Astronomy on Tap

Science is even better with beer! Astronomy on Tap brings together free astronomy lectures AND free pours of some amazing, Colorado-sourced beer from Wynkoop!

FREE event

More info: https://www.facebook.com/events/1582705898690075/

This month’s presenters include:

Becky Nevin:

Becky Nevin is a graduate fellow in the astrophysics and planetary science department at the University of Colorado Boulder. She spends her time searching for galaxies that have more than one black hole. When she’s not learning about black holes, you can find her skiing or walking around in the mountains or playing frisbee in the lowlands, all the while drinking beer.

Talk:
“It came from space: The solar system’s ultimate weapon”-Learn all about the infamous asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs and left us without pet T-Rex’s, Brontosaurs cars, and Pterodactyl delivery services.

Thomas Rogers:

Thomas Rogers is a CU Astrophysics grad student, graduating this summer. For his thesis project, Thomas designed and built a soft X-ray spectrograph which was launched on a suborbital sounding rocket in May, 2015. Thomas named the instrument the Off-plane Grating Rocket for Extended Source Spectroscopy (OGRESS). OGRESS was designed to observe diffuse extended sources such as nearby supernova remnants, which can be several degrees across on the sky. After his graduation, Thomas will be designing and building spacecraft as a Systems Engineer at Ball Aerospace.

Topic:
Thomas will talk about sounding rockets, including a bit of their history, what they’re used for, and why they’re important for science and technology development.

Baylee Bordwell

Baylee Bordwell is a graduate student in the astrophysics and planetary science department at the University of Colorado Boulder. She spends her time exploring how fluid motion effects chemical reactions in the atmospheres of gas giant planets. When escape from her cubicle is possible, she runs to the hills (literally) to backpack and climb.

Talk:
“Would you like to know more?” – An interactive newscast from an alternate universe where the human race is engaged in an intragalactic war against an insectoid menace known colloquially as “bugs”. Using our modern knowledge of planets (and exoplanets), we can learn quite a lot about the bugs themselves, their homeworld, and what intragalactic war would be like…..did you just say Intergalactic War!?