Astrophysics Seminars

Sep
28
2010

Institute for Advanced Study Astrophysics Seminar

A Lensing Map ... A Redshift Survey
Margaret Geller
11:00am|Bloomberg Hall Astrophysics Library
ABSTRACT: Redshift surveys and weak lensing maps are two powerful tools of modern cosmology. SHELS, a deep complete redshift survey in the foreground of weak lensing map, offers an independent measurement of the dark matter distribution "imaged" by...
Sep
23
2010

Institute for Advanced Study Informal Astrophysics Seminar

The Early History of the Solar System
Renu Malhotra
11:30am|Bloomberg Hall Astrophysics Library
ABSTRACT: Subsequent to planet formation, the gravitational interactions with the gaseous birth disk, with the residual planetesimal disk, and/or with sibling planets are the cause of dramatic orbital migration of planets leading to the final...
Sep
21
2010

Institute for Advanced Study Astrophysics Seminar

Toward a New Era in Planetary Microlensing
11:00am|Bloomberg Hall Astrophysics Library
ABSTRACT: Microlensing planet searches are rapidly advancing in several dimensions. Originally it was believed that microlensing lightcurves would yield only a few dimensionless parameters, like the planet-star mass ratio. Now, several planetary...
May
20
2010

Institute for Advanced Study Informal Astrophysics Seminar

Magnetic Fields in Galaxy Clusters
Christoph Pfrommer
11:30am|Bloomberg Hall Astrophysics Library
Clusters of galaxies, filled with hot, magnetised plasma, are the largest bound objects in existence and an important touchstone in understanding the formation of structures in our Universe. Because in clusters, thermal conduction follows field...
May
18
2010

Institute for Advanced Study Astrophysics Seminar

The Chemistry of Galaxy Formation
11:00am|Bloomberg Hall Astrophysics Library
I will present a novel model of star formation based on non-equilibrium treatment of molecular hydrogen in self-consistent cosmological simulations of galaxy formation, including effects of self-shielding and shielding by dust. The model predicts...
May
11
2010

Institute for Advanced Study Astrophysics Seminar

Dead "Miniquasars" in Nearby Galaxies
11:00am|Bloomberg Hall Astrophysics Library
Telltale signs of quiescent black holes include sharp spikes in the galaxy's light profile and the presence of stars that are moving anomalously fast near the galaxy's center. A black hole captures all stars within a critical radius, and a star that...
May
04
2010

Institute for Advanced Study Astrophysics Seminar

Magnetar Oscillations
Yuri Levin
11:00am|Bloomberg Hall Astrophysics Library
ABSTRACT: Quasi-Periodic Oscillations (QPOs) have been measured in the tails of 2 out of 3 SGR giant flares. An attractive explanation for these QPOs is that they are due to torsional oscillations of the magnetar driving the flare. This opens up a...