Hello all! This Saturday at 1 p.m. will be the 19th annual
Board of Visitors Great Lecture in Astronomy. It will be
presented by Professor Karl Gebhardt in the Avaya Auditorium
in the ACES building on the University of Texas Campus.
The title of the talk is: "Walk Softly When Exploring the Dark
Side of the Universe: Black Holes, Dark Matter and Dark Energy"

More information, including an abstract for the talk, is
available at: http://www.as.utexas.edu/lectures/gebhardt_bov.html

Hope some of you can make it!

Lara

Before I get more emails, there is a link to a map for the ACES
building on the abstract website, but you might have missed the
link (it was small and under the lecture information at the top
of the page). Here's the link to the building location map:
http://www.utexas.edu/maps/main/buildings/ace.html

And here is a link to the visitor parking map (PDF):
http://www.utexas.edu/parking/maps/visitor/visitor-map.pdf

You might be able to find street parking (but read the
permit signs carefully) and there are two parking garages
fairly close to the ACES building - SJG and SWG, both colored
burnt orange on the map.

Lara

Hello all!

I just wanted to remind everyone that there will be no public
viewing next week (on March 17, 19 and 20) due to spring
break. Also, because of the time change this weekend, when
the star parties resume the week after next, all of the times
will change to 8:30 to 10:30 p.m.

Cheers,
Lara Eakins
UT Astronomy

Hello all! Just wanted to remind everyone that we've reached the
end of another semester, so it's time for a little break in the
star party schedule.

We'll be starting back up in early June. I'll post the schedule when
everything is set.

Clear skies,
Lara

Hello all!

Here are the dates and times for the summer public viewing nights
on the UT campus telescopes.

Friday and Saturday nights at Painter Hall -
June 4 to August 14
9:00 to 10:30 p.m.

Wednesday nights at Robert Lee Moore Hall -
June 9 to August 4
9:00 to 10:30 p.m.

As always, information is available on our website:
http://outreach.as.utexas.edu/

Clear skies,
Lara

Hello all!

Sorry I didn't send out a reminder last week about the final Wednesday
night star party - last week was the final one so we have time to take the
mirrors out and get them all nice and clean for the fall semester!
This week is the final week for the Painter Hall Telescope viewing.

Fall semester viewing will start up again in a few weeks. We will be
updating the website with the schedule in a week or so (and I'll send
out an email): http://outreach.as.utexas.edu/public/viewing.html

Clear skies,
Lara Eakins
UT Astronomy

Hello all!

Just a note that the public viewing nights on our telescopes will
be starting up again this week.

The telescope at RLM will be open on Wednesdays and the telescope
at Painter will be open on Fridays and Saturdays. All will be from
8 to 10 p.m. until we go back to standard time, and then they will
switch to 7 to 9 p.m. There will be no public viewing the week of
Thanksgiving.

Details and maps are available on our website here:
http://outreach.as.utexas.edu/public/viewing.html

And just a reminder, the Saturday nights when UT has a
home football game, there will be no viewing at Painter Hall.
We don't know the start times for most of the home games
right now, but the game on Sept. 11 is a 6 p.m. start so
we know there won't be any star party that night. I'll try to
send out messages when we get the time for the remaining
home games.

Clear skies,
Lara Eakins
UT Astronomy

Here's a lecture by Steven Weinberg that might be of some interest
to you all. I apologize for not sending out the announcement about
his lecture from this Wednesday, but at least I remembered this one!

Cheers,
Lara

-------- Original Message --------


"Hopes and Fears for Big Science"
Dr. Steven Weinberg, Departments of Physics and Astronomy, The University of
Texas at Austin


WHAT: The Austin Forum on Science, Technology & Society

WHEN: Tuesday, October 5 at 6:30pm / Get there early! Networking reception
starts at 5:45pm

WHERE: AT&T Conference Center Amphitheater (Room 204) / 1900 University Ave.

COST: Free and open to the public

PARKING: Free parking is available on the street or in the surface lot at MLK
and Congress after 5:30pm-about two blocks to the AT&T Conference Center. Garage
parking is available at the AT&T Conference Center for $7 (go to Gabriel's to
purchase your $7 voucher). Bicycle racks are located at the AT&T garage entrance
on 20th Street; motorcycle parking is available by the Harry Ransom Center on
21st Street.

RSVP: info@...

WEBSITE: www.austinforum.org

***

Steven Weinberg is a member of the Physics and Astronomy Departments at The
University of Texas at Austin. His research on elementary particles and
cosmology has been honored with numerous prizes and awards, including in 1979
the Nobel Prize in Physics and in 1991 the National Medal of Science. In 2004,
he received the Benjamin Franklin Medal of the American Philosophical Society
with a citation that said he is "considered by many to be the preeminent
theoretical physicist alive in the world today."

His articles for general readers appear from time to time in The New York
Review, the Times Literary Supplement of London, and other periodicals, and have
been reprinted in two collections, Facing Up and, this year, Lake Views. He is
currently a senior advisor to the JASON group of defense consultants and he has
testified several times before committees of Congress on matters of science or
security policy. He has also served as consultant at the U.S. Arms Control and
Disarmament Agency, President of the Philosophical Society of Texas, and member
of the Board of Editors of Daedalus magazine, the Council of Scholars of the
Library of Congress, and many other boards and committees.

He received his A. B. degree from Cornell, studied for a year at the Niels Bohr
Institute in Copenhagen, and received his Ph.D. from Princeton. He also holds
honorary doctoral degrees from 16 other universities. He taught at Columbia,
Berkeley, M.I.T., and Harvard, where he was Higgins Professor of Physics, before
coming to Texas in 1982.


Faith Singer-Villalobos
Public Relations and Communications
Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC)
Website: www.tacc.utexas.edu
Email: faith@...
Phone: 512.232.5771

Hello all! Just a reminder that the star party times have now changed to
7 to 9 p.m. for the remainder of the semester.

Cheers,
Lara Eakins
UT Astronomy Dept.

Hello all!

I just wanted to send out a reminder that there will be no viewing this week on
the UT campus telescopes due to the Thanksgiving holiday. Also, next week will
be the final star parties for the fall semester. Spring viewing will start in
late January. I'll send out the schedule as soon as we have one set!

Cheers,
Lara Eakins
UT Astronomy Dept.

Hello all!

The public viewing nights are now finished for this semester and will resume in
late January. I'll send out an email early in 2011 with the dates and times for
the spring semester.

I hope everyone has a great holiday season!

Clear skies,
Lara Eakins
UT Astronomy Department

Hello all,

The public viewing nights on UT telescopes start this week!
Here's the schedule for the Spring 2011 semester:

Wednesday nights at Robert Lee Moore Hall:

January 26 to March 9 - 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.

No viewing March 16

March 23 to May 4 - 8:30 to 10:30 p.m.



Fridays and Saturdays at Painter Hall:

January 28 to March 12 - 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.

No viewing March 18 and 19

March 25 to May 7 - 8:30 to 10:30 p.m.



As always, maps and parking information are available on the website:
http://outreach.as.utexas.edu/public/viewing.html

Weather cancellation will be on the 232-4265 line when star parties are
cancelled.
We'll update the message 30-60 minutes before the start time on nights when
we cancel a viewing.

Cheers,
Lara Eakins
UT Astronomy Department

Hello all!

This Saturday the annual Board of Visitors Great Lecture in Astronomy will be
presented
by  Professor Dan Jaffe in the Avaya Auditorium (2.302) in the ACES building on
the
University of Texas Campus at 1 p.m.

The talk is titled: "Exploring Newly Discovered Worlds with the Giant Magellan
Telescope"

ABSTRACT:
Less than two decades ago, mankind knew about only one planetary
system: our own. Since the discovery of the first extrasolar planets
in 1995, a furious effort by the astronomical community has led to
the discovery of hundreds of extrasolar planets. Many of these systems
look very different from our solar system, having massive planets
close to the parent stars while ours are far from the Sun, and/or
planets in highly eccentric orbits, where most orbits in the Solar
System are quite circular. The high contrast between the brightness
of the parent stars and the faintness of the planets makes it very
hard to obtain concrete information about the planets themselves: How
and when do they form? How massive and how dense are they? How hot
are they? Do they have atmospheres and what are these atmospheres
made of? A new generation of large ground-based telescopes, including
the Giant Magellan Telescope, in which UT Austin and Texas A&M are
partners, will afford us the first direct measurements that can address
all of these questions for exoplanets approaching the size and mass of
planets like the Earth but residing in star systems many light years
away. GMT in particular, with its superb high-contrast imaging and
its Innovative capabilities for infrared spectroscopy, will be able
to move us from an era of detection to one of real exploration.
I will discuss the exciting future of extrasolar-planet studies
and how it builds on the solid foundation of the current exoplanet
research that forms an important part of the current program in
Texas.



Here's the link to the building location map:
http://www.utexas.edu/maps/main/buildings/ace.html

And here is a link to the visitor parking map (PDF):
http://www.utexas.edu/parking/maps/visitor/visitor-map.pdf

You might be able to find street parking (but read the permit and meter
signs carefully) and there are two parking garages fairly close to the
ACES building - SJG and SWG, both colored burnt orange on the map.

I hope some of you can make it!

Lara Eakins
UT Astronomy

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Hello all!

I just wanted to remind everyone that there will be no public
viewing next week (on March 16, 18 and 19) due to spring
break. Also, because of the time change this weekend, when
the star parties resume the week after next, all of the times
will change to 8:30 to 10:30 p.m.

Clear skies,
Lara Eakins
UT Astronomy

http://outreach.as.utexas.edu/public/viewing.html

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Hello all,

Sorry for the late notice on this one, but I just found out about it myself!
Here's a map to the building and parking:
http://outreach.as.utexas.edu/bigmap.jpg


March 24, 2011 · RLM 4.102 · 7:00 PM

Exploding Stars!

Professor Lars Bildsten
Tinsley Visiting Professor
Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics & Department of Physics
University of California, Santa Barbara
abstract
Stars explode once every second in the Universe, often becoming brighter than
their home galaxies. Though most remain undiscovered by astronomers, recently
enhanced capabilities to scan the skies now detect over 10 per day. This has
revealed new modes of explosions, some much brighter than we expect, and some
much fainter. After describing the common outcomes, I will focus on the exciting
new discoveries and their novel theoretical interpretations.



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hello all!

The Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum will be hosting Astronomy Night on
Monday April 11, including a public lecture and the Austin Planetarium's Mobile
Planetarium. More information is available here:
http://www.thestoryoftexas.com/education/adults.html#astronomy_night

Regards,
Lara Eakins
UT Astronomy Department

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hello all!

The spring semester public viewing nights on the UT campus telescope are now
finished.
We'll be starting up the summer viewing in early June. I'll send out an email
when the schedule
is set, and will post it here as well:
http://outreach.as.utexas.edu/public/viewing.html

Cheers,
Lara Eakins
UT Astronomy

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hello all!

Summer public viewing on the UT campus telescopes starts
next week! The times will be from 9:00 to 10:30 p.m at both
telescopes. Wednesday nights are at the 16-inch reflector at
RLM and Friday and Saturday nights are at the 9-inch refractor
at Painter Hall.

Additional information, including maps and parking are available
at our website:
http://outreach.as.utexas.edu/public/viewing.html

Clear skies!
Lara

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Hello all!

Just a reminder that this is the final week of the summer star parties
(unfortunately it's
not the final week of summer itself...). We'll be taking a few weeks off between
UT
class sessions and be back open with public nights at the end of the month.

The fall schedule will be posted here when we've finalized it:
http://outreach.as.utexas.edu/public/viewing.html

Stay cool!
Lara

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Hello all, I hope everyone has survived the summer!

We'll be starting up the public viewing nights this week on the usual days and
in the usual places: Wednesday nights at RLM and Friday and Saturdays at
Painter Hall. We'll be running from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. to start the fall and will
move to 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. after the move back to standard time in November.
There will be no viewing at either telescope the week of Thanksgiving.

Once again we will be canceling the Painter Hall star parties that fall on
Saturdays with nighttime home football games. Some of the game start
times aren't set yet, but we already know that there will be night games on
September 3 and 10, so there will be no star parties that night. Keep an
eye on http://mackbrown-texasfootball.com/ for updates on game start times.

A full schedule is on our website, along with maps and parking information:
http://outreach.as.utexas.edu/public/viewing.html

Cheers,
Lara Eakins
UT Astronomy Dept.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hello all!

Just a reminder that all of the times for public viewing on the UT campus
telescopes have
now moved to 7 to 9 p.m. for the remainder of the semester. Also, I wanted to
remind people
that we will not be open the week of Thanksgiving, so no viewing on Wednesday
November
23, Friday November 25 and Saturday November 26. The week after that will be our
final public
viewing nights for the year.

Cheers,
Lara Eakins
UT Astronomy Dept.

Sorry for the last minute announcement of this! I got this message from the
organizer
of Science in the Pub and thought some of you might be interested.

Cheers,
Lara


Here's the info:


Please join Science in the Pub this Wednesday, Nov. 16th (7pm) at Austin's
Pizza, where we will explore the past and future of astrogeology and planet
formation with two stellar speakers.

"Back to the Future - NASA Field Geological Training, Apollo to Present"
Patricia W. Dickerson, PhD (honoring the late William R Muehlberger)

Bill Muehlberger was principle investigator for geology for the Apollo 16 and 17
missions to the Moon, and continued as an instructor/advisor to the astronauts
on Earth observations from Skylab, Apollo-Soyuz, Space Shuttle, and the
International Space Station.  Pat Dickerson worked with Dr. Muehlberger in
training Space Shuttle and International Space Station crews in global tectonics
and terrestrial analogues for planetary features. The Astronaut Office at
Johnson Space Center invited Muehlberger and Dickerson to brief the Corps on the
NASA field training legacy, how that influenced Apollo scientific results, how
future directions will draw — and diverge — from Apollo format, and how new
technologies will alter the ways in which we explore. Visualize being in the
audience with the Corps during this condensed version of that briefing, in which
the late Bill Muehlberger’s voice still booms through.

"The Construction of Alien Worlds"
Joel Green, PhD

Watching Star Trek, one gets the impression that habitable planets and alien
life are as common as fast food restaurants. But then a glance around our very
own Solar System reveals a wide variety of incredibly hostile environments where
life would seem unimaginable. So what is the true variety of planets and
planetary systems found within the universe? Only fifteen years after the first
planet outside our solar system (51 Peg) was discovered, we know of over 1200
planets, discovered with a variety of techniques. What are they like, and what
do they tell us about how common planets are? How do planets form around other
stars, how long does it take, and what are they made out of? Using the latest
state-of-the-art NASA and ESA space telescopes, Dr. Green will review the field
of exoplanets and protoplanets, and the exciting discoveries we expect to make
in the near future.


Science in the Pub is a happy hour for the science-loving community.  Our goal
is to bring together fans of science from all walks of life, be they
professional scientists or amateur admirers, for a bit of socializing and
entertainment.  Each event features interesting and provocative talks by some of
the leading science figures in Austin and beyond.  Check out our website
(http://www.scienceinthepub.co/) or friend us on facebook
(https://www.facebook.com/scienceinthepub) to learn more.

Hello all!

I just wanted to remind everyone that the public viewing nights on the UT campus
telescopes are now finished for 2011. The schedule for the spring 2012 semester
isn't confirmed yet, but the plans are to start back on the week of January
23rd.
The schedule will be posted at the website when everything is finalized:
http://outreach.as.utexas.edu/public/viewing.html

Have a great holiday season and we'll hope see you in the new year!

Lara Eakins
UT Astronomy Dept.

Hello and Happy New Year!

Our first special event of the year is a screening of the "Saving Hubble"
documentary next
Wednesday on the UT campus. It will be held in Robert Lee Moore hall's 4th floor
Wheeler
Lecture Hall (4.102) at 7:30 p.m. More information is available in the press
release that
I have uploaded to the files area at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/UT-Astronomy/files/SavingHubbleUTscreening1-11-12.\
pdf

I'm hoping to get the spring star party schedule nailed down soon, so stay
tuned!

Cheers,
Lara Eakins
UT Astronomy Dept.

Here's another special event that some of you might be interested in!

Cheers,
Lara


Begin forwarded message:

> From: Environmental Science Institute <esi@...>
> Subject: [esi-outreach] Jan 13 - Dark Energy, Explosions, and Zombie Stars
> Date: January 6, 2012 4:41:25 PM CST
> To: "Esi-outreach@..." <Esi-outreach@...>
>
> Hot Science – Cool Talks is starting off 2012 with a big bang!
>
> Dr. Andrew Howell’s lecture about Dark Energy, Explosions, and Zombie Stars
will be in the Student Activity Center (SAC) Auditorium on Friday, January 13 at
7:00pm CT.  Click here for a map of SAC and surrounding areas (note this is very
close to the usual venue of Welch Hall).
>
> Dr. Howell is a young and eminent astrophysicist at UC Santa Barbara, and host
of National Geographic Channel’s third season ofKnown Universe.  His
presentation uses imagery and explosive humor to illustrate the past and future
of our universe, including the dark energy that makes it expand.
>
> For a preview of the January 13th event, visit our YouTube channel at
http://www.youtube.com/user/UTesi.
>
> Can’t attend the lecture?  Click here to view the live webcast and ask Dr.
Howell questions in real time. You can also check out a full archive of past
lectures anytime at www.hotsciencecooltalks.org.
>
>
> Environmental Science Institute | The University of Texas at Austin | 1
University Station C9000| Austin, TX  78712 | (512) 471-5847 |
www.esi.utexas.edu | esi@...
>



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Hello all!

The public viewing nights will start back up this week!

Wednesday nights are at the 16-in reflector at RLM and
will run from 7 to 9 p.m. until spring break. The full schedule
is posted here: http://outreach.as.utexas.edu/public/parties.html

Friday and Saturday nights are at the 9-in refractor at Painter Hall
and will also run from 7 to 9 p.m. until spring break. The
schedule for that telescope is here:
http://outreach.as.utexas.edu/public/painter.html

Maps and weather cancellation information is posted here:
http://outreach.as.utexas.edu/public/viewing.html

We have a few public lectures and special events on tap this
year, so stay tuned for more information!

Clear skies,
Lara Eakins
UT Astronomy Dept.

The Twentieth Annual "Great Lecture in Astronomy", part of the annual Board of
Visitors meeting, will be held this Saturday at 1:00 p.m. in the ACES building
on the University of Texas campus. It is free and open to the public.

This years lecture is entitled "A New Job for Telescopes: Making Solar
Electricity" and will be presented by Roger Angel, Director of the Steward
Observatory Mirror Laboratory and the Regents Professor of Astronomy and Optical
Sciences at the University of Arizona.

More information is available here:
http://www.as.utexas.edu/lectures/great_lecture_twenty.html

Parking information: http://www.utexas.edu/parking/ and
http://www.utexas.edu/parking/parking/garages/index.php
Both the San Jacinto and Speedway garages are convenient to the ACES building
(it will cost approximately $6 if you park in the garage).

Hope some of you can make it!

Cheers,
Lara Eakins
UT Astronomy Dept.

Hello all!

I wanted to remind everyone that we will be taking next week off from the public
viewing nights for spring break. So that means no star parties on the 14th, 16th
and 17th.

Also, since we go on to daylight saving time on the 11th, all star parties will
move to 8:30 to 10:30 p.m. when we resume after spring break (the 21st, 23rd and
24th). That will remain the time until the end of the semester in early May.

Cheers,
Lara Eakins
UT Astronomy Dept.



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Unfortunately the timing of this talk won't be good for a lot of you, but if you
can make it it's sure to be a good talk!



2012 Antoinette de Vaucouleurs Memorial Lecturer


A Journey of Discovery: Our Expanding Universe


Dr. Wendy Freedman


Director, Observatories of the Carnegie Institution for Science


April 4, 2012 · 4:30 PM
ETC 2.136
The University of Texas at Austin




More information here:
http://www.as.utexas.edu/lectures/adv_lecture_freedman.html


Hope some of you can make it!

Lara



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Hello all!

The public viewing nights for the spring semester are now over and the summer
viewing will start in early June. I'll send out the schedule once everything is
set.

For those of you who are wondering, we won't be doing anything for the
partial/annular eclipse on May 20th since not a whole lot of it will be visible
here in Austin before the sun sets. We will, however, be observing the Venus
transit on June 5th. I'll send out another email with the details a week or two
before the event. Info will also be posted here:
http://outreach.as.utexas.edu/venus/index.html

Clear skies!

Lara



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