SLAS Regular Meeting
Friday, March 21, 2013 7:30pm
McDonnell Hall, Washington University

Probing the High Energy Universe

by

Dr. Matthias Beilicke
Washington University

    Dr. Matthias Beilicke will be featured at the March meeting of the St. Louis Astronomical Society. The meeting will begin at 7:30 PM Friday, March 21, in McDonnell Hall, Room 162, on the Washington University campus.
Gamma rays pack much more energy per particle than their more familiar cousins – light, heat, and radio waves. Gamma rays are produced in some of the most violent events that occur in the universe – exploding stars, colliding stars, black holes, supersonic shock waves. Fortunately for all forms of life, cosmic gamma rays are screened out by the atmosphere so that they cannot disrupt living cells. But as a result, gamma ray observations must occur out in space, using special remote-controlled devices rather than regular optical-type telescopes. Dr. Beilicke will talk about our present view of the gamma ray universe, particularly about the gamma ray instruments he uses and some of the recent discoveries from the high energy frontier.
    Matthias Beilicke is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics and a member of the McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences at Washington University. He received his Doctorate in Physics from the University of Hamburg.

April meeting: Bob Criss - Rotational Dynamics of Planets, Stars and Galaxies
May meeting: Pamela Gay - Topic TBD
June meeting: Alex Meshik - Early History of the Solar System

Meeting Agenda

Welcome

Introduction of Officers

Dr. Matthias Beilicke

Nominations for Elections in May

MSRAL - tour of website

Homemade Fest timeline
Schedule:
 
5PM - 6PM - Setup
6Pm - 7PM - Dinner
7PM - 9PM - program
9PM - 10PM - Cleanup and body disposal

Messier marathon

Announcements and Star Parties