SLAS Regular Meeting
Friday, July 21, 2017 7:30pm
McDonnell Hall, Washington University

The Search For the Sun's Siblings
by
Dr. Bruce Wilking
University of Missouri - St. Louis

Dr. Bruce Wilking will be featured at the July meeting of the St. Louis Astronomical Society. The meeting will begin at 7:30 PM Friday, July 21, in McDonnell Hall, Room 162, on the Washington University campus, Saint Louis, MO 63130. McDonnell Hall is accessible from Forsyth Boulevard via Tolman Way. Yellow zone and street parking are available to the audience. The event, cosponsored by NASA's Missouri Space Grant Consortium, is open to the public free of charge.

Most stars in our Galaxy are born in clusters of a few dozen to a few hundred stars. These cluster stars slowly drift apart and disperse over time. Dr. Wilking and his colleagues have studied the dynamical state of a very young cluster. They see evidence that stellar encounters pump up the relative velocities of the young stars as they emerge from their dense gas cores. Dr. Wilking comments "Evidence is mounting that our Sun formed as part of a cluster that included a massive star that evolved into a supernova. This explains the enrichment of certain elements in meteorites." He will explain how conditions that existed when the very young Sun was part of a star cluster have affected the solar system of today. He will also discuss recent searches for stars with the same age and chemical composition as the Sun's and the possibility that a solar sibling may someday be found.

Dr. Bruce Wilking is a Professor of Astronomy at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. His research interests involve star formation and the study of the clouds of dust and gas from which stars form. He has been a member of the UMSL Physics & Astronomy Department and St. Louis Astronomical Society since 1984.

Upcoming Meetings:


August: TBA
September SLAS Collective - Solar Eclipse Results
October: Heinr ic Krawczynski, Washington University
November: William McKinnon, PhD PLUTO Washington University
December: Amy E Kimball - Skype Event - Radio Quasars & the VLA

e VLA

Meeting Agenda

Welcome

Parking

Introduction of Officers and Visitors

Main Speaker: Dr. Bruce Wilking

Astro 101: Apps and aids for the eclipse

SLAS Coffee Mugs for Sale!

Infini-tees Shirts for Sale!

Eclipse Glasses for Sale!

Other Announcements

Eyepiece kits for sale