Astrophysics REU 2011

U of Wisconsin-Madison

Schedule

 

Week 1

 

Tue, May 31 Travel to Madison

 

Tue, May 31 6:00 – 8:00 pm The Regent

              All program pizza dinner at the Regent (Informal group meeting at 6:30)

 

Wed, June 1 10:00 – Noon Chamberlin Hall 4274

              Astrophysics REU program orientation. Bagels, coffee, and juice. Brief tour

of Astronomy and Physics Departments.

             

Wed, June 1 11:00 – 2:30 pm Union South & Memorial Union

Lunch, ID cards & buss pass distribution

 

Wed, June 1 2:30 – 3:45 pm Chamberlin & Sterling Hall

Meet with Advisors

 

Wed, June 1 4:00 – 4:45 pm

University Tour: meet at the fountain in front of Engineering Hall

 

Wed, June 1 5:00 – 7:00 pm Varsity Hall 2, Union South

All-Programs Welcome Dinner, Italian Buffet & Ice Cream

             

Thu, June 2 10:30 – 11:00 am Astronomy Library

         Introduction to UW library resources with Kerry Kresse

 

Fri, June 3 12:00 – 1:30 pm 4421 Sterling Hall TBA

         Department of Astronomy Welcome Pizza Party!

 

Sat, June 4 6am-2pm [FarmerÕs Market] ¤

            Capitol Square. Held every Saturday morning during the summer, you can get all manner of fresh produce, as well as cheese curds so fresh they make your teeth squeak! (http://www.dcfm.org/)

 

 

Week 2

 

*Mon, June 6 10:45 – Noon Chamberlin Hall 4274

Astronomy Seminar series: Prof. Bob Benjamin, Department of Physics, UWW, ÒGalactic StructureÓ

 

Mon, June 6 1:30 – 2:30 REU Central (Sterling Hall 3521)

(tentative date/time)

Tutorial: Into to Unix and IDL with TBA

 

Week 3

 

Mon, June 13 10:45 – Noon Chamberlin Hall 4274

Astronomy Seminar series: Dr. Marsha Woif, Department of Astronomy, ÒScience is Bland Without SALT: Forefront Instrumentation on the Southern African Large TelescopeÓ

 

Tue, June 14 11:00 – ?? The Space Place

Field Trip: UW Space Place Tour & Special Seminar: Dr. Jim Lattis, Space Astronomy Laboratory, ÒThe History of UW AstronomyÓ (http://www.spaceplace.wisc.edu/)

 

Week 4

 

Wed, June 22 10:45 – Noon Chamberlin Hall 4274

Astronomy Seminar series: Dr. Matt Haffner, Department of Astronomy, ÒWHAMÓ

 

Thu, June 23 12:30 – 6:00 pm Meet in front of Chamberlin Hall

(tentative date/time)

Field trip: Yerkes Observatory. One of the last and greatest refractors in the world, this telescope was built in Wisconsin by the University of Chicago. You can marvel at the telescope design, the architecture, and the fact that the site is still used for scientific research. (http://astro.uchicago.edu/yerkes/)

 

 

 


Week 5

 

Mon, June 27 10:45 – Noon Chamberlin Hall 4274

Astronomy Seminar series: Prof. Snezana Stanimirovic Department of Astronomy, ÒRadio AstronomyÓ

 

Wed, June 29 Noon – 1:00 pm Chamberlin Hall 4274

Web Page Design with Prof. Bob Benjamin

 

Wed, June 29 7:00 pm [Concerts on the Square]

Capitol Square: The Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra starts their weekly series of outdoor classical music concerts. Bring a picnic dinner and a blanket, or buy your dinner there. The series continues weekly through August 3.

(http://wcoconcerts.org/performances/concerts-on-the-square/)

 

Sat, July 2 7:00 pm [Rhythm and Booms!]

Warner Park. MadisonÕs premier firework show. Although you can see the fireworks from the UW-Memorial Union, for the full effect youÕll want to bus or bike over to Warner Park. Warning: It can get crowded, and be sure to bring mosquito repellent. (http://www.rhythmandbooms.com/index.php)

 

Week 6

 

Mon, July 4 University Holiday

 

Wed, July 6 8:00 pm Washburn Observatory

Field Trip: Washburn Observatory Tour & Training: Paul Sell (http://www.astro.wisc.edu/washburn/washburn_home.html)

 

Thu, July 7 1:30 – 3:30 pm All Program Graduate Resource Fair

Varsity Hall 1 & II, Union South

 

Fri, July 8 10:45 – Noon Chamberlin Hall 4274

Astronomy Seminar series: Dr. John Everett, Department of Physics and Astronomy, ÒWinds: from the sun, galaxies, and black holesÓ

 

Sat – Sun July 9--10 9:00 am – 6:00 pm [Art Fair on the Square]

The unique and large selection of fine, handcrafted work includes ceramics, fiber, glasswork, graphics, jewelry, leather, mixed media, painting, photography, sculpture, and wood. (http://www.mmoca.org/events/artfair/index.php)

 


Week 7

 

Mon, July 11 10:45 – Noon Chamberlin Hall 4274

Astronomy Seminar series: Prof. Sabastian Heinz, Department of Astronomy, ÒBlack holes, natureÕs most efficient enginesÓ

 

Mon, July 11 1:30 – 2:30 Chamberlin Hall 4274

(tentative date/time)

Astronomy Seminar series: Prof. Francis Halzen, Department of Astronomy, ÒThe IceCube Neutrino ObservatoryÓ

 

PS, You are also encouraged to check out www.physicsgre.com before next MondayÕs session on the Physics GRE with Bob B.!

 

Wed, July 13 6:00 am Meet at The Regent (Yes, I did say 6:00 am)

              Field Trip: Fermilab. Fermilab is one of the top particle physics laboratories in the world, and also has been a major partner in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, one of the most important sky surveys of the last decade. http://www.fnal.gov/

 

Fri – Sun July 15 – 17 8:00 am – 6:00pm [Maxwell Street Days]

A Madison tradition since 1975, this annual sidewalk sale and community event showcases downtown's unique State Street shopping district. More than 100 shops, boutiques, galleries and restaurants--many locally owned--offer terrific bargains on clothing, jewelry, gifts, artwork, food, drink and more in a festive, family-friendly event. www.maxwellstreetdays.org

 

Week 8

 

Mon, July 18 10:45 – Noon Chamberlin Hall 4274

Astronomy Seminar series: Dr. Barb Whitney, Department of Astronomy, ÒRT-ModelsÓ

 

Mon, July 18 2:00 -- 3:30 pm Chamberlin Hall 4274

Practice Physics GRE & Physics GRE advice. Suggestions on how to prepare for this exam will be discussed (Prof. Bob Benjamin)

 

Tue, July 19 8:00 pm Chamberlin Hall 2223

Scientific Ethics Movie Night: ÒContactÓ

 

Fri, June 22 Noon – 1:30 pm Chamberlin Hall 5280

Scientific Ethics Discussion, moderated by Prof. John Fields, Department of Philosophy, Edgewood College. There will be Pizza!

 


Week 9

 

Mon, July 25 10:45 – Noon Chamberlin Hall 4274

Astronomy Seminar series: Prof Matt Bershady, Department of Astronomy, ÒGalaxiesÓ

 

Wed, July 27 1:30 – 2:30 Chamberlin Hall 4274

Grad School panel discussion. We will have a panel discussion of current graduate students and faculty who have served on the graduate admissions committee to discuss when, how, and where to apply for Astronomy and Physics graduate schools. (Baha, Bob, Dan, Jim, Snez, John, Katelyn)

 

Week 10

 

Mon, August 1 10:45 – Noon Chamberlin Hall 4274

Final Presentation Prep

 

Tues, August 2 10:00 – Noon Chamberlin Hall 4274

Final Presentations, Part 1. Coffee and cookies at 10:00 am

 

Meryl Sell

Blue Compact Dwarf Galaxies: Properties and Relations to their Environment

 

Allie Afittant

The Application of Experimental Methods to Determine Atomic Transition Probabilities

 

Ryan Sanders

The star formation history of a post-starburst interacting galaxy from SDSS

 

Tim Hutchinson

The Search for Turbulent Mixing Layers in the Magellanic Stream

 

Nick Pingel

Measuring Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) Turbulence using Spatial Column Density Distributions

 

Kerry Clavadetscher

OVII and OVIII emission from the soft diffuse X-ray background

 

Drake Ranqiust

Thermal and Dynamical Properties of CIV Absorbers (1.5 < z < 3.5)

 


Wed, August 3 10:00 – Noon Chamberlin Hall 4274

Final Presentations, Part 1I. Coffee and cookies at 10:00 am.

 

Roberto Rodriguez Torres

Spectral Response of the [OII] Spatial Heterodyne Spectrometer

 

Mallory Molina

Characterization of H-beta and OIII for Determining Black Hole Masses of Quasars

 

Jack Honor

Modeling Protostellar Radiative Transfer

 

Jeramy Lewis

Cylindrical Radio Telescope and Dark Energy Detection

 

Nick Stantzos

Characterizing Arecibo and GBT observations of the Outer Scutum-Centaurus Spiral Arm

 

Jon Beker

Spectral Analysis of an Unusual Binary in NGC7789

 

Aurora Kesseli

Multi-wavelength Variability in Young Stellar Objects

 

Martin Gostisha

Tracing the Full Extent of the Perseus Spiral Arm with WHAM

 

Thu, August 4 Noon Sterling

Farewell pizza lunch! Sterling Hall (Rain location: Sterling 4421)

 

Sat, Aug 6 All-day The Regent

Depart for airport. Airport transportation arrangements will be e-mailed to everyone.

 



¤ All locations given in square brackets indicate that the event is not a planned event, but merely suggested. You will need to make your own plans for these events.

* Each Astronomy seminar is preceded by a 15-minute Òcheck-inÓ period, and followed by lunch with the speaker at noon at the UW-Memorial Union (assuming speaker is available). A pre-talk reading will be handed out in the week previous to the talk (and can be picked up in Sterling 3521).