Stony Brook Astronomy Open Night

Department of Physics and Astronomy

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STONY BROOK ASTRONOMY OPEN NIGHT ARCHIVE

Fall 1993 -- Spring 2009

Fall 1993 Calendar

• September 3, 1993
  Professor Dan Davis: "Why is there no San Andreas Fault on Venus?"
• October 1, 1993
  Professor Amos Yahil: "Unraveling the Secrets of the Universe by Observing Millions of Galaxies."
• November 5, 1993
  Professor Fred Walter: "The Dawn of a New Era in Astronomy: Scientific Results from the First Three Years of the Hubble Space Telescope."
• December 3, 1993
  Professor Michal Simon: "Most Stars are born as Twins."

 

*REVISED* Spring 1994 Calendar

• February 4, 1994
  Professor Jack Lissauer: "Rings of the Giant Planets"
• March 4, 1994
  Professor Kenneth Lanzetta: "New Light on Dark Matter"
• April 1, 1994
  Professor Philip Solomon: "The Infrared Universe"
• May 6, 1994
  Professor James Lattimer: "Supernovae and Neutron Stars"

 

Fall 1994 Calendar

• September 2, 1994
  Professor Michal Simon: "Big New Telescopes: The Gemini Project"
• October 7, 1994
  Professor James Lattimer: "Impacts in the Solar System: Can We Do Anything"
• November 5, 1994
  Professor Ken Lanzetta: "Matter Between the Galaxies"
• December 2, 1994
  Professor Fred Walter: "Cataclysmic Variables: Stars That Go Bump in the Night"

 

Spring 1995 Calendar

• February 3, 1995
  Professor Deane Peterson: "Large Interferometry Arrays: A Revolution Coming in Optical Astronomy"
• March 3, 1995
  Professor Philip Solomon: "The Age of the Universe"
• April 7, 1995
  Professor Amos Yahil: "The Information Content of Astronomical Data"
• May 5, 1995
  Astronomy Faculty: A Special Program to Commemorate 20 Years of Astronomy Open Nights.

 

Fall 1995 Calendar

• September 8, 1995
  Professor Michal Simon: "Planet Formation in the Binary Star Environment"
• October 6, 1995
  Professor Kenneth Lanzetta: "Quasar Absorption Lines: Probing Distant Galaxies"
• November 3, 1995
  Professor Jack Lissauer: "The Galileo Mission to Jupiter"
• December 1, 1995
  Professor Philip Solomon: Galaxies in the Distant Universe: How and Why Galaxies Form"

 

Spring 1996 Calendar

• February 2, 1996
  Professor Philip Solomon: "Radio Astronomy and the Ozone Layer"
• March 1, 1996
  Professor Amos Yahil: "Gravitational Lenses"
• April 5, 1996
  Professor James Lattimer: "The Search for Planets Around Other Stars: The Difficulties and Rewards"
• May 3, 1996
  Professor Deane Peterson: "The Search for Planets Around Other Stars: NASA's Grand New Odyssey"

 

Fall 1996 Calendar

• September 6, 1996
  Professor James Lattimer: "Life on Mars: The Story in the Rocks"
• October 4, 1996
  Professor Michal Simon: "The Gemini Telescopes: Giants Stirring"
• November 1, 1996
  Professor Kenneth Lanzetta: "A Glimpse of the Edge of the Universe"
• December 6, 1996
  Professor Frederick Walter: "Discovery of a Nearby Neutron Star"

 

Spring 1997 Calendar

• February 7, 1997
  Professor Martin Schoonen: "New Thinking on the Origin of Life"
• March 7, 1997
  Professor Daniel Davis: "Galileo at Jupiter's Moons: Seeing Signs of Stress"
• March 29, 1997
  Professor Deane Peterson - SPECIAL LECTURE: "HALE-BOPP: The Great Comet of 1997"
• April 4, 1997
  Professor James Neff: "Advances in Satellite Studies of the Sun and Imaging of Solar Type Stars"
• May 2, 1997
  Professor Amos Yahil: "Will the Cosmic Background Radiation Unravel the Remaining Secrets of Creation?"

 

Fall 1997 Calendar

• September 5, 1997
  Professor Daniel Davis: "Galileo at Jupiter's Moons: Seeing Signs of Stress"
• October 3, 1997
  Professor Michael Simon: "The Clustering of Young Stars"
• November 7, 1997
  Professor James Lattimer: "When Neutron Stars Collide"
• December 5, 1997
  Professor Kenneth Lanzetta: "The Hubble Space Telescope 'Deep Field Image'"

 

Spring 1998 Calendar

• February 6, 1998
  Professor Fred Walter: "The Science in Science Fiction"
• March 6, 1998
  Professor Chang Kee Jung: "We See Stars Underground"
• April 3, 1998
  Professor Gerald Brown: "Supernova Explosions, Black Holes and Nucleon Stars"
• May 1, 1998
  Professor Philip Solomon: "Radioastronomy: From Black Holes to Star Formation"

 

Fall 1998 Calendar

• September 4, 1998
  Professor Dan Davis: "Things That go Bump in the Crust: How the Sun's Planets Compare"
• October 2, 1998
  Professor Jim Lattimer: "The New Planets"
• November 6, 1998
  Professor Fred Walter: "The Science in Science Fiction: Part II"
• December 4, 1998
  Professor Ralph Wijers: "Gamma Ray Bursts: Mother Nature's Biggest Firecrackers"

 

Spring 1999 Calendar

• February 5, 1999
  Professor Deane Peterson: ``Our Changing Views on the Milky Way: It's Not What It Used to Be''
• March 5, 1999
  Professor Ken Lanzetta: ``The Hubble `Deep Field' Goes South - and Records are Broken Again''
• April 9, 1999 (Note: 2nd Friday of the month)
  Professor Philip Solomon: ``Galaxies in Collision: Tails, Bridges and Mergers in the Early Universe''
• May 7, 1999
  Professor Miriam Forman: ``Alien Atoms In the Solar System''

 

Fall 1999 Calendar

• September 3, 1999
  Professor F. Douglas Swesty: "Cosmic Crashes: How Colliding Neutron Stars Teach Us About Einstein's Theory of Relativity"
• October 1, 1999
  Professor Michal Simon: "The Transits of Mercury"
• November 5, 1999
  Professor Fred Walter: "Chandra, XMM and X-ray Astronomy Comes of Age"
• December 3, 1999
  Professor Ralph Wijers: "Tick-tick-tick in the Sky: Neutron Stars as Precision Clocks"

 

Spring 2000 Calendar

• February 4, 2000
  Professor Kenneth Lanzetta: "Giant Eyes: The Next Generation of Very Large Telescopes"
• March 3, 2000
  Professor Aaron Evans: "Giant Black Holes at the Hearts of Galaxies"
• April 7, 2000
  Professor James Lattimer: "The Sun, Stars and Jello: New Results from Astroseismology"
• May 5, 2000
  Professor Chang Kee Jung: "Nature's Rare Optical Displays: Rainbows, Sundogs, Green Flashes, Heiligenschein and more..."
• June 16, 2000 (Special Lecture)
  Professor Carolyn Porco, University of Arizona: "Exploration of the Outer Solar System"

 

Fall 2000 Calendar

• September 1, 2000
  Professor F. Douglas Swesty: "The Latest News on Black Holes and Gravitational Lenses"
• October 6, 2000
  Professor Ralph Wijers: "A Ruckus from the Cradle: Gamma-Ray Bursts in Stellar Nurseries"
• November 3, 2000
  Professor Philip Solomon: "SIRTF: NASA's `Great Observatory' for the Infrared"
• December 1, 2000
  Professor Frederick Walter: "AB Doradus: A Sun in the Era of Planet Formation?"

 

Spring 2001 Calendar

• February 2, 2001
  Dr. Dara Norman: "Dark Matter and Gravitational Lensing: Finding the Unseen"
• March 2, 2001
  Prof. James Lattimer: "Is Advanced Life Common in the Universe?"
• April 6, 2001
  Prof. Michal Simon: "Extrasolar Planets
• May 4, 2001
  Prof. Aaron S. Evans: "Quasars and Their Environments"

 

Fall 2001 Calendar

• September 7, 2001
  Prof. J. Lattimer: "Can we measure the radius of a neutron star, and if we can, so what?"
• October 5, 2001
  Prof. Philip Solomon: "Extreme Starbursts in Galaxies"
• November 2, 2001
  Prof. Kenneth Lanzetta: "Cosmology from Distant Supernovae: Is the Expansion of the Universe Accelerating?"
• December 7, 2001
  Prof. Frederick Walter: "Astronomy and Astrology: The Influence of Stars in our Lives"

 

Spring 2002 Calendar

• February 1, 2002
  Prof. F. Douglas Swesty: "Explosions in the Sky: Understanding Supernovae"
• March 1, 2002
  Prof. Deane Peterson: "Measuring Distances in Astronomy: It's Harder Than You Think"
• April 5, 2002
  Prof. Michal Simon: "Weighing the Young Stars"
• May 3, 2002
  Prof. Aaron S. Evans: "Kuiper Belt Objects: Remnants of The Early Solar System"

 

Fall 2002 Calendar

• September 6, 2002
  Prof. Kenneth Lanzetta: "Observing the Most Distant Gas in the Universe"
• October 4, 2002
  Prof. J. Lattimer: "Globular Clusters: Cosmic Singles Bars"
• November 1, 2002
  Prof. P. Hickson: "Very-Large Optical Telescopes"
• December 6, 2002
  Prof. Philip Solomon: "Recent Changes in the Ozone Layer"

 

Spring 2003 Calendar

• February 7, 2003
  Prof. Michal Simon: SNOW Cancellation: Lecture postponed to April
• March 7, 2003
  Prof. F. Douglas Swesty: "White Dwarves: Out With A Dramatic Whimper"
• April 4, 2003
  Prof. Michal Simon: "The Next Big Hit"
• May 2, 2003
  Dr. Hsien Shang: "The Solar System: How It All Began"

 

Fall 2003 Calendar

• September 5, 2003
  Prof. Jim Lattimer: "30 Years of Neutron Star Mergers"
• October 3, 2003
  Prof. Fred Walter: "30 Years Since UHURU: X-Ray Astronomy Comes of Age"
• October 31, 2003
  Prof. Aaron Evans: "The Evolution of Bright Infrared Galaxies"
• December 5, 2003
  Dr. Sharada Iyer: SNOW CANCELLATION: Lecture Postponed to Next Semester

 

Spring 2004 Calendar

• February 6, 2004
  Dr. Sharada Iyer Dutta: "Since 1930 - Celebrating the Neutrino from Physics to Astrophysics"
• March 5, 2004
  Prof. Michal Simon: "The Next Transit of Venus"
• April 2, 2004
  Prof. Kenneth Lanzetta: "The Ultra Deep Field: Hubble's Look at the Outer Fringes"
• May 7, 2004
  Prof. Douglas Swesty: "Measuring the Universe With Thermonuclear Supernovae"

 

Fall 2004 Calendar

• September 3, 2004
  Prof James Lattimer:"What is a Neutron Star Made Of?"
• SPECIAL LECTURE: 5pm October 1, 2004 Wang Center Theater
  Dr Carolyn Porco: "In Orbit! The Voyage of Cassini to Saturn"
• October 1, 2004
  Prof Frederick Walter:"SMARTS: Big Science with Small Telescopes"
• October 29, 2004
  Prof Philip Solomon: "The Spitzer Telescope: A New Look at the Infrared Universe"
• December 4, 2004
  Prof Aaron Evans: "A Near-Infrared View of Galaxies with the 2 Micron All Sky Survey"

 

Spring 2005 Calendar

• February 4, 2005
  Prof F. Douglas Swesty: "GRB 03039 and the Connection Between Gamma-Ray Bursts and Supernovae"
• March 4, 2005
  Prof Michal Simon: "Exoplanets"
• April 8, 2005
  Prof Deane Peterson: "Cassini at Saturn"
• May 6, 2005
  Dr Eric Myra: Numerical Telescopes: Exploring the Frontiers of Astrophysics and Advanced Computing

 

Fall 2005 Calendar

• September 2, 2005
  Prof F. Douglas Swesty: "The Evolution of Elements in the Galaxy"
• September 30, 2005
  Prof James Lattimer: "Supernova Memories"
• October 28, 2005
  Prof Aaron Evans: "Deep Impact"
• December 2, 2005
  Prof Frederick Walter: "A Little Knowledge Is a Dangerous Thing"

 

Spring 2006 Calendar

• February 3, 2006
  Prof Michal Simon: ""Brown Dwarfs - Failed Stars or Overgrown Planets?"
• March 3, 2006
  Dr. Kenneth DeNisco: "Cassini: Another Year at Saturn"
• March 31, 2006
  Prof Kenneth Lanzetta: "Dark Energy, Dark Matter"
• May 5, 2006
  Prof Michael Zingale: "Understanding Type Ia Supernovae"

 

Fall 2006 Calendar

• September 1, 2006
  Prof James Lattimer: "Asteroids Can Be Painful"
• October 6, 2006
  Prof Kenneth Lanzetta: "The New Age of Precision Cosmology"
• November 3, 2006
  Prof Anand Sivaramakrishnan: "Hunting for Planets Outside the Solar System"
• December 1, 2006
  Prof Frederick Walter: "Thermonuclear Bombs in Space: The Novae"

 

Spring 2007 Calendar

• February 2, 2007
  Dr. Kathleen Flint: "Astronomy from the South Pole"
• March 2, 2007
  Prof. Aaron Evans: "Transiting Planets"
• March 30, 2007
  Dr. James Pizagno: "Dark Matter and Stellar Mass in the Universe"
• May 4, 2007
  Prof. Michael Zingale: "Do You Really Know Your Own Sun?"

 

Fall 2007 Calendar

• September 7, 2008
  Prof. Jim Lattimer: "The Top of Astronomy: Pulsars"
• October 5, 2008
  Prof. Michal Simon: "Is Pluto a Planet?"
• November 2, 2008
  Prof. Fred Walter: "What Big Eyes You Have!"
• December 7, 2008
  Prof. F. Douglas Swesty: "Merging White Dwarf Stars"

 

Spring 2008 Calendar

• February 1, 2008
  Prof. Anand Sivaramakrishnan: "A Clearer View of the Skies using Adaptive Optics"
• March 7, 2008
  Prof. Alan Calder: "Twinkle, Twinkle, Exploding Star, How We Wonder What You Are!"
• April 4, 2008
  Dr. Kathleen Flint Ehm: "Dwarf Satellites: The search for the Universe’s smallest galaxies"
• May 2, 2008
  Prof. Michael Zingale: "Computing the Stars: How Computers Are Used in Astrophysics"

 

Fall 2008 Calendar

• September 5, 2008
  Prof. Jim Lattimer: "Now You See Them, Now You Don't: What Transits Can Tell Us About Extrasolar Planets"
• October 3, 2008
  Prof. Anand Sivaramakrishnan: "The James Webb Space Telescope: A First Light Machine"
• October 31, 2008
  Prof. Stanimir Metchev: "From Stars to Planets"
• December 5, 2008
  Prof. F. Douglas Swesty: "The Violent Deaths of Massive Stars"

 

Spring 2009 Calendar

• February 6, 2009
  Prof. Alan Calder: "Are you there E.T.? It's us, Earth: An Update on the Search for Life in the Universe"
• March 6, 2009
  Prof. Deane Peterson: "The Early Solar System: Not So Musical Chairs"
• April 3, 2009
  Prof. Anand Sivaramakrishnan: "Finding Planets Around Bright Stars."
• May 1, 2009
  Prof. Michael Zingale: "We Are All Made of Stars: A Survey of Stellar Nucleosynthesis"

 

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updated: 03-August-2009