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Dava Sobel

Light years ahead: Star analysts of Harvard College Observatory struck Dava Sobel as book-worthy history

April 12, 2017

Read an interview with Dava Sobel about her book the Glass Universe about the Harvard College Observatory. 

http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2017/04/star-analysts-of-harvard-college-observatory-inspired-new-book-by-dava-sobel/?utm_source=SilverpopMailing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=04.12.2017%20(1)

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Lindsay Smith, acting curator of the Plate Stacks at the Harvard College Observatory

'Hidden Figures' Of Astronomy At Harvard Take Center Stage In Play About Women 'Computers'

March 15, 2017

Local public radio station WBUR recently broadcast a segment about the Watertown play Silent Sky  about the Harvard College Observatory "computers:" Meredith Hughes (PhD 2010) is interviewed at the end of the segment about her great-grandmother, a  former head computer at Lockheed Martin. ...

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Farthest Stars

Farthest stars in Milky Way might be ripped from another galaxy

January 11, 2017

Harvard Graduate student Marion Dierickx recent paper featured:

"The 11 farthest known stars in our galaxy are located about 300,000 light-years from Earth, well outside the Milky Way's spiral disk. New research by Harvard astronomers shows that half of those stars might have been ripped from another galaxy: the Sagittarius dwarf. Moreover, they are members of a lengthy stream of stars extending one million light-years across space, or 10 times the width of our galaxy."

Read more at: ...

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Image: Christine Pulliam (CfA). Sun image: NASA/SDO

Universe's First Life Might Have Been Born on Carbon Planets

June 8, 2016

"Our Earth consists of silicate rocks and an iron core with a thin veneer of water and life. But the first potentially habitable worlds to form might have been very different. New research suggests that planet formation in the early universe might have created carbon planets consisting of graphite, carbides, and diamond. Astronomers might find these diamond worlds by searching a rare class of stars.

"'This work shows that even stars with a tiny fraction of the carbon in our solar system can host planets,' says lead author and Harvard University graduate student Natalie Mashian....

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Wen-fai Fong (PhD 2014) Wins the 2016 APS Division of Astrophysics Thesis Award

Wen-fai Fong (PhD 2014) Wins the 2016 APS Division of Astrophysics Thesis Award

May 3, 2016

Dr. Wen-fai Fong, who completed her doctoral thesis in 2014 with Prof. Edo Berger, was awarded the 2016 Outstanding Doctoral Thesis in Astrophysics Prize from the American Physical Society Division of Astrophysics.  Dr. Fong's thesis was titled "Unveiling the Progenitors of Short Gamma-ray Bursts".  Information about the award is available from: https://www.aps.org/programs/honors/dissertation/astrophysics.cfm and a short bio for Dr. Fong is available from: https://www.aps.org/programs/honors/prizes/prizerecipient.cfm?last_nm=Fong&first_nm=Wen-fai&year=2016

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Stephen Hawking speaking at the launch of the Black Hole Initiative at Sanders Theater, Harvard University

Stephen Hawking visits Harvard for the inauguration of Harvard's Black Hole Initiative

April 25, 2016
"World-famous theoretical cosmologist Stephen W. Hawking discussed the history of and recent breakthroughs in research on black holes at the inauguration of Harvard's Black Hole Initiative in Sanders Theatre on Monday afternoon.
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Destination: Nearest star

Destination: Nearest star

April 15, 2016

Astronomer explains plan to send tiny spaceships to Alpha Centauri

"A group of astronomers and technology entrepreneurs has announced an audacious plan to send a fleet of tiny spaceships traveling at a fifth the speed of light to the nearest star, Alpha Centauri. 

"The plan would see humankind leap out of the solar system with the aid of an ultralight vessel made of what are essentially cellphone components and a thin, reflective light sail propelled by an enormous array of Earth-based lasers. 

Read full interview with Avi Loeb. 

...

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