Following the light of the sun, we left the Old World.

— Inscription on Columbus' caravels

NJAG Monthly Meeting

By Kevin at Fri, 07/31/2020 - 6:21pm
Event Date: 
Repeats every month on the second Wednesday until Thu Jul 15 2021 .
Wed, 10/14/2020 - 8:00pm - 10:00pm
Wed, 11/11/2020 - 8:00pm - 10:00pm
Wed, 12/09/2020 - 8:00pm - 10:00pm
Wed, 01/13/2021 - 8:00pm - 10:00pm
Wed, 02/10/2021 - 8:00pm - 10:00pm
Wed, 03/10/2021 - 8:00pm - 10:00pm
Wed, 04/14/2021 - 8:00pm - 10:00pm
Wed, 05/12/2021 - 8:00pm - 10:00pm
Wed, 06/09/2021 - 8:00pm - 10:00pm
Wed, 07/14/2021 - 8:00pm - 10:00pm

Monthly meeting of the North Jersey Astronomical Group. Details in the comment below. Our meetings are being held virtually on Zoom until further notice. Free; registration required.

Spring/Summer Schedule:

  • March 10, 2021, Dr. Eric Jensen (Swarthmore), “What Tilts Planets’ Orbits?”
  • April 14, 2021, Dr. Michael Lewis (NASA JPL), “Perseverance on Mars”
  • May 12, 2021, Student research projects
  • June 9, 2021, Mark Moyer (Vermont Astronomical Society), “Astronomical (Non-) Trivia Contest”
  • July 14, 2021, Dr. Shaon Ghosh from Montclair State University, “Supercomputer Analysis of Gravitational Waves”

To register for these meetings click here.

 

 

 

July Meeting: Gravitational Waves

Submitted by Kevin
on Tue, 06/15/2021 - 12:56pm

On Wednesday, July 14 the NJAG will meet at 8 PM on Zoom featuring Dr. Shaon Ghosh from Montclair State University who will present  “Supercomputer Analysis of Gravitational Waves” at 8 pm EDT

 

To register for this meeting click here.

 

June Meeting: Astronomical Trivia Contest

Submitted by Kevin
on Mon, 06/07/2021 - 9:30pm

This Wednesday, June 9, 2021 the NJAG astronomy club will meet at 8 PM on Zoom and feature Mark Moyer (Vermont Astronomical Society) giving us an “Astronomical Trivia Contest.” Guests should be prepared to try to answer Mark's questions and then be enlightened by what he has found out about some unusual people and objects.

Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUuduqorzItGdR83siFaUaT4Mpaybq747Ak

May Meeting: Student Presentations

Submitted by Kevin
on Mon, 05/10/2021 - 11:36pm

Wednesday, May 12, 2021 the NJAG astronomy club will meet at 8 PM on Zoom and feature short reports by students of research they have done this year. There are four students from Montclair State University and two from the University of Scranton.

  • Anthony Gachetti, Using Earth’s Paleoclimate Records to Better Predict Future Climate Change
  • John Notte and Jonathan Reyes, A Better Look at the Universe: Low-loss Faraday Isolators for the A+ Upgrade of LIGO
  • Claudia Barone, Transparent Conductors for Applications to Space Technologies
  • Veronica Romanek, HF Doppler Observations of Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances in a WWV Signal Received with a Network of Low-Cost HamSCI Personal Space Weather Stations
  • Shaaf Sarwar, Experimental Design of the Scranton Radio Telescope and Ionospheric Monitoring by ScintPi


When: May 12, 2021 08:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUuduqorzItGdR83siFaUaT4Mpaybq747Ak

April Meeting: Perseverance on Mars

Submitted by Kevin
on Thu, 04/08/2021 - 3:29pm

Mars RoverAt the April NJAG meeting our guest speaker will be NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador Michael Lewis. His presentation “Perseverance on Mars” will be about NASA's latest Mars rover which recently landed on the red planet. Perseverance is investigating its geological processes and history, including the assessment of its past habitability, the possibility of past life on Mars, and the potential for preservation of biosignatures within accessible geological materials.

8 PM on Zoom. Free. All are welcome. Registration is required*:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUuduqorzItGdR83siFaUaT4Mpaybq747Ak

 

* Note if you regiestered for last month's meeting you do not need to register again.

February: The Wacky World of Quantum Mechanics

Submitted by Kevin
on Thu, 01/14/2021 - 12:18pm

The February 10th meeting of NJAG will feature Dr. Jeremy Carlo of Villanova University speaking on “The Wacky World of Quantum Mechanics.” On very small scales, physicists have discovered a wild world, in the realm of quantum mechanics.  What is the uncertainty principle?  How is light both a particle and a wave?  Can an electron be in two places at once?   What’s the deal with Schrodinger’s Cat?  Moreover, there are some glaring inconsistencies between our understanding of the laws of physics at very large scales and at very small scales.  Resolving these contradictions – still outstanding even after decades of effort by some of the world’s greatest minds - will be crucial to understanding the physics of the early universe.

 

8 PM on Zoom. Free. All are welcome. Registration is required:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMtf-mhqDgvH9fMB8B2kcpFoJDr2zR4pN0R

 

 

Introduction to Telescopes

Submitted by Kevin
on Thu, 01/14/2021 - 12:08pm
The January meeting featured an introduction to telescopes by NJAG members.
 
If you missed the presentation, it's available on our YouTube Channel:

 
Note: If you subscribe to our channel you will get notifications of future broadcasts.
 
Our next meeting on February 10 will feature Dr. Jeremy Carlo of Villanova University speaking on “The Wacky World of Quantum Mechanics.”
 
 

The Gemini Program: A Bridge to the Moon

Submitted by Kevin
on Tue, 12/08/2020 - 8:22pm
Our guest speaker for the December meeting is Jason Gowers. He will talk about Project Gemini which was NASA's second human spaceflight program. Gemini started in 1961 and concluded in 1966. The Gemini spacecraft carried a two-astronaut crew. Ten Gemini crews and sixteen individual astronauts flew low Earth orbit (LEO) missions during 1965 and 1966. Gemini led to the Apollo program which landed astronauts on the Moon for the very first time.
This presentation is free, open to the public and will be held online. To participate in the Zoom session, register here:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwkdu-tqTkvH9KPGG0QfMWqNiRdZKWNTLKA 

November NJAG Meeting - Voyage to the Red Planet

Submitted by Kevin
on Mon, 10/19/2020 - 1:15pm

Mars Rover 2020

The North Jersey Astronomical Group will be having a virtual meeting and presentation on Wednesday Nov. 11 at 8 pm.

Our guest speaker will be Kevin Conod, Planetarium Manager at the Newark Museum of Art. His presentation will be "Voyage to the Red Planet," which will feature the Perseverance Rover's journey to Mars. Join us for an overview of NASA's latest mission to the red planet. The Perseverance rover was launched this summer and will soon reach the red planet. The mission will seek signs of habitable conditions on Mars and search for evidence of past microbial life.

This presentation is free, open to the public and will be held online. To participate in the Zoom session, register here:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcpcOirpzMuHdXq4nclK9npPC_HNbsHmPYO 

This presentation will also be on our YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCbD0hd9CHbZ9ekEx9ripyQ

October NJAG Meeting - Buzz Aldrin

Submitted by Kevin
on Thu, 09/10/2020 - 10:56pm

Buzz AldrinThe October meeting will take place online on Zoom and YouTube. Our guest speaker will be Chris Mauro, Vice President of NJAG. He will give a presentation about New Jersey's favorite astronaut Buzz Aldrin.