Monthly Meeting

Thursday, January 20, 2022

Online Zoom Invite
will be emailed

Dr. Joe Pesce

Title

Monsters in the Universe:
New Insight into Black Holes

Abstract

Black holes are among the most enigmatic objects in the universe, and come in a variety of sizes, from several times the mass of the Sun to monsters with many billions of times the mass of the Sun (and maybe even atomic-sized ones).  New advances in astrophysical instruments - with traditional electromagnetic observations as well as new ones using particles and gravitational waves - make this a golden age of black hole research.  Recent findings from gravitational waves and the early universe are challenging traditional views. 

Joseph E. Pesce, Ph.D., FRAS, FCPS  

Joe Pesce is an astrophysicist whose primary area of interest is supermassive black holes.  He has held research positions at the Space Telescope Science Institute and the Pennsylvania State University.  He is currently a Program Officer at the US National Science Foundation, responsible for most of the US Government's ground-based radio astronomy facilities (the National Radio Astronomy Observatory - NRAO - including the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA, in Chile), the Very Large Array (VLA, in New Mexico), and the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA, spread across the US).  In addition to his day job, he is a Part-time Professor at George Mason University (Fairfax, Virginia) and a Visiting Professor at the University of Colorado (Boulder, Colorado).  Previously, he founded, and served as CEO, of several firms specializing in high-level science and technology, critical thinking and problem-solving consulting and education.  

An important aspect of Joe’s work involves public outreach, as an ambassador for science in general and astrophysics specifically.  Among other activities, he has made numerous television and podcast appearances, and has served as science advisor to several science fiction series (television and online) and science fiction authors.  

He is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and the Cambridge Philosophical Society; serves on the Board of Directors of The Presidents Leadership Class (University of Colorado, Boulder); is a proud alumnus of Peterhouse; is a member of the American Astronomical Society; the American Association for the Advancement of Science; Sigma Pi Sigma; the American Institute of Physics; and the Cosmos Club (Washington DC).  

Joe received a B.A. degree in physics from the University of Colorado in Boulder, and M.Sc., M.Phil., and Ph.D. degrees in astrophysics from Cambridge University (Peterhouse) and the International School for Advanced Studies in Trieste, Italy.  

Joe’s other interests include science policy, space, leadership, interspecies communication, non-human intelligence, psychology, science fiction, and all things British.  He conducts art-history research and collects art, antiquarian books, and antique furniture.

Information about previous presenters
can be found here.

Animations by a former NASA planetary scientist offer brief, interesting videos on how our solar system works

James O’Donoghue, an astronomer with Japan’s space agency, makes video animations of the physics of the solar system. According to an article in Business Insider, he has won the Europlanet Society’s Prize for Public Engagement. Some of his most popular works illustrate how the planets spin, the true center of the solar system, and how long it takes light to reach the Earth from the Sun. The BI article features several of his videos; the entire collection can be seen on his YouTube channel.

Rabbit Mountain Star Party Report

LAS member Sarah Getty put together a collage of images from the night - Jupiter and its 4 Galilean moons, Saturn, and Venus from afar.

Last Friday’s Star Party at Rabbit Mountain was a success! The evening began as usual, with a presentation by Boulder County Open Space. This time the presenters divulged an array of interesting facts about the two biggest planets in the solar system, Jupiter and Saturn.

5 or 6 LAS members brought their telescopes to show the night sky to around 40 guests, all of whom were very excited and appreciative. After views of the moon, Jupiter and Saturn were seen,  guests were treated to more deep sky objects. LAS member Bill Tschumy, for example, sighted in on M11 (Wild Duck Cluster), M13 (Great Hercules Cluster), M57 (Ring Nebula), Albireo (Double Star), and M31 (Andromeda Galaxy).  He used SkySafari and the Our Galaxy app to supplement what they were seeing in the scopes.