Monthly Meeting | NoCoAstro

Our monthly meeting will be held on Thursday, July 2nd 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. We will have refreshments and snacks available at 5:45pm. Afterwards at 8:00pm, members are invited to dinner at Penrose Taphouse & Eatery. Contact Greg Halac if you are interested. Reservations are limited.

Chemical Cartography: Mapping the Milky Way Across the Periodic Table

Synopsis: For centuries, humans have used the stars as guides to navigate the globe and construct maps of the Earth. These maps help us understand our planet, its history, and its patterns. By observing the night sky, we can extend our map to the stars. But how do we map the stars in our home Galaxy, the Milky Way, in three dimensions when we can’t travel beyond our own solar system? What might we learn about our Galaxy, its origin, and its evolution from these three-dimensional maps? In this talk, we’ll explore our Galaxy in 3D and discuss data taken by missions like Gaia and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Along the way, we’ll discover how different types of stellar explosions produce the elements on the periodic table and create chemical patterns across space.

Bio: Emily Griffith is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Colorado in Boulder. She received her Ph.D. from Ohio State in 2022.Her research focuses on decoding the origin of the elements and understanding the Milky Way’s chemical evolution over time. Beyond research, Emily is passionate about fostering an equitable and inclusive STEM environment and loves sharing her science with broader audiences.

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 at 5:45pm for social time ... and snacks. :-) Regular topics include:

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.