February 25, 2013

Dear all,

Today is the deadline for the Undergraduate Research Symposium!  Don't forget to submit your abstract:  http://exp.washington.edu/urp/symp/index.html    Please read below for some important spring quarter announcements.

ASTR 480: Astronomy 480 for spring is currently full with a wait list.  If you are a graduating senior and need this course to complete degree requirements please email Dr. Larson (larson@astro.washington.edu) ASAP to enroll.  Starting March 4 (the beginning of period 2 registration) the remaining wait listed seats will open to non-graduating students.

ASTR 270: Spring quarter is when we offer our public outreach course where you learn how to give public presentations on Astronomy.  You can either work on giving planetarium shows or giving a talk at the Jacobsen Observatory.  This is a great course to work on your public presentation skills as well as use your creativity to design your own presentation/show.  Check out the course website for more details: http://www.astro.washington.edu/courses/astro270/

ASTR 497 A "The History of Astronomy: Case Studies" spring quarter class: Here's a new course that may interest you if you'd like to take a serious look at the overall history of astronomy. We will study the history and do calculations to understand the astronomy of the different eras.  Contact Prof. Sullivan if you wish to learn more.

 ASTR 497A for Sp12 =  "The History of Astronomy: Case Studies"       3 credits

 Instructor:  Prof. W.T. Sullivan, III

 times:  WF  4:00-5:15 pm

 prerequisite:  ASTR 321, 322, 323 (ASTR 323 can be taken concurrently)

max students: 10

 "The History of Astronomy: Case Studies"

This seminar course will look in detail at many case studies of the development of astronomy from ancient times until the twentieth century. We will read original texts, as well as analyses by historians of astronomy. Each student will make both a short oral presentation and a longer talk based on a historical research project of his/her own choice. The case studies may well include: (1) Calculating the orbit and position of Mars according to Ptolemy's theory (2nd c. AD); (2) Kepler's Laws and the Music of the Spheres (~1600); (3)  William Herschel's structure of the Milky Way (~1800); (4) calculated ages of the Earth and Sun in the 19th century; (5) analysis  in the 1920s by Hubble and others of  the velocity-redshift relation of spiral nebulae (galaxies); (6) determining the distances and nature of the first radio sources (~1950). Other cases will also be covered, including some suggested by students.

Physics GRE Study Group survey:  As spring/summer approaches so does studying for the Physics GRE subject exam.  This exam is required for admissions into Astronomy and Physics PhD programs.  The Department has informally sponsored summer study groups and we want to get your thoughts on what you might find the most helpful.   https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1_Yk1VmQ7fxannQ0d8SPOOvuO9pUy3bug1eVdryX__KY/viewform

Student wanted for an ASTR 499 project: Prof. Woody Sullivan is looking for an undergrad to act as  "curator" and developer for the Webcam and related material for the large sundial  on the wall of the UW Physics/Astronomy Bldg.:  http://sunny.astro.washington.edu . Look at this unique website to get some idea of what the project is all about. We want to make it even better. The new student will start in Sp13 and continue through the 2013-14 academic year.

Largely due to the skills of Ian Smith, the student who has worked with me and is graduating in June, we now have almost 2 years of monitoring of the sundial at one-minute intervals all day long, rain or shine. The Webcam is located inside a window in Hitchcock Hall, across the street from the PAA building (see the website for more details). 

The core responsibility of the undergrad is to monitor the operation of the webcam and its associated software and website, and fix things as needed. Our setup is now very reliable, but nothing works 100.0% of the time. In addition to this, other possible projects (depending on student interest) are:

- make more time-lapse movies using the archived images already gathered (two examples can be seen on the present website).

- improve the user experience on the website, in particular by allowing them to read the time even when it's cloudy in Seattle! (This would be done by overlaying the live Webcam image with a calculated shadow.)

- Similarly, allow the user to read the time even if the sun is not above the horizon in Seattle! (This is done by calculating the sun's shadow position as if sunlight could penetrate the Earth - consider this a "neutrino sundial"!)

- participate in projects associated with almost 40,000 images of the  "MarsDials," which are on the Mars Rovers Spirit and Opportunity. Two students are already working on this, but there is always room for more talent and good ideas.

Here are the ideal capabilities of the new student - the more you have of these items, the better you're suited!

* Some experience programming; Javascript would be best.

* Knowledge of Linux and feeling comfortable on the command line.

* Strong sense of responsibility, since large amounts of data will be cared for.

* Good mathematical skills in geometry 

* Interest (including artistic) in manipulating and processing images

* Knowledge of CSS to make the website look good.

Contact Prof. Sullivan for more details:  woody@astro.washington.edu, 206-543-7773, Room PAT C318

Orion Project Presentation: All students/faculty are invited to a presentation on the NASA Orion Project.  Orion, a Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, is a planned beyond-low-earth-orbit manned spacecraft that is being built by Lockheed Martin for NASA for crewed missions to the Moon, asteroids and Mars. It is planned to be launched by the Space Launch System.

NASA will plan on having two UW alum (Howard Hu, Deputy of the Orion Vehicle Integration Office and Nujoud Merancy, Orion Systems Engineer) on hand to give a presentation and answer questions with students and professors from across the university.  They will talk about what’s in store for NASA’s Orion Program going forward.  NASA has an exciting test flight in 2014 that they will be able to talk about as well as how their education at Univ of Wash helped get them to where they are today.

Students and faculty from all disciplines are invited to attend the event.

What: NASA Orion Project Presentation

When: February 26th, 2:30pm

Where: Guggenheim, Room 220

Colloquium: This Thursday at 4pm in PAA A102, Nicholas Law (Univ of Toronto) will give a talk on "Finding Planets Around the Nearest and Brightest Stars: a North Pole Adventure".  Join us at 3:45pm in the foyer for coffee, tea and cookies.

Page O'Announcements: http://pageoannouncements.blogspot.com/ Don't forget to check out the blog for campus announcements, classes and much more!  I also post the weekly AAS Committee on the Status of Women email which has some great articles for reading if you're interested.

Have a great week,
Sarah