Events
Colloquia
- All Cornell community members should take personal responsibility and demonstrate COVID-19 etiquette.
- Hybrid participation: Zoom and in person (Rm 105 Space Sciences Building)
Date | Topic | Speaker | |||
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08/31/2023 | On the Nature of Fast Radio Bursts | Gold Lecture - Vicky Kaspi | |||
09/07/2023 | "IT TAKES TWO: ON THE SECULAR AND STOCHASTIC DYNAMICS OF THE WEIRD WIDE BINARIES IN THE MILKY WAY" |
Chris Hamilton, Institute for Advanced Study | |||
09/14/2023 |
"The CCAT Project: Status, Prospects and Early Science" |
Gordon Stacey, CCAT, Dept of Astronomy, Cornell University | |||
09/21/2023 |
“Trojan Odyssey: NASA’s Lucy Discovery Mission and the Quest for Solar System Origins” |
Jim Bell, Arizona State University | |||
09/28/2023 | "Galaxies in the Radio and their Dynamic Components" | Dillon Dong, Caltech | |||
10/05/2023 |
"The Origins of the Universe's Fastest Transients" |
Wen-fai Fong, Northwestern University | |||
10/12/2023 | "Exploration of the Solar System via Sample Return Missions" | Terzian Lecture - Meenakshi Wadhwa, Arizona State U | |||
10/19/2023 |
"Looking for cracks in the cosmological model" |
Jo Dunkley, Princeton University | |||
10/26/2023 |
"Discovering sources of millihertz gravitational radiation using photons from synoptic surveys" |
Kevin Burdge, MIT | |||
11/02/2023 | TBA |
TBA
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11/09/2023 | TBA | Gordon Lecture: Dr. Heino Falcke | |||
11/16/2023 | "The Chaotic Lives of Planetary Systems" | Dan Tamayo, Harvey Mudd College | |||
11/30/2023 | TBA | Maryame El Moutamid,Senior Research Associate, CCAPS, Cornell University
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Planetary Lunch
The Planetary Lunch Seminar Series (PLunch) is an informal seminar series with talks that are relevant to everybody with an interest in planetary science. Speakers include both members of the Cornell community and visitors. Talks are aimed to appeal to and presented by faculty members, research associates, and both graduate and undergraduate students from various academic departments. The seminars will be on the Mondays listed below at 12:15 pm in the Terzian Conference Room (Rm 622 Space Sciences Bldg). To view via Zoom, please email Peiyu Wu (pw443@cornell.edu) for the link.
NOTE:
- In person attendance is restricted to Cornell students, staff and faculty.
- All Cornell community members should take personal responsibility and demonstrate COVID-19 etiquette.
Date
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Topic
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Speaker
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Aug 28, 2023 | “Dynamics of white-dwarf planetary systems: origins of metal pollution and short-period companions” |
Christopher O'Connor (Cornell) |
Sep 18, 2023
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"The Volcanism of Io: How its Largest Eruptions Have Changed Over Time" |
Christian Tate (Cornell)
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Oct 3, 2023 | CANCELLLED | |
Oct 16, 2023 | TBD | Maryse Napoleoni (Freie Univ. Berlin) |
Oct 30, 2023 | TBD | An Foster (Cornell) |
Nov 13, 2023 | TBD | Sagnick Mukherjee (UCSC) |
Nov 27, 2023 |
Astrophysics Lunch
Astrophysics Lunch is a series of informal talks on topics related to theoretical astrophysics, gravitational physics, and cosmology. Speakers are free to present their own research or present papers that they find of particular interest. The audience consists of faculty members, research staff, as well as graduate and undergraduate students, so talks should be at a level accessible to most. Astrophysics Lunch is open to talks from all members of the Cornell community, as well as to visiting scientists. We will reschedule a local speaker in order to accommodate visitors.
Astrophysics Lunch is held every Wednesday during the academic year at 12:15 PM. Please contact Larry Kidder (kidder@astro.cornell.edu) for further information.
NOTE:
- In person attendance is restricted to Cornell students, staff and faculty.
- All Cornell community members should take personal responsibility and demonstrate COVID-19 etiquette.
- In-person participation only in the Terzian Conference Room (Rm 622).
Date | Topic | Speaker |
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Aug 30, 2023 | Informal discussion on FRBs and Neutron Stars | Vicky Kaspi (McGill) & Dong Lai |
Sep 6, 2023 | "Planetesimal Formation Instigated by Diffusive Instabilities" |
Konstantin Gerbig (Yale) |
Sep 13, 2023 |
"Exploring the Nonlinear Nature |
Keefe Mitman (Caltech) |
Sep 20, 2023 | ||
Sep 27, 2023 | Cancelled | |
Oct 4, 2023 | "Developing and Examining Beyond-GR Waveforms" | Marceline Bonilla (Cal State Fullerton) |
Oct 11, 2023 | "Bringing Mars Samples Back to Earth" | Meenakshi Wadhwa (ASU) |
Oct 18, 2023 | TBA | Deborah Ferguson (U. Illinois) |
Oct 25, 2023 | TBA | Mike Pajkos (Caltech) |
Nov 1, 2023 | TBA | Padi Boyd (NASA Goddard) |
Nov 8, 2023 | TBA | Heino Falcke (Radboud U.) |
Nov 15, 2023 | TBA | Derek Fox (Penn State) |
Nov 22, 2023 | Thanksgiving Break | |
Nov 29, 2023 | TBD | Max Isi (Flatiron Institute) |
Dec 6, 2023 |
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Dec 13, 2023 |
Galaxy and Cosmology Lunch
The Galaxy and Cosmology Lunch Series is held on the Tuesdays listed below, from 12:00 to 1:00 in the Terzian Conference Room (Rm 622 SSB) and via zoom. Please email Jill Tarbell (jtm14@cornell.edu) for zoom link.
NOTE:
- In person attendance is restricted to Cornell students, staff and faculty.
- All Cornell community members should take personal responsibility and demonstrate COVID-19 etiquette.
In general, the topics are related to galactic and extragalactic astronomy, and large-scale structure. The audience consists of faculty members, research staff, as well as graduate and undergraduate students. Galaxy Lunch is open to talks from all members of the Cornell Astronomy department, as well as to visiting scientists and speakers from different disciplines/departments.
Date | Topic | Speaker |
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Aug 29, 2023 |
Welcome & Introduction |
All |
Sep 05, 2023 | "Magnification bias estimators for realistic surveys – an application to BOSS" | Lukas Wenzl |
Sep 12, 2023 | "Creating [CII] luminosity models and maps for the COSMOS field at the epoch of reionization" |
Jonathan Clarke (U. Koeln) |
Sep 19, 2023 |
"Effect of Atmospheric Noise on |
Ankur Dev (U. Bonn) |
Sep 26, 2023 | "Can cosmologists do astrophysics: submillimeter line intensity mapping" | Christos Karoumpis (U. Bonn) |
Oct 03, 2023 | CANCELLED | |
Oct 10, 2023 | FALL BREAK (no lecture) | |
Oct 17, 2023 | Cancelled | Cancelled |
Oct 24, 2023 | TBD | Lawrence Lin |
Oct 31, 2023 |
TBD |
Amit Vishwas |
Nov 07, 2023 | TBD | Ben Keller |
Nov 14, 2023 | TBD | Alicia Middleton |
Nov 21, 2023 | ||
Nov 28, 2023 | ||
Dec 05, 2023 |
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The Thomas Gold Lecture Series
On the occasion of the retirement of the world famous astrophysicist, Tommy Gold, the University established the Thomas Gold Lectureship in Astronomy to bring outstanding scientists to Cornell for brief visits.
Former Thomas Gold Lecturers:
- 1987-88: Peter Goldreich (Caltech)
- 1988-89 Joseph Taylor (Princeton)
- 1989-90 Martin Rees (University of Cambridge)
- 1990-91 Dennis Sciama (University of Oxford)
- 1991-92 Gordon Pettengill (MIT)
- 1992-93 Tony Hewish (University of Cambridge)
- 1993-94 Irwin Shapiro (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics)
- 1994-95 Wallace Sargent (Caltech)
- 1995-96 Lyman Spitzer (Princeton)
- 1996-97 Igor Novikov (Theoretical Astrophysics Center, Copenhagen)
- 1997-98 David Schramm (University of Chicago)
- 1998-99 Mal Ruderman (Columbia University)
- 1999-00 Bohdan Paczynski (Princeton)
- 2000-01 Clifford Will (Washington University)
- 2001-02 Frank Shu (UC Berkeley)
- 2002-03 Vera Rubin (Carnegie Institution of Washington)
- 2003-04 Charles Townes (UC Berkeley)
- 2004-05 Geoff Marcy (UC Berkeley)
- 2005-06 Roger Blandford (Stanford University)
- 2006-07 Andrew Lyne (University of Manchester)
- 2009-10 Don Brownlee (University of Washington)
- 2010-11 Rashid Sunyaev (Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics)
- 2011-12 Maria Zuber (MIT)
- 2012-13 David Jewitt (UCLA)
- 2013-14 J. Richard Bond (University of Toronto)
- 2014-15 Reinhard Genzel (Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics)
- 2015-16 Simon White (Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics)
- 2016-17 Adam Burrows (Princeton)
- 2017-18 Renu Malhotra (U. Arizona)
- 2018-19 Bruce Draine (Princeton)
- 2021-22 Scott Tremaine (U. Toronto)
- 2022-23 Alessandro Morbidelli (Lagrange, Observatoire de la Cote d'Azur)
Upcoming:
- August 31, 2023: Victoria Kaspi (McGill University)
The Salpeter Lecture Series
The Salpeter Lecture Series was established in 1998 to honor Professor Edwin E. Salpeter, one of the most important astrophysicists of the 20th century. Under the auspices of the lectureship, distinguished astronomers and astrophysicists are invited to visit Cornell for one to two weeks.
Former Salpeter Lecturers:
- 1999 Sterl Phinney (CalTech)
- 2000 Lars Bildsten (Univ. California-Berkeley)
- 2001 Dave Stevenson (CalTech)
- 2002 John Carlstrom (Univ. Chicago)
- 2003 Shri Kulkarni (CalTech)
- 2004 Andrea Ghez (UCLA)
- 2005 Victoria Kaspi (McGill)
- 2006 Avi Loeb (Harvard)
- 2007 Jonathan Lunine (Univ. of Arizona)
- 2008 Alexei Filippenko (Univ. California-Berkeley)
- 2009 Gilles Chabrier (ENS Lyon)
- 2010 David Spergel (Princeton University)
- 2011 Sara Seager (MIT)
- 2012 Elliot Quataert (UC Berkeley)
- 2013 Eve Ostriker (Princeton)
- 2014 Adam Showman (University of Arizona)
- 2015 Daniel Eisenstein (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics)
- 2016 Fiona A. Harrison (California Institute of Technology)
- 2017 Alyssa Goodman (Harvard)
- 2018 Fred Rasio (Northwestern)
- 2019 May Ruth Murray-Clay (UCSC)
- 2019 Nov Brian Metzger (Columbia University)
- 2022 Vicky Kalogera (Northwestern University)
Upcoming lecturer planned for March 30, 2023: Matias Zaldarriaga, IAS Princeton
The Yervant Terzian Lecture Series
On the occasion of Yervant Terzian's 70th birthday, the University established the Yervant Terzian Lectureship in Astronomy to bring outstanding scientists to Cornell for brief visits. The Lectureship was endowed by a generous gift from Friend of Astronomy Charles Mund, Jr.
Former Terzian Lecturers:
- 2010 Nobel Prize Winner, John C. Mather (NASA/GSFC)
- 2011 Mario Livio (Space Telescope Science Institute)
- 2012 Nobel Prize Winner, Michel Mayor (University of Geneva, Switzerland)
- 2013 Jay Pasachoff (Williams College)
- 2014 Bruce Balick (University of Washington)
- 2015 Ken Kellermann (National Radio Astronomy Observatory)
- 2016 Nobel Prize Winner, Kip Thorne (California Institute of Technology)
- 2017 Shri Kulkarni (Director Caltech Optical Observatories) (Watch Dr Kulkarni's Lecture The Restless Universe (Palomar Transient Factory)
- 2018 Silvia Torres-Peimbert (National Autonomous University of Mexico)
- 2021 Shep Doeleman (Harvard University)
- 2022 Paul Davies (Arizona State University)
Upcoming: - October 12, 2023: Meenakshi Wadhwa (Arizona State)
The William E. and Elva F. Gordon Distinguished Lectureship
William E. Gordon, then professor of electrical engineering at Cornell, proposed the construction of the Arecibo telescope in 1958 to study the Earth's ionosphere via the incoherent scatter of powerful radio waves from the individual electrons in the ionospheric plasma. He also understood that the telescope would be able to make significant contributions to planetary science and the then relatively new field of radio astronomy. Gordon raised the funding for the telescope and organized its construction. Completed in 1963, the 305m (1000ft) diameter telescope and its powerful radar systems were continuously upgraded over the intervening years and were used to made major advances in the areas of ionospheric physics, radio astronomy and planetary science. Sadly, after fifty-seven years of ground-breaking contributions to astronomy, planetary science and ionospheric physics the telescope collapsed on December 1, 2020.
The Gordon Lectures are made possible by an endowment by Tom and Betty Talpey. Tom and Betty Talpey were one of the families that moved with the Gordon's to Arecibo in the summer of 1960 to supervise the telescope's construction and build the observing instrumentation.
Former Gordon Lecturers:
- 2002 Harold Ewen (University of Massachusetts)
- 2003 Tor Hagfors (Max Planck Institute for Aeronomy)
- 2005 Gordon Pettengill (MIT)
- 2006 Jocelyn Bell Burnell (University of Oxford)
- 2008 Lewis Duncan (Rollins College)
- 2009 Shri Kulkarni (Caltech)
- 2011 Joint Lecture & Arecibo Observatory Staff Event:
Donald Farley (Cornell University)
Miguel Feyjoo (Engineer)
Herbert Carlson (Utah State University)
Carl Heiles (UC Berkeley)
Donald B. Campbell (Cornell University) - 2013 Lara Waldrop (Univ. Illinois Urbana-Champaign) and Jean-Luc Margot (UCLA)
- 2015 Xavier Siemens (Univ. of Wisconsin-Milwaukee)
- 2018 Gregg Hallinan (Caltech)
- 2019 Amelie Saintonge (University College London)
- 2021 Maura McLaughlin (West Virginia University)
- 2022 Mark Devlin (University of Pennsylvania)
Upcoming: - November 9, 2023: Heino Falcke (Radboud University, Nijmegen)