Events

Here is a roundup of blog articles for #astrolovers from around the web this week:

Recently, a group at MIT's Kavli Institute held a contest called "The Art of Astrophysics". Just this week, they announced the winners. Here's an excerpt of an email from the organizers:

What are digital stories and how do you tell them? At a recent exhibit at Brown University, that topic was examined in a few different ways. One of the stories shown was a large screen version of images and text selected out of the "From Earth to the Universe" (FETTU) collection. FETTU is a Chandra-led project of astronomical image exhibits that began in the International Year of Astronomy in 2009 but has remained as a legacy project of public science. The location types of the FETTU exhibits have ranged from cafes to malls to metros.

Exhibiting FETTU with Brown University's large visualization wall in the Rockefeller library offered a special opportunity to display ultra-large astronomy data sets on a huge screen that lets the viewer not only see details in the images that are hard to see on small screens but also helps the viewer feel somewhat immersed in the image. The science images included Chandra’s composite with Hubble and Spitzer of the galactic center, a recent Solar Dynamics Observatory image of our Sun (shown here), an image of Mount Sharp, Mars from the Curiosity mission, and 5 other objects.

This week, the American Astronomical Society (AAS) is holding its 221st meeting in Long Beach, CA. These meetings are a chance for astronomers to get together and share some of their latest findings. Some of these are even featured in press releases and press conferences including the newest results from Chandra. You'll find scientists from government agencies like NASA and researchers from universities. You see aspiring graduate students mixing with award-winning astronomers and everyone in between.

The NH National Guard Child and Youth Program and NHNG Military Education Outreach Committee were proud to present a pilot science event with the Chandra Education & Outreach Group on October 14, 2012 in Concord, New Hampshire. The Mission to the Universe – Stars and Stripes Family Fest provided family friendly science activities from Chandra such as the "Here, There, and Everywhere" project, "STOP for Science" and the "Universe in a Jelly Bean Jar". Chandra science imager Joe DePasquale was on hand to demonstrate the concept of lensing to visitors and talk about how Chandra images are made. Chandra educator Donna Young discussed the life and death of stars.

Last week, the Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space Museum welcomed a very unusual guest (who will be staying quite a while): the Space Shuttle Enterprise. The Intrepid, which is located on the Hudson River in New York City, will be the Enterprise's new home now that the Shuttle program has officially ended.

While we usually talk about meetings where astronomers get together, there are also other meetings where all types of scientists meet and exchange ideas. The AAAS meeting is one of them. "AAAS" stands for the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and it is the world's largest general scientific society.

This morning, the High Energy Astrophysics Division (aka HEAD) meeting kicks off in Newport, RI. What is this, you might ask? Well, the American Astronomical Society, or AAS, is the country’s largest professional group for astronomers. And because it is so large, they have also created several subdivisions so that scientists of a particular bent can gather to talk about their areas of interest.