Tag Archives: SASTPC

Out of this World: Galactic Pre-Show Party!

You’re Invited!

out-of-the-world-final-2017

For Immediate Release
February 2, 2017

Taking Up Space, a program sending Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona girls to Space Camp, cordially invite you to enjoy an evening of scintillating conversation about life, the universe, and everything! Mingle with Tucson area planetary scientists, astronomers, and space artists over cocktails. There will be physics demonstrations, telescope viewing, displays of space art, a pair of free tickets up for grabs, and merchandise for sale of the New Orleans funk band Galactic, who will be performing that night at the adjacent Rialto Theatre following the party. So, break out your favorite space-themed outfit, put on your thinking (or drinking) caps, and join us! Excelsior!

Taking Up Space is a subsidiary project of the Tucson based non-profit organization, Time in Cosmology, whose mission is to fund the cost of sending girls from area Native American tribes to Space Camp®, in hopes of inspiring them to pursue STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) oriented educational and career paths. Space Camp was founded in Huntsville, Alabama in 1982 as the U.S. Space & Rocket Center® museum’s education program to promote the study of math, science, and technology. Trainees experience astronaut simulators, take command of a mission to the International Space Station and develop leadership and teamwork skills.

WHO:               Taking Up Space
WHAT:             Out of This World: Galactic Pre-Show Party
WHEN:             February 15, 2017,  6:00PM – 8:00PM
WHERE:          R Bar, 350 E. Congress St. No. 110 Tucson, AZ 85701
SPONSORS:   Time in Cosmology, Galactic, R Bar, University of Arizona  Philosophy Department

Press Release .pdf

Join Us for a Night of Space Exploration!

Celebrate the Launch of Three Space Programs: Space Exploration Month, the NASA OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample Return Mission, and our Pascua Yaqui Girls Space Camp Program!

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August 16, 2016 *UPDATED 09/02/2016*

Did you know that Mayor Jonathan Rothchild declared September “Space Exploration Month” in Tucson?  We are celebrating the declaration of Space Exploration Month!  Wednesday, September 7, 2016, in association with the University of Arizona, R Bar, and Maynards Market Place, Time in Cosmology will feature “Space Exploration Night” which includes the family friendly Physics Bus and UA Senior Lecturer of Physics, Shawn Jackson, at the R Bar,  and Maynards delicious The Space Dinner with Master of Ceremony, Meteroite Man, Geoffrey Notkin.   In addition, Stargazing with the UA Astronomy Club, and a viewing and silent auction of Space Art from the International Association of Astronomical Artists throughout the evening will make this an event not to be missed!

WHAT: Space Exploration Night and The Space Dinner
WHEN: September 7, 2016.  Events Starting at 5:30 P.M.  Dinner Starting at 7:45 P.M.
WHERE: The Rialto’s R Bar Address: 350 E. Congress No. 110, Maynards Market 400 N Toole Ave
WHO: Time in Cosmology, UA OSIRIS-REx, Maynards Market, R Bar, International Association of Astronomical Artists, The Physics Factory, Geoffrey Notkin, Pascua Yaqui Computer Clubhouse
COST: Event is FREE.  Dinner is $45 + Tax & Gratuity. Call Maynards for reservations: (520) 545-0577

100% of all proceeds go to funding Space Camp tuition for girls from the Pascua Yaqui Computer Clubhouse.

Join the event on Facebook! 

Event Schedule
Space Art from the IAAA
5:30 Physics Factory Bus
6:30 Shawn Jackson at R Bar
7:45 Geoffrey Notkin at the Space Dinner & IAAA Silent Auction
9:00 Stargazing with UA Astronomy Club

The Space Dinner Menu:
Bistro Salad
Scarlet butter lettuce, baby kale, bacon, soft-cooked egg, red onion, brioche crouton, herb vinaigrette
*Entrée Selection*
Beer-Brined Chicken — Pueblo Vida Northwest IPA-brined chicken breast, house mustard and fig marmalade, braised red cabbage, shallots, extra virgin olive oil and thyme pommes puree
Saffron Risotto — Braised leeks, sautéed greens, parmesan reggiano, shallot relish, beet chips
Prime Sirloin — 6 oz. Niman Ranch prime sirloin, bearnaise sauce, red wine caramelized onions, pommes frites**, seasonal vegetable
Dinner served with Maynard’s AZ Malbec

Call for your dinner reservations today! (520) 545-0577

Hurry! Seating is limited!

IAAA Silent Auction

The IAAA is donating 20% of proceeds from sales and 100% from the Silent Auction to our Pascua Yaqui Space Camp Girls Scholarship Program,

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Artwork from the following artist will be for sale and auction:
Astronaut/ Artist Ron Garan
Astronaut/ Artist Nicole Stott
Michelle Rouch
Earl Billick
Theresa Hentz
Simon Kregar

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All proceeds benefit the Time in Cosmology’s Space Camp Girls Scholarship Program.

Time in Cosmology is honored to be collaborating with the Pascua Yaqui Computer Clubhouse in our mission to send middle school aged Pascua Yaqui girls to Space Camp!  The first group of Pascua Yaqui girls will be attending Space Camp in June 2017.  Selected Scholarship winners are receiving full tuition once a year for three years. In addition, we will be adding another group of girls the following year, and the next. The Pascua Yaqui Space Camp Girls Scholarship Program will run for a total of 5 years.

In gratitude and collaboration with:

Maynards is a historic venue with a takeaway counter, a gourmet shop & a bar, and “dark and handsome” eatery with seasonal American fare.   Address: 400 N Toole Ave, Tucson, AZ 85701

R Bar opened in July 2014 as an expansion to the historic non-profit Rialto Theater.  The R Bar  has been described as, “the best alley bar in Tucson.”  Address: 350 E. Congress No. 110, Tucson AZ, 85701.  Located in the alley between Rialto and World of Beer.

OSIRIS-REx is the first U.S. mission to return samples from an asteroid to Earth.   The spacecraft is traveling to Bennu, a carbonaceous asteroid whose regolith may record the earliest history of our solar system. Bennu may contain the molecular precursors to the origin of life and the Earth’s oceans. Bennu is also one of the most potentially hazardous asteroids, as it has a relatively high probability of impacting the Earth late in the 22nd century. OSIRIS-REx will determine Bennu’s physical and chemical properties, which will be critical to know in the event of an impact mitigation mission. Finally, asteroids like Bennu contain natural resources such as water, organics, and precious metals. In the future, these asteroids may one day fuel the exploration of the solar system by robotic and manned spacecraft.

The IAAA  International Association of Astronomical Artists was founded in 1982 by a small group of artists who journeyed through the fascinating but seldom trod territory where science and art overlap.  Since 2013 IAAA Artists in the Tucson area have been very active in the local STEM community, promoting a human presence in space through outreach events at the Pima Air and Space Museum and the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory.

The Physics Factory brings physics demonstrations to schools and events throughout Arizona and North America. Inspired by the successful Physics Phun Nights at the University of Arizona, the Physics Factory has grown to include outreach programs, student mentoring, resources for science teachers, and many other programs.

Geoffrey Notkin is a television host, professional meteorite hunter, science writer, and photographer. He was born in New York’s East Village, grew up in London, England, and now makes his home in the Sonoran Desert in southern Arizona. He studied geology, photography, writing, and design in London, Boston and New York and is the owner of Aerolite Meteorites LLC of Tucson, a featured exhibitor at the annual Tucson gem and mineral shows. (Credit: IMDB)

Pascua Yaqui Clubhouse program provides a creative and safe environment where young people work with adult mentors to explore their own ideas, develop skills and build confidence in themselves through the use of technology.  The Community Resource Lab provides internet access and Microsoft Office programs for the community to utilize. Classes, training, workshops, and daily computer assistance are also provided after school.

Time in Cosmology is 501(3)(C) non-profit that is adding to the Tucson community by collaborating with UA departments and local organizations for the purpose of engaging and encouraging a broader appeal of scientific ideas and education.

SPACE EXPLORATION EVENING PRESS RELEASE PDF
THE SPACE DINNER MENU PDF

Stuart Hameroff Free Public Talk

(Credit: POP Narcotic)

Is Your Brain Really a Computer? Or is it a Quantum Orchestra?

Tucson, Arizona, October 12, 2015 – Since the early 1990’s Stuart Hameroff, MD., anesthesiologist, Emeritus Professor in the Departments of Anesthesiology and Psychology, and the Director of the Center for Consciousness Studies, together with the famed physicist Sir Roger Penrose have combined two intriguing ideas that have far reaching consequences in decoding and deciphering our understanding of the brain and consciousness.  These ideas are centered on Quantum Mechanics and Neuroscience establishing a ‘quantum theory of consciousness called “Orch OR” (orchestrated objective reduction) that links microtubule quantum processes to fluctuations in the structure of the universe.’

Recent studies suggests that consciousness may indeed be a Quantum Mechanical phenomenon.  Dr. Hameroff will be presenting his fascinating research, which appeared in the Huffington Post ‘Is Your Brain Really a Computer? Or is it a Quantum Orchestra?’ (07/09/2015), at the SASTPC Speaker Series free public talk.

WHAT: “Is Your Brain Really a Computer? Or is it a Quantum Orchestra?” Free Public Talk
WHO: Stuart Hameroff MD., anesthesiologist, Professor Emeritus in the Departments of Anesthesiology and Psychology, and Director of the Center for Consciousness Studies at Banner-University Medical Center, The University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona
WHEN: Friday, November 20, 2015 at 4:00 PM
WHERE: 1500 E University Boulevard, ILC Bldg., Room #130

Let Us Know You’re Coming!facebook-rsvp

Light refreshments will be provided.  Video will be uploaded to YouTube after the talk.

SASTPC is a 501(c)3 collaborating with the University of Arizona Philosophy Department in presenting the Speaker Series, a free public lecture that encourages a broader appeal of scientific ideas.

SASTPC Stuart Hameroff Press Release

What happens when you point a telescope designed to investigate black holes at the sun?

An image captured by NASA’s NuSTAR telescope, designed to investigate black holes, is the best-ever view of the sun in high-energy X-ray light.

X-rays stream off the sun in this image showing observations from by NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR, overlaid on a picture taken by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO).This image shows that some of the hotter emission tracked by NuSTAR is coming from different locations in the active regions and the coronal loops than the cooler emission shown in the SDO image. (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech )
This image shows that some of the hotter emission tracked by NuSTAR is coming from different locations in the active regions and the coronal loops than the cooler emission shown in the SDO image. (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

For the first time, a mission designed to set its eyes on black holes and other objects far from our solar system has turned its gaze back closer to home, capturing images of our sun. NASA’s Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR, has taken its first picture of the sun, producing the most sensitive solar portrait ever taken in high-energy X-rays.

“NuSTAR will give us a unique look at the sun, from the deepest to the highest parts of its atmosphere,” said David Smith, a solar physicist and member of the NuSTAR team at University of California, Santa Cruz.

NuSTAR spacecraft will allow astronomers to study the universe in high energy X-rays. Here it undergoes a solar array illumination test. Image tweeted Feb. 3, 2012. (Credit: NASA/NuStar)
NuSTAR spacecraft undergoes a solar array illumination test. Image tweeted Feb. 3, 2012. (Credit: NASA/NuStar)

Solar scientists first thought of using NuSTAR to study the sun about seven years ago, after the space telescope’s design and construction was already underway (the telescope launched into space in 2012). Smith had contacted the principal investigator, Fiona Harrison of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, who mulled it over and became excited by the idea.

“At first I thought the whole idea was crazy,” says Harrison. “Why would we have the most sensitive high energy X-ray telescope ever built, designed to peer deep into the universe, look at something in our own back yard?” Smith eventually convinced Harrison, explaining that faint X-ray flashes predicted by theorists could only be seen by NuSTAR.

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NASA’s NuSTAR and its rocket drop from the carrier “Stargazer” plane. (Credit: Orbital Sciences Corporation)

While the sun is too bright for other telescopes such as NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, NuSTAR can safely look at it without the risk of damaging its detectors. The sun is not as bright in the higher-energy X-rays detected by NuSTAR, a factor that depends on the temperature of the sun’s atmosphere.

This first solar image from NuSTAR demonstrates that the telescope can in fact gather data about sun. And it gives insight into questions about the remarkably high temperatures that are found above sunspots — cool, dark patches on the sun. Future images will provide even better data as the sun winds down in its solar cycle.

“We will come into our own when the sun gets quiet,” said Smith, explaining that the sun’s activity will dwindle over the next few years.

With NuSTAR’s high-energy views, it has the potential to capture hypothesized nanoflares — smaller versions of the sun’s giant flares that erupt with charged particles and high-energy radiation. Nanoflares, should they exist, may explain why the sun’s outer atmosphere, called the corona, is sizzling hot, a mystery called the “coronal heating problem.” The corona is, on average, 1.8 million degrees Fahrenheit (1 million degrees Celsius), while the surface of the sun is relatively cooler at 10,800 Fahrenheit (6,000 degrees Celsius). It is like a flame coming out of an ice cube. Nanoflares, in combination with flares, may be sources of the intense heat.

If NuSTAR can catch nanoflares in action, it may help solve this decades-old puzzle.

“NuSTAR will be exquisitely sensitive to the faintest X-ray activity happening in the solar atmosphere, and that includes possible nanoflares,” said Smith.

What’s more, the X-ray observatory can search for hypothesized dark matter particles called axions. Dark matter is five times more abundant than regular matter in the universe. Everyday matter familiar to us, for example in tables and chairs, planets and stars, is only a sliver of what’s out there. While dark matter has been indirectly detected through its gravitational pull, its composition remains unknown.

In 1977, Frank Wilczek proposed the existence of a new type of elementary particle. He named it an “axion”, after a brand of detergent, because it cleaned up a profound physical problem. (Credit: indico.cern.ch)

It’s a long shot, say scientists, but NuSTAR may be able spot axions, one of the leading candidates for dark matter, should they exist. The axions would appear as a spot of X-rays in the center of the sun.

Meanwhile, as the sun awaits future NuSTAR observations, the telescope is continuing with its galactic pursuits, probing black holes, supernova remnants and other extreme objects beyond our solar system.

NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) space telescope will launch in 2012 on a mission to seek out distant black holes like never before. Take a look at how the $165 million space telescope will launch and perform its mission (Credit: in the SPACE.com)
NASA’s Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) space telescope launched in 2012 on a mission to seek out distant black holes like never before.  (Credit: in the SPACE.com)
Credit: NuStar News at Caltech

Have Experimentalists Discovered Dark Matter?

3D map of the large-scale distribution of dark matter, reconstructed from measurements of weak gravitational lensing with the Hubble Space Telescope (Credit: Wikipedia)
3D map of the large-scale distribution of dark matter, reconstructed from measurements of weak gravitational lensing with the Hubble Space Telescope (Credit: Wikipedia)

Scientists have long known that dark matter is out there, silently orchestrating the universe’s movement and structure. But what exactly is dark matter made of? And what does a dark matter particle look like? That remains a mystery, with experiment after experiment coming up empty handed in the quest to detect these elusive particles.

The Bullet Cluster: HST image with overlays. The total projected mass distribution reconstructed from strong and weak gravitational lensing is shown in blue, while the X-ray emitting hot gas observed with Chandra is shown in red. (Credit: Wikipedia)
The Bullet Cluster: HST image with overlays. The total projected mass distribution reconstructed from strong and weak gravitational lensing is shown in blue, while the X-ray emitting hot gas observed with Chandra is shown in red. (Credit: Wikipedia)

With some luck, that may be about to change. With ten times the sensitivity of previous detectors, three recently funded dark matter experiments have scientists crossing their fingers that they may finally glimpse these long-sought particles. In recent conversations with The Kavli Foundation, scientists working on these new experiments expressed hope that they would catch dark matter, but also agreed that, in the end, their success or failure is up to nature to decide.

Read the Transcript: Kavil Foundation Dark Matter Transcript

“Nature is being coy,” said Enectali Figueroa-Feliciano, an associate professor of physics at the MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research who works on one of the three new experiments. “There’s something we just don’t understand about the internal structure of how the universe works. When theorists write down all the ways dark matter might interact with our particles, they find, for the simplest models, that we should have seen it already. So even though we haven’t found it yet, there’s a message there, one that we’re trying to decode now.”

Dark matter particles known as axions streaming from the sun, converting in Earth’s magnetic field (red) to x-rays, which are detected by the XMM-Newton observatory. (Credit: University of Leicester)
Dark matter particles known as axions streaming from the sun, converting in Earth’s magnetic field (red) to x-rays, which are detected by the XMM-Newton observatory. (Credit: University of Leicester)

The first of the new experiments, called the Axion Dark Matter eXperiment, searches for a theoretical type of dark matter particle called the axion. ADMX seeks evidence of this extremely lightweight particle converting into a photon in the experiment’s high magnetic field. By slowly varying the magnetic field, the detector hunts for one axion mass at a time.

“We’ve demonstrated that we have the tools necessary to see axions,” said Gray Rybka, research assistant professor of physics at the University of Washington who co-leads the ADMX Gen 2 experiment. “With Gen2, we’re buying a very, very powerful refrigerator that will arrive very shortly. Once it arrives, we’ll be able to scan very, very quickly and we feel we’ll have a much better chance of finding axions – if they’re out there.”

According to supersymmetry, dark-matter particles known as neutralinos (aka WIMPs) annihilate each other, creating a cascade of particles and radiation. (Credit: Sky & Telescope / Gregg Dinderman)
According to supersymmetry, dark-matter particles known as neutralinos (aka WIMPs) annihilate each other, creating a cascade of particles and radiation. (Credit: Sky & Telescope / Gregg Dinderman)

The two other new experiments look for a different type of theoretical dark matter called the WIMP. Short for Weakly Interacting Massive Particle, the WIMP interacts with our world very weakly and very rarely. The Large Underground Xenon, or LUX, experiment, which began in 2009, is now getting an upgrade to increase its sensitivity to heavier WIMPs. Meanwhile, the Super Cryogenic Dark Matter Search collaboration, which has looked for the signal of a lightweight WIMP barreling through its detector since 2013, is in the process of finalizing the design for a new experiment to be located in Canada.

“In a way it’s like looking for gold,” said Figueroa-Feliciano, a member of the SuperCDMS experiment. “Harry has his pan and he’s looking for gold in a deep pond, and we’re looking in a slightly shallower pond, and Gray’s a little upstream, looking in his own spot. We don’t know who’s going to find gold because we don’t know where it is.”

Astronomers use the idea of dark matter to account for a substantial portion of the mass of our universe. An even greater amount of mass, they believe, is taken up with dark energy. Meanwhile, the visible stars and galaxies we see around us in space may be only a small part of the whole universe. (Credit: Wikimedia Commons.)
Astronomers use the idea of dark matter to account for a substantial portion of the mass of our universe. An even greater amount of mass, they believe, is taken up with dark energy. Meanwhile, the visible stars and galaxies we see around us in space may be only a small part of the whole universe. (Credit: Wikimedia Commons.)

Rybka agreed, but added the more optimistic perspective that it’s also possible that all three experiments will find dark matter. “There’s nothing that would require dark matter to be made of just one type of particle except us hoping that it’s that simple,” he said. “Dark matter could be one-third axions, one-third heavy WIMPs and one-third light WIMPs. That would be perfectly allowable from everything we’ve seen.”

Yet the nugget of gold for which all three experiments search is a very valuable one. And even though the search is difficult, all three scientists agreed that it’s worthwhile because glimpsing dark matter would reveal insight into a large portion of the universe.

"Cold Dark Matter: An Exploded View" Art Print by Cornelia Parker. An artistic interpretation of Dark Matter. (Credit: Cornelia Parker)
“Cold Dark Matter: An Exploded View” Art Print by Cornelia Parker. An artistic interpretation of Dark Matter. (Credit: Cornelia Parker)

“We’re all looking and somewhere, maybe even now, there’s a little bit of data that will cause someone to have an ‘Ah ha!’ moment,” said Harry Nelson, professor of physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara and science lead for the LUX upgrade, called LUX-ZEPLIN. “This idea that there’s something out there that we can’t sense yet is one of those things that sends chills down my spine.”

Via: Kavi Institute