The Cornell Astronomical Society & Fuertes Observatory

Happy Friday! Today we will be having our last zoom lecture of the year so make sure to join us tonight to learn about CCAT-prime from Prof. Martha Haynes. See previous post for details.

Hi all, This Friday, December 11th at 7:30pm we will be having our last zoom lecture of the semester! It will be given by Prof. Martha Haynes, the Goldwin Smith Professor of Astronomy at Cornell, on "Cornell Reaches New Heights: Building a Telescope at 18,400 Feet. Description: Cornell University is the major partner in an international collaboration establishing the CCAT Observatory at 5800 meters (18,400 feet) elevation on Cerro Chajnantor in the Atacama region of northern... Chile that will host the Fred Young Submillimeter Telescope (FYST), named for Fred M. Young ’64, M.Engr. ’66, MBA ’66. The FYST will be a 6-meter diameter telescope designed to operate at submillimeter to millimeter wavelengths and capable of mapping the sky very rapidly and efficiently. This talk will give an overview of the observatory, the telescope and the forefront science to be done with it. You can learn more about CCAT-prime here: https://www.ccatobservatory.org Meeting ID: 931 5114 1571 Passcode: Fuertes

Hi all, This Friday, December 4th at 7:30pm we will be having our sixth zoom lecture of the semester. It will be given by Prof. Sean McWilliams, a professor at WVU, on The New Science of Gravitational Wave Astronomy. Some of the content will overlap with a previous lecture, for those who missed it. Our last lecture will be next week. Description: Prof. McWilliams will discuss the recent history of the birth of this new field of observational astronomy that leverages gravita...tional waves, which are an extraordinary prediction of Einstein’s theory that we are now regularly observing for the first time. He will highlight some of the most exciting discoveries that this field has made possible, and will describe our plans and hopes for the future of the field. Meeting ID: 931 5114 1571 Passcode: Fuertes

Hi all, This Friday, November 20th at 7:30pm we will be having our fifth zoom lecture of the semester. It will be given by Prof. Maura McLaughlin, a professor at WVU, on Pulsars:TimekeepersoftheCosmos. Description: Pulsarsare neutron stars that are formed in supernova explosions followingthecollapseofmassive evolved stars. These exotic objects are more massive thantheSun, and can spin over 700 times a second. They have extremely high magnetic fields - over a tril...lion timestheEarth's! These properties make them energetic sourcesofradio waves, which are beamed along their magnetic axes. We detect a "pulse"ofradio emission once every pulsar rotation period, in a similar manner to a lighthouse.Therotation periodsofpulsarscan be measured incredibly precisely, making these "cosmic clocks" excellent laboratories for fundamental physics experiments. In this lecture, Prof. McLaughlin will give an overviewofpulsarsand their properties, and describe several recent highlightsofpulsar research, including our search for gravitational waves fromthemost massive black holes intheuniverse. You can learn more about Prof. McLaughlin and her research here: https://physics.wvu.edu/faculty-and-staff//maura-mclaughlin Meeting ID: 931 5114 1571 Passcode: Fuertes

Hello everyone, On Friday October 2nd we will be having our second virtual lecture of our Fall 2020 lecture series! The talk will be given by Dr. Pisano from the West Virginia University Department of Physics and Astronomy. Summary: Gas, in the form of hydrogen, is the fuel to form stars in galaxies. If we compare the total amount of fuel with the rate at which galaxies form stars, then we see that star formation can only continue for a short time. If this process is to continue, galaxies must be refueling by obtaining gas from their surrounding. Prof. Pisano will speak about the current state of our searches for this missing gas. Meeting ID: 931 5114 1571 Passcode: Fuertes

Hi all, This Friday, October 16th at 7:30pm we will be having our last zoom lecture of October. It will be given by Prof. Zach Etienne, a professor at WVU, on When black holes and neutron stars collide: Simulating the most extreme events in the Universe. Description: Black holes and neutron stars emit tremendous amounts of energy when they collide, sending out into the Universe tiny ripples in gravity called gravitational waves. While direct detections of these gravitation...al waves have reshaped and refined our understanding of the cosmos, the science we gain from these observations is limited to our ability to computationally model them. After introducing how we believe black holes and neutron stars can collide, Prof. Etienne will describe some of his recent research into fitting black hole collision simulations on consumer-grade CPUs so that anyone with a desktop can participate in this importantscience. Meeting ID: 931 5114 1571 Passcode: Fuertes

Hello everyone, Today we will be having our first zoom lecture of the semester! The lecture will begin at 7:30pm and conclude with a short Q&A. We hope to see you there. https://cornell.zoom.us/j/94384080069... Meeting ID: 943 8408 0069 Passcode: Fuertes

Hi all, This Friday, October 9th at 7:30pm we will be having our third zoom lecture of the semester. It will be given by Dr. Cromartie, a postdoctoral fellow here at Cornell, on A Space-Based Physics Lab: Probing Neutron Star Physics & Gravitational Waves with Millisecond Pulsar Timing. Meeting ID: 931 5114 1571 Passcode: Fuertes... Description: Millisecond pulsars are rapidly rotating neutron stars ultra-dense remains of massive stars that give us the chance to explore fundamental physics in a space-based lab. In this talk, Dr.Cromartie will discuss these exotic objects and what we can learn from studying them with cutting edge radio and high-energy telescopes. From probing gravitational waves to elucidating the nuclear physics at play inside neutron stars, we will see how millisecond pulsars are among the Universe’s most powerful scientific tools.

Hi everyone! This Friday, September 18th at 7:30pm, we will be having our first Zoom lecture of the semester, given by Professor Duncan Lorimer of the West Virginia University Physics and Astronomy Department, on "Fast Radio Bursts: An Evolving Cosmic Mystery." A Zoom link will be posted on Friday as well as a reminder. Description: Fast Radio Bursts are millisecond-duration pulses of unknown origin that were discovered by an undergraduate student at West Virginia University ...in 2007. A decade on, with over 100 further bursts currently known, fast radio bursts remain enigmatic sources which parallel the early days of gamma-ray burst astronomy in the early 1970s. Prof. Lorimer will tell the story of their discovery, summarize what we know about them so far, describe the science opportunities these bursts present, and make predictions for what we might learn in the next decade. See more

Fuertes is open tonight from 8 pm to midnight! Unfortunately, it's not clear tonight, but you can look forward to tours of the building and the telescope!

Hello everyone! Fuertes will be open tonight from 8 pm to midnight. Since it's cloudy, we won't be able to do much observing, but come by for tours of the building and the telescope!

Come by Fuertes tonight any time between 8 pm and midnight! It's clear tonight, and we'll be pointing our telescopes at various objects at the sky, including the Orion Nebula, the Pleiades, and more! Featured in the picture is the lantern slide wall, that showcases some images taken at Fuertes!

Happy Valentine's Day! Fuertes will be open tonight from 8 pm to midnight, and it looks like it might be clear! If so, we will point our telescopes at the Orion Nebula, the Pleiades, the Leo cluster, the Moon, and more. See you there!

Happy Friday! Fuertes will be open tonight from 8 pm to midnight. The forecasts say it will be mostly cloudy, so we won't be able to observe anything. Come by for tours of the telescope, the museum, and the lantern slide wall! Featured in the picture is the Obsession, one of Fuertes' telescopes. See you there!

Hello everyone! Welcome back from break! Fuertes will be open tonight from 8 pm to midnight. The weather forecasts say it will be mostly cloudy, so we won't be able to observe much, but come by for tours!

Happy Winter break! Fuertes will be closed tonight because of the cloudy weather and a shortage of members.

Come by tonight to get the Fuertes gear you ordered! We will open at 8 pm, and close early because of finals week. The forecasts say it will be mostly cloudy, but you can look forward to tours of the building. See you there!

Fuertes will be open tonight from 8 pm to midnight. The forecasts say it will be cloudy, so we won't be able to do much observing. However, you can look forward to tours of the building! See you tonight!

Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving! Because of a shortage of members and a cloudy forecast, Fuertes will be closed tonight. We'll be open next week, and throughout finals week!