seattle presented by graduate students in astronomy at the University of Washington. We’re thrilled to be hosted by Ballard’s own Peddler Brewing Company, who will have a variety of beers (and plenty of astronomy) on tap.

Be sure to follow us on Twitter and Facebook to get updates on future events!



Astronomy on Tap Seattle: Oct. 28th at Peddler Brewing Co

Published by Kristen Garofali

THIS MONTH Astronomy on Tap and TEDx Seattle partner to present a night dedicated to the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST)! LSST, currently under construction, will image and catalogue tens of billions of galaxies and stars and find more than 3 million exploding stars and 6 million asteroids and comets over the next decade, effectively creating a 10 year, multi-color, ultra high-resolution movie of the night sky. Join us to hear LSST research scientists Dr. John Parejko and Dr. David Reiss (bios below) from the University of Washington talk about everything from the LSST telescope and camera design, to the software challenges associated with processing such a huge data set, to the amazing science to be gained from mining the sky in 4-D.

David Reiss obtained his PhD in Astronomy at the UW where he found dozens of supernovae, and helped discover that 75% of the universe is composed of “dark energy.” Since then, he moonlighted as a programmer and computational biologist, before joining the LSST team where he is developing algorithms and tools which will enable discovery of 1,000s of asteroids and supernovae per night with the LSST.

John Parejko started mining astronomical data in grad school at Drexel University working on the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), studying galaxies and the massive black holes that love them.  He comes to UW from Yale University, where he did precision cosmology measurements and developed operations software for the SDSS telescope. As part of LSST, John is working on software to precisely co-align astronomical images, to cut down on the number of bogus detections.

Each FREE Astronomy on Tap event features accessible, engaging science presentations on topics ranging from planets to black holes to the beginning of the Universe. Most events have games and prizes to test and reward your new-found knowledge! There is always lots of time to ask questions and interact with the presenters and other scientists who inevitably stick around for the beer.

Originally founded in NYC, this is our 19th month in Seattle presented by graduate students in astronomy at the University of Washington. We’re thrilled to be hosted by Ballard’s own Peddler Brewing Company who will have a variety of beers (and plenty of astronomy) on tap.

Be sure to follow us on Twitter and Facebook to get updates on future events!

 



 

 

Astronomy on Tap Seattle: September 28th at Optimism Brewing Co

Published by Kristen Garofali

THIS MONTH we are very proud to be hosting two members of the illustrious LIGO team, who work with the laser interferometer in eastern Washington that contributed to the discovery of gravitational waves! This month’s talks are:

“Gravitational Wave Astronomy Begins!”
With Jeff Kissel

Jeff is the Control Systems Engineer at the LIGO Hanford Observatory. He got his undergrad in Astrophysics from Penn State in 2005, his Ph. D. in Physics from Louisiana State University in 2010 working on the LIGO Livingston Observatory, and did Post-Doctoral Research at MIT from 2010 to 2013 before moving out to the Tri-Cities, WA. He’s been working with LIGO for 13 years, and is excited to talk to you about how all of LIGO’s hard is finally beginning to pay off!

“Observing the Dark and Violent Universe with LIGO”
With Jenne Driggers

Jenne graduated from the University of Washington with a BS in Physics in 2008. Her first encounter with the Laser Interferometer Gravitational wave Observatory (LIGO) was as a summer undergraduate research fellow at the California Institute of Technology in 2006. Jenne returned to Caltech for her PhD in Physics, graduating in 2015. She is currently a Caltech postdoctoral scholar stationed at the LIGO Hanford Observatory where she continues to work on improving the sensitivity of the interferometers.

Each FREE Astronomy on Tap event features accessible, engaging science presentations on topics ranging from planets to black holes to the beginning of the Universe. Most events have games and prizes to test and reward your new-found knowledge! There is always lots of time to ask questions and interact with the presenters and other scientists who inevitably stick around for the beer.

Originally founded in NYC, this is our 18th month in Seattle presented by graduate students in astronomy at the University of Washington. We’re thrilled to be hosted by Optimism Brewing Company in Capitol Hill who will have a variety of beers (and plenty of astronomy) on tap.

 

Be sure to follow us on Twitter and Facebook to get updates on future events!