kellylepo, 5 months ago

Anatoly Spitkovsky discussed modeling the magnetic fields of pulsars, the rotating remnants of massive stars that send out pulses of light.

His research feels like the old computer game the incredible machine, assembling components to make something work.

We have more than 50 years of pulsar radio data, but the theory is lagging behind.

Spitkovsky and collaborators now have a (very pretty looking) self-constant, working model that you can use to compare simulations to data. #AAS243

The pulsar Magnetosphere: The Incredible Machine. Screenshot of the video game the Incredible Machine showing a Rube Goldberg-like contraption.
Pulsars: Observationally Driven. A sprinter crosses the finish line. Pulsar Theory: Someone tying their running shoes.
Oblique Rotator: Current Density. Screenshot of a 3D model of the magnetic field around a pulsar — a warped disk-like object.

kellylepo, 5 months ago

Highlights from the Space Telescope Science Insitute Town Hall at #AAS243:

• JWST is performing well, but MIRI had a loss of throughput at long wavelengths, which is stabilizing.
• Hubble has high scientific productivity and demand but has had issues with an erratic gyroscope. It can transition to a reduced gyro mode with the same scientific performance, but keeping the 3 gyro mode for now for increased sky coverage.
• Preparing for the Roman, including the large core community surveys.

Hubble Updates Periods of observational failures due to an erratic gyroscope. * Perusing operational mitigations to maintain all-sky UV/optical coverage * Can transition to reduced gyro mode when necessary - Preserves Hubble Science operations for the 2020s. - Scientific performance will be essentially unchanged - Instantaneous sky coverage will be reduced by half - Reduced observing efficiency * Hubble science evolves with the field & other facilities - Time Domain & Multi-messenger (TDAMM) increasingly important - Hubble's sky coverage & UV/optical capabilities critical to TDAMM - We are exploring new ways to enable TDAMM science (e.g. Flexible Thursday Targets of Opportunity, TDAMM panel for Time Allocation Committee) - Want your ideas! How can Hubble enable TDAMM science?
STScI Support of Roman We want to enable your science! Specific roles include * Support for Wide Field Instrument imaging mode - data processing - community interface: user support, documentation, science engagement, public outreach. *Archive and data distribution (all observations) - Cloud-based science platform - Data + software environment for science analysis * Planning and scheduling Help Desk and RDox are open Roman Town Hall, Thursday, 12:45pm, Room 207 View of the Roman field of view on a star field. Pullouts show Hubble observations, which are significantly smaller.
Strategy for Defining the Core Community Surveys The Roman Observation Time allocation committee provides recommendations to Roman Project on balance between each of the core community surveys. Under this are: * Galactic Plane Early Definition, General Astrophysics Survey. Roman Town Hall, Thursday 12:45. * High Latitude Wide Area Committee * High Latitude Time Domain Committee * Galactic Bulge Time Domain Committee These sub-committees evaluation initial community input; solicit additional, more targeted community input through a variety of channels; evaluate survey options against science metrics, produce recommendations for survey implementations with options for enhancements/descopes.

kellylepo, 5 months ago

Today's Annie Jump Cannon Prize Lecture at #AAS243 was given by my former officemate Eve Lee, on theories of planet formation.

The physics of how dust and gas interact helps explain the types and locations of planets we observe in exoplanet systems.

For example, giant planets are hard to form outside of 10 AU because it’s harder for rocky cores to pull in enough gas. Inside of 1 AU, they tend to migrate outward. We may need different physics to explain hot Jupiters.

Rocky vs. gas-rich envelopes. A plot of planet size vs. orbital period shows two groups of planets. Label "primordial + photoevaporation". Test for long-period rocky planets and broad core mass function. Favored location of gas against. A plot of number of planets vs. semi-major axis shows a curve that peaks at 3AU. The upper and lower bounds are set by mass-dependent migration and dust settling increases opacity: delayed gas recreation. Test for mass gradient in gas giants. Outer giant - inner super-Earth correlation. Pie chart showing no super-Earth, no cold Jupiter 69%; super-Earth, no cold-Jupiter 21%, super-Earth, cold-Jupiter 9%, no super-Earth, cold-Jupiter 1%.

kellylepo, 5 months ago

In the future, Lee is interested in connecting observations of protoplanetary disks to observations of planets and looking forward to observations (for example with the upcoming Roman Space Telescope) that find smaller planets further from their stars.

kellylepo, 5 months ago (edited 5 months ago)

It was nice to see her up on stage as a professor accepting an award, but in my head, she will always be the undergrad who got a desk in my grad school office.