Astronomy related talks continue at the Bradbury Science Museum

This evening, Galen Gisler of Thermonuclear Applications (X-2) will talk about Cosmology - What we've learned about the universe and its beginning. Information will be presented about how the world around us offers numerous clues as to its age and origins, such as the darkness of the night sky and the distances and distributions of celestial objects and their radiative signatures.

Gisler, received his Ph.D. in astrophysics from the University of Cambridge in 1976. Following postdoctoral appointments at the Leiden University Observatory and the Kitt Peak National Observatory, and a staff appointment at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, he joined the Laboratory in 1981. His present research interests include astrophysical transients, cosmology, and particle acceleration in space and astrophysical plasmas, star formation and asteroid impacts.

Jack Hills of Theoretical Astrophysics (T-6) will talk Wednesday evening about asteroids.

Thursday evening, the topic is Probing Intergalactic Space with Modern Radio Telescopes. Philipp Kronberg of the Los Alamos' Institute for Geoplanetary Physics (IGPP) will describe how modern radio telescopes are able to make detailed images, and a little bit about the history of radio instruments over the past 40 years. Recent state-of-the-art images will show some important ways in which current radio telescopes are being used to explore intergalactic space.

Kronberg, a graduate of, and faculty member of, the University of Manchester (UK), has chaired advisory and management boards of major scientific organizations and facilities in the U.S. and Canada. In February 2002 he moved to the Laboratory, where he is currently the Orson Anderson Scholar at the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics.

Astronomy Days is an annual event at the museum and the lectures help introduce Earthwatch students visiting the Laboratory to the field of astrophysics. The eight high school age students, accepted into the Earthwatch Student Challenge Awards Program, participate in a variety of activities over a two week period coordinated and designed by Lab staff members.

The Bradbury Science Museum is located at 15th and Central in Los Alamos. For more information, call the museum at 5-0896.

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