December 15, 2023: Speaker: David Gerdes, Chair of UM Physics Department, “Shadow of a Fossil: Stellar Occultations and NASA’s Lucy Mission to Jupiter’s Trojan Asteroids” Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids, thousands of small icy worlds that orbit the sun 60 degrees behind or ahead of Jupiter, bear clues to our solar system’s formation history. NASA’s Lucy spacecraft,…
Lowbrow Officer’s Meeting, June 9, 2021
Officers Meeting of the University Lowbrow Astronomers March 5, 2016
September 20, 2019: Matt Linke (Planetarium Director). “The New U of M Museum of Natural History Planetarium.” For many years the University of Michigan hosted a museum, known as the “Exhibit Museum,” in a building on the university’s central campus. In recent years, the name of the museum was changed to the “Museum of Natural…
June 21: Zachary Constan (Outreach Coordinator, National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory at MSU). “Fantastic Nuclei and Where to Find Them.” Nuclei are combinations of protons and neutrons found in the center of atoms. Nuclei come in different types, some such as Carbon-12 or Nitrogen-14 are stable. Others such as Carbon-14 are unstable or radioactive. Unstable nuclei…
March 15, 2019: Tom Drummond (Retired Public School Teacher). “Orion’s Quest Program: Authentic Research for Today’s Youth.” Tom Drummond spoke about Orion’s Quest Program. This program pairs classes of public-school students with cutting edge researchers to help with data collection from experiments running on the International Space Station. For example, experiments in space often have…
January 18: Fred Adams (UM Physics & UM Astronomy). “Planet Nine From Outer Space.” Fred Adams gave a presentation on the search for a ninth planet in our solar system. In 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) approved a definition of the word “planet.” Before this, the solar system was considered to have 9 planets,…
Sally Oey (UM Astronomy). Light pollution. Professor Sally Oey has led efforts to reduce light pollution in Southeast Michigan. She maintains an email list where light pollution issues are discussed. She spoke to the group about the detrimental impact of light pollution on astronomy viewing and on migratory birds and sea animals. She spoke of…
2 Topics as follows: (1) Dave Jorgensen (Lowbrows). “Micro LIGO.” Dave Jorgensen gave a presentation on his home-made interferometer he dubbed “Micro LIGO.” The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) is a large-scale physics experiment and observatory designed to detect cosmic gravitational waves. LIGO consists of two large observatories and first detected gravitational waves in 2015….
January 19: James W. Cutler (UM Aerospace Engineering). “Small Space Explorers.” Dr. James W. Cutler gave a talk on CubeSats. CubeSats are a class of small research spacecraft built to standard dimensions. They vary in size and weight but are always less than 1 cubic foot in size and typically weigh less than 20 pounds….
Sandra Macika (Warren Astronomical Society). “Meteorites and Tektites: Types and Composition – Part 2: Chondrites.” Sandra Macika spoke to the group about meteorites and their composition. Samples of her collection from around the world were presented to the audience for their examination. Sandra had given part 1 of her talk to the club in July…
Ken Bertin (Warren Astronomical Society). “Eclipses: How and Why They Happen.” Ken Bertin spoke to the group about eclipses. There is no recording of Ken’s talk with the Lowbrows, but Ken gave a similar talk to the Warren Astronomical Society watch that talk here. Return to list of all meetings.
Correction (November 2017): Front Page listed the issue as VOLUME 41, ISSUE 6 should be VOLUME 41 ISSUE 7.
Correction (October 2017): Front Page listed the issue as AUGUST 2017 should have been SEPTEMBER 2017. All odd pages listed as JULY 2017 should have been SEPTEMBER 2017.
Correction (September 2017): Front Page listed the issue as VOLUME 41 ISSUE 4. It should have been VOLUME 41 ISSUE 5. Correction (May 31, 2023): All odd pages listed as JULY 2017 should have been AUGUST 2017.
2 topics as follows: (1) Sandra Macika (Warren Astronomical Society). “Meteorites and Tektites: Types and Composition – Part 1: Differentiated.” Sandra Macika (Warren Astronomical Society) spoke to the group about meteorites and their composition. Samples of her collection from around the world were presented to the audience for their examination. Sandra had given part 1…
January 20, 2017: Paul Walkowski (Lowbrows). “Building a Ten Inch Edscope.” Paul Walkowski built a beautiful 10” wooden telescope many years ago. However, this scope was heavy and difficult to move around. He decided to build a new telescope, that wasn’t as heavy. After completion of this scope, the result was a reduction in weight…
Fred Adams (UM Physics and UM Astronomy). “Fine-Tuning the Universe.” Dr. Fred Adams gave a presentation on his recent work. He discussed how much the universe can be “fine-tuned” and still support the structures we see in the universe (planets, stars and galaxies) and also support life. He looked at this question from a number…
Jodi and Roy McCullough (Lowbrows). “Solar Eclipse Chasing and Getting ready for 2017.” Jodi and Roy McCullough just returned from a trip to Indonesia to view a total solar eclipse. They talked about their experience eclipse chasing in Indonesia, Svalbard and Australia. They presented material on eclipses and photos of their eclipse chasing trips. They…
Vivienne Baldassar (PhD student, UM Astronomy). “Teeny super massive black holes.” For a summary of this talk, see Don Fohey. (May 2011). “University Lowbrow Astronomers, 3/18/2016 Meeting Minutes.” Reflections of the University Lowbrow Astronomers, pp. 7-8. Summary Return to list of all meetings.
2 topics as follows… (1) Pat Seitzer (UM Astronomy) and Mel Drumm (Director of the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum). “The Fate of the Old Angell Hall Telescopes (a 10-inch refractor and a 15-inch reflector).” (2) Ken Bertin (Warren Astronomical Society). “Galileo Galilei, the giant whose shoulders both Newton and Einstein mentioned they stood upon.” Ken…
Minutes of the University Lowbrow Astronomers for the Year 2015
Thierry Legault (French astronomer, specialist in astrophotography). “Examples of Astrophotography and Techniques.” Thierry Legault talked to the club about astrophotography. See Thierry’s website: http://www.astrophoto.fr/ For more details about this talk:Charlie Nielsen (photo by Thierry Legault). (March 2016). “2015 In Review.” Reflections of the University Lowbrow Astronomers, p. 2. [Here] Return to list of all meetings.
November 20, 2015: Brother Guy J. Consolmagno, SJ (Director of the Vatican Observatory). “Vesta and the Chaotic Formation of Planets.” Brother Guy J. Consolmagno, SJ (Director of the Vatican Observatory) spoke to the club about formation of planets in our solar system. Since his last talk to the club, he has become the Director of…
2 topics as follows… (1) Emily Rauscher (UM Astronomy). “Peering into the atmospheres of exoplanets.” For a summary of this talk, see: David Jorgensen (June 2015). “Lowbrow Monthly Meeting Minutes, May 15, 2015.” Reflections of the University Lowbrow Astronomers, p. 8. Here (2) Matt Linke, (UM Planetarium Director). Status of the new University of Michigan…
2 topics as follows… (1) Elections. (2) Michael Meade (Lowbrows). “Northern Exposure: A Total Solar Eclipse Over the Faroe Islands.” Mike Meade talked to the club about solar eclipses. This talk included:The Timing and Geometry of Solar Eclipses. His latest solar eclipse trip (March 2015) which included a stop in Paris (where Charles Messier made…
March 20: Don Fohey (Lowbrows). “Build you own shaft encoder to Sky Safari device using Arduino Uno and a Bluetooth Modem.” Don Fohey gave a presentation about interfacing digital encoders mounted on an Alt-Az scope with Sky Safari using wireless communication (Blue Tooth) and an Arduino Uno computer system. The system could easily be applied…
Carl Akerlof (UM Physics). “Radio Astronomy on the Roof – Two Undergrad Experiments in Astrophysics & Cosmology.” For a summary of this talk, see: Dave Snyder. (March 2015). “Lowbrow Meeting Minutes February 20, 2015, 7:30 PM.” Reflections of the University Lowbrow Astronomers, p. 8. [Here] Return to list of all meetings.
Claude Pruneau (WSU Physics). “How studies at the CERN Large Hadron Collider inform us about the Big Bang!” For a summary of this talk, see: Dave Jorgensen. (March 2015). “Lowbrow Meeting Minutes Jan 16, 2015, 7:30PM.” Reflections of the University Lowbrow Astronomers, p. 7 [Here] Return to list of all meetings.
Minutes of the University Lowbrow Astronomers for the Year 2014
November 21, 2014: Brian Ottum (Lowbrows) and Stan Watson (Lowbrows). “Live Observing Using a Remote-Control Telescope — A Demonstration.” Brian Ottum (Lowbrows) and his friend Dr. Stan Watson built an observatory near the SW corner of New Mexico. This observatory can be operated from thousands of miles away. Brian and Stan demonstrated that a user…
Lowbrow ATM Group. “The Club’s 17.5” ATM Project.” The Lowbrow ATM Group gave a presentation on the 17.5-inch telescope project. The team had refigured an old Coulter 17.5-inch mirror and built a new club telescope around it. The telescope team carried on in the garage of VP David Jorgensen until it was determined that the…
Kevin Iott (Design engineer for Planewave Instruments). Planewave’s new 1-meter telescope. Kevin Iott, the design engineer for Planewave Instruments, presented the design of Planewave’s new 1 meter telescope. He explained the Corrected Dall-Kirkham optical design, and the direct drive motor system of the altitude, azimuth drive system. The telescope will have a Nasmyth Focus along…