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Cassini mission subject of tonight's Astronomy Days lecture at museum

The second in the Bradbury Science Museum’s Astronomy Days series of talks is this evening. At 7 p.m., Michelle Thomsen of Space and Atmospheric Science (ISR-1) will describe some of the what and the why of the scientific objectives for the Cassini spacecraft at Saturn.

Thomsen, a technical staff member and Laboratory Fellow, was a member of the Pioneer 10 and 11 teams for the first encounters with Jupiter and Saturn. She is now a member of the Cassini/CAPS instrument team.

At 7 p.m. Thursday, Ed Fenimore will discuss “Gamma-ray Bursts: The Most Amazing Events in the Universe.” The lecture will center on the wonders of gamma-ray bursts, how scientists at the Lab are able to study them, and how Los Alamos has been at the center of gamma-ray bursts starting with the discovery in 1973.

Fenimore is a Laboratory Fellow and team leader of Astrophysics and Radiation Measurement (ISR-2). Except for a six-month visiting professorship at the Japanese Institute of Space and Astronautical Science in Tokyo, Fenimore has been at Los Alamos since 1978. He has won the Los Alamos Distinguished Performance Award five times, the Los Alamos Distinguish Mentor Award and was named a Fellow in 1998.

Astronomy Days continues next week with Rene Reifarth of Neutron and Nuclear Science (LANSCE-3) discussing “Origin of the Elements” at 7 p.m., Monday, June 21; followed by Tom Vestrand of ISR-1 talking about “Robotic Telescopes” at 7 p.m., Wednesday, June 23; and Herb Funsten of the Center for Space Science and Exploration (ISR-CSSE) discussing “The Heliosphere” at 7 p.m., Thursday, June 24.

Astronomy Days and its lectures help support the Laboratory's hosting of the Earthwatch Institute's Student Challenge Awards Program entitled "Transient Phenomena in Astrophysics." This program brings eight high-school students from around the country to Los Alamos for two weeks to be exposed to aspects of research in astrophysics.

The Bradbury Science Museum is part of the Public Affairs Office. It is located at 15th Street and Central Avenue in Los Alamos. Museum hours, apart from the special events, are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Friday and 1 to 5 p.m., Saturday, Sunday and Monday. There is no admission fee to attend museum events.

For more information, call Pat Berger at the museum at 5-0896.

-- Brenna Moore

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