Author: Paul Derby

What’s the Space Weather Like on Proxima Centauri? Stars (including our Sun) are active, periodically releasing bursts of high energy radiation called flares.  These flares can destroy molecules in the atmospheres of nearby exoplanets and potentially even erode those atmospheres entirely.  In order to understand whether any of our nearest neighbors are in fact habitable, we need to determine how frequent and how powerful these flares are.  I will present recent discoveries from Read more […]

Black holes are the most extreme objects in our universe. Thanks to incredibly sensitive instruments — known as gravitational-wave observatories — we can “hear” when two black holes crash into each other.We are now routinely listening to gravitational waves from black holes across the Universe. Dr. Maya Fishback will summarize what gravitational waves are, how we detect them, and what they are teaching us about black holes, their progenitor stars, and cosmology.Dr. Fishbach will be presenting virtually Read more […]

Dr. David DeVorkin follows Carruthers from his childhood in Ohio and then Chicago to his career at the US NavalResearch Laboratory in Washington, DC. In the highly competitive world of space science in the 1960s and 1970s, Carruthers’s genius for experimentation and exploration transcended the racial stereotyping and discrimination of his day, and he achieved world-class recognition for his studies of the Earth and deep space. A leading expert in the history of astronomy and space science, DeVorkin Read more […]

NASA Goddard’s Dr. James Klimchuk will explore why he outer atmosphere of the Sun – called the corona – is roughly 1000 times hotter than the underlying solar surface. The same is true of other stars. Solving the famous “coronal heating problem” has been one of the great challenges in astrophysics. It is more than just a fascinating intellectual curiosity. The X-ray and UV radiation produced by coronal heating has damaging space weather affects here at Earth and enormous consequences Read more […]

NOVAC member Cal Powell will present an overview of meteorites (and related objects) with an emphasis on using them for astronomy outreach. After the talk attendees will be able to examine specimens from Cal’s meteorite collection. Come to the meeting and take a selfie with a rock from the planet Mars! Cal will be presenting in person. Join Cal and your NOVAC colleagues at GMU: Meet at George Mason University, Exploratory Hall, Room 3301. Check the GMU web site for nearby parking options. Read more […]

This talk will summarize the history of the search for exoplanets, beginning in 1938, and leading to NASA’s plans for the Habitable Worlds Observatory, a space telescope planned for launch around 2045, intended to detect and characterize Earth-like worlds. This is a virtual presentation by Dr. Boss –Join your colleagues at GMU or join him virtually using Google Meet             Join your NOVAC colleagues in person at GMU: Meet at George Mason Read more […]

In this talk, we will embark on a cosmic journey to explore the fascinating lives of cool evolved stars and their pivotal role in shaping the universe. These stars, in their later stages of evolution, offer unique insights into stellar physics, chemical enrichment, and the cosmic recycle of matter. We will also dive into the exciting and rapidly evolving field of exoplanet discovery, and the potential for habitable worlds beyond our solar system. From the methods used to detect exoplanets to the Read more […]

On September 14th, 2015, the two sites of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory detected minuscule ripples in the fabric of space.  This Nobel-winning accomplishment, the culmination of nearly 50 years of work, also provided us with a new window into the Universe: gravitational waves.  I will discuss some of the first results from LIGO, and how we think you can get two black holes close enough in space to emit gravitational waves.  I will also discuss a second discovery Read more […]