Somehow, the third and final full day of the 218th meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) has come and gone. It seems like just yesterday that I got to beautiful, if not quite sunny, Boston, Massachusetts!
The day began with an unusual talk, “Demographics in Astronomy and Astrophysics.” James Ulvestad of the National Science Foundation (NSF) was careful to stress he was giving his own views and didn’t speak for the NSF as a whole. He spoke about the growing fragmentation of the astronomy community, something he found “a little bit disturbing,” and the huge number of astronomy Ph.D.’s given in relation to the number of academic positions available in the United States (more than 4 times as many degrees as jobs). “This is not something to be depressed about,” he stressed. “You just need to be aware of the situation.” Individual astronomers and organizations need to do a better job of illuminating students on the variety of nonacademic positions out there, and to be more supportive of them.
Naturally, in a talk about demographics, Ulvestad also deplored the lack of minorities within the field of astronomy, calling the representation by women and racial minorities “abysmal.” It’s easy to forget in the 21st century how important it still is to be inclusive of these apparently marginalized folks, but diversity remains a key to innovation, he said, so astronomers need to work on this now. I found the call to arms rousing, but I noticed a guy in the row in front of me buying tickets to Boston’s Duck Tours during the talk, so perhaps Ulvestad has his work cut out for him.
The most complete map of the local universe in 3-D is, naturally, a beautiful sight by itself (purple dots are nearer galaxies, extending through the rainbow to red dots as the farthest galaxies). The gap in the middle is from the Milky Way’s stars and dust, which obscure farther galaxies. // Map by T. H. Jarrett (IPAC/SSC)
Up next was a press conference featuring a variety of topics: “An astronomical assortment.” The
legacy of former AAS President John Huchra again came up with the first topic, which concerned the newly released 2MASS Redshift Survey that has produced the most complete 3-D map of the local universe. “This is really John’s survey,” said Karen Masters of the University of Portsmouth in the United Kingdom; he was the driving force behind it and even wrote most of the upcoming journal paper describing the survey.
Following that, Farid Salama of NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California, spoke about the “Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Translucent Interstellar Clouds” — or, basically, the dirt between stars. For the first time, recent lab experiments have allowed astronomers to compare individual light profiles of these complex molecules in space to known ones in the lab, enabling them to better understand the makeup of this pervasive dust.
For the final “astronomical assortment,” Peter Foukal of Heliophysics, Inc., brought it all home with a metaphorical look at the Sun (which, remember, you should never do literally). Recent breakthroughs in solar brightness observations suggest our star may have been at least partially responsible for the “Little Ice Age” between roughly 1550 and 1850. Tuesday night’s final speaker, Hendrik Spruit, hinted at such a connection, but didn’t say much beyond how “controversial and political” a theory it was, so it was nice to hear a bit more about this interesting idea.
Debra Fischer of Yale University spoke about exoplanets past and present Wednesday at the 218th meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS). // Bill Andrews photo
I then managed to squeeze in one more exoplanet talk for the week, and this one happened to feature a familiar face — or at least a familiar rhetorical style. Yale University’s Debra Fischer, who wrote
Astronomy’s October 2010 cover story, “How astronomers will find another Earth,” gave a lecture titled “From Hot Jupiters to Habitable Worlds.” As she eyed the packed crowd, she said “This is a field that has exploded,” and the various exoplanet-related sessions (and their popularity) would seem to bear her out. She started with the history of exoplanet research and moved through to the present era, exploring the various methods of discovery, before getting to the current state of knowledge. Perhaps the most important recent development is the relative abundance of rocky, earthlike worlds out there, which until recently had been overshadowed by the bigger, gassier “hot Jupiter” type planets. “Earths are pretty common,” she said, with about 7 times as many super Earths as Jupiters. “That’s pretty exciting.”
Speaking of which, the next session I attended focused on ways to use astronomy to help make college physics classes more interesting. The speakers elaborated on various means, such as cosmology, planetary nebulae, and yes, even exoplanets, to teach the basic concepts of physics. As Harvard’s David Charbonneau put it, why use meaningless balls and frictionless planes to illustrate these ideas when you can use distant worlds and galaxies instead? The talks focused a little too heavily on specific teaching advice for my taste, but it was still interesting to learn new and creative ways this old science can be taught.
The final talk returned to one of my — and everyone else’s, it seems —favorite topics as Ryan Hickox of Durham University in the United Kingdom discussed “What Drives the Growth of Black Holes?” Beginning with the definitions of a black hole, their supermassive, super-bright, and galaxy-centering forms as Active Galactic Nuclei, and even their ultra-bright iterations as quasars, Hickox led the packed audience through what’s presently known about these enigmatic objects. In particular, he described the theory that quasar galaxies (perhaps brought on by galactic mergers) could be an intermediate step between younger star-forming bluer galaxies and older “dead” red galaxies. By switching between admittedly primitive cartoon models and cutting-edge visual simulations, Hickox did a great job explaining such a complex topic to the general audience.
The AAS tried something new this time around, holding a closing reception full of food, fun, and door prizes. Early judgments call it a success. // Elizabeth Zakszewski photo
And then, once again, it was time to venture to the nearby Fairmont Copley Plaza, this time for the closing reception (the timing of which made me feel a little bad for Thursday’s presenters). It was actually the first time AAS has tried having a closing reception, and between the nine door prizes, the delicious free food (more crab cakes!), and the friendly atmosphere, I’d say it was a good idea (even if I didn’t win anything).
Well, that’s it! I don’t know how the week has gone by so quickly [insert relativity joke here], but my time in Boston is almost at an end. And just like last time, I’ll be sorry to leave. Yet I’m starting to get a little homesick for Wisconsin by now, so I’ll probably be all right.
Related blogs
On the Road: American Astronomical Society May 2011 meeting, Tuesday recap
On the Road: American Astronomical Society May 2011 meeting, Monday recap
On the Road: American Astronomical Society May 2011 meeting, Sunday recap