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The Thursday December 5th meeting will be held at the Fort Collins Museum Of Discover in the Otterbox Dome Theater. The meeting officially starts at 6:15pm but feel free to show up early for social time ... and snacks. Dr. Hanley will be attending the meeting remotely via Zoom from Arizona.

Dr. Jennifer Hanley - Clouds and Methane on Titan

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Speaker: Dr. Jennifer Hanley is a tenured planetary scientist at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, AZ. She graduated from Cornell University in 2006 with a bachelors in Earth Science and received her PhD from University of Arkansas in 2013 in Space and Planetary Sciences. Her current research focuses on investigating the stability and properties of liquids and ices at low temperatures and pressures with relevance to the outer Solar System, especially Titan and Pluto. She also studies the stability of water and ice on Mars and Europa in the presence of salts.

Synopsis: Titan hosts a thick atmosphere with complex organic chemistry resulting from the UV photolysis of methane, forming haze that obscures Titan’s surface. Methane also acts as the primary absorber in the near-IR, resulting in narrow “windows” that can probe to Titan’s surface. Changes in brightness within these windows could indicate methane clouds. I will present observations from the Lowell Discovery and Titan Monitoring Telescopes to look for temporal differences in these distributions. These are especially timely with Titan’s upcoming equinox, where we predict more storms, clouds, and surface darkening from rainfall to occur. I will also present work done in the Astrophysical Materials Laboratory that tests how methane interacts with other molecules to form the lakes and seas on the surface.

Monthly Meeting General Info

 

Regular club meetings are currently held at the Otterbox Digital Dome Theater in the Fort Collins Museum of Discovery, and are scheduled for the 1st Thursday of every month. Please verify the meeting date and location on the calendar and find out what we have planned. The business portion of the meeting is scheduled for 15 minutes starting at 6:15pm although members often show up early for social time ... and snacks. :-) Regular topics include:

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  • Announcements on upcoming NCAS events: speakers, stargazing, outreaching, etc.

  • Brief updates from the club president, treasurer and outreach coordinator.

  • Items of general interest as shared by members and visitors.

 

After the business meeting, speakers present an astronomy-related program beginning at 6:30pm. It is free of charge and the public is welcome. Talks are typically geared towards people with a high-school science background but the level does vary. Feel free to contact a club officer for guidance if the target level is not apparent from the talk description. Talks typically last for 45 minutes. Questions are usually welcome both during and after the talk.

NoCoAstro invites speakers to be our guest for dinner immediately after the club meeting. Dinner details are sent to the “club-news” email list shortly before the meeting. Dinner provides a great opportunity to welcome and get to know our speaker. Typically ~10 club members usually attend.

NoCoAstro greatly appreciates the members and experts in the Northern Colorado region who have taken the time to share their knowledge with the public and the club. 

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Past Presentations

 

Below is a table you can sort and search containing a list of the past speakers at NoCoAstro’s Monthly Meetings.

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