Department of Astronomy
Colloquia Schedule for Spring 2008
(most recent update: Apr. 22, 2008)

Colloquia are Tuesdays (unless otherwise indicated) at 3:30 pm in RLM 15.216B



Jan. 15th







Jenny E. Greene
  Princeton University   Abstract
"Local Galaxies with Radiating Black Holes"
(host: Milos Milosavljevic)







Jan. 22nd







Special Event: Beatrice M. Tinsley Visiting Professor in Astronomy

Ramesh Narayan   Harvard University   Abstract
"Measuring Black Hole Spin"
(hosts: Pawan Kumar, Milos Milosavljevic)





Jan. 29th







Todd Thompson
  Ohio State University   Abstract
"Feedback in Starburst Galaxies"
(host: Milos Milosavljevic)





Feb. 5th





No talk scheduled.







Feb. 12th








Special Event: Beatrice M. Tinsley Visiting Professor in Astronomy (visit: Feb 11-21)

Ivan Hubeny
  University of Arizona   Abstract
"From Stars (Planets) to Quasars: Modeling Radiation-Dominated
Objects in Astrophysics"
(host: Greg Shields)







Feb. 13th
Wednesday







Special Colloquium (visit: Feb. 13-14)

Klaus M. Pontoppidan
  California Institute of Technology (Caltech)   Abstract
"Straddling the Snow Line: Water Vapor and Carbon-Containing
Molecules in Protoplanetary Disks at 1 AU"
(host: Milos Milosavljevic)





Feb. 19th







Nick Kaiser
  University of Hawaii - Institute for Astronomy   Abstract
"The Pan-STARRS Wide Field Survey Project"
(host: Karl Gebhardt)







Feb. 20th
Wednesday







Special Event: Beatrice M. Tinsley Visiting Professor in Astronomy (visit: Feb 11-21)

Ivan Hubeny
  University of Arizona   Abstract
"Transiting Extrasolar Planets: A Key to Understanding their Physics
Chemistry, and even Meteorology"








Feb. 21st
Thursday







Special Colloquium (visit: Feb. 21-22)

Seth L. Redfield
  University of Texas at Austin   Abstract
"The Age of Exometeorology: Observing the Atmospheres
of Transiting Exoplanets"
(host: Bill Cochran)







Feb. 26th







Special Colloquium (visit: Feb. 26-27)

Yoram Lithwick   Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics (CITA)   Abstract
"Dynamics of Protoplanetary Disks: Vortices and Turbulence"
(hosts: Larry Trafton & John Scalo)







Feb. 28th
Thursday






Special Colloquium (visit: Feb. 28-29)

Sarah E. Robinson   University of California / Lick Observatory   Abstract
"Chemistry of Giant Planet Formation: Future Directions in Theory
and Observations"
(host: Barbara McArthur)





Mar. 4th








Nicole P. Vogt
  New Mexico State University (NMSU)   Abstract
"Nine Billion Years of Galaxy Evolution: Disentangling Recent
Evolution and Selection Biases in Disk Galaxies"
(host: Karl Gebhardt)







Mar. 5th
Wednesday







Special Colloquium (visit: Mar. 5-6)

Michael P. Muno   California Institute of Technology (Caltech)   Abstract
"Identifying Black Holes and Neutron Stars in Order to Understand
How They Formed (or, Making Dead Stars Talk)"
(host: Dan Jaffe)





Mar. 18th








Harold 'Hal' F. Levison
  Southwest Research Institute/Dept. of Space Studies   Abstract
"The Early Dynamical Evolution of the Outer Solar System: A Nice Story"
(visit: Mar. 16-19)
(host: Bill Cochran)





Mar. 25th







Eiichiro Komatsu
  University of Texas at Austin   Abstract
"The 5-Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) Observations:
Cosmological Interpretation"





Apr. 1st

















Apr. 4th
Friday






Special Event: Beatrice M. Tinsley Visiting Scholar in Astronomy (visit: Apr. 2-5)

Jane Arthur  Centro de Radioastronomia y Astrofisica, UNAM   Abstract
"HII Regions for the 21st Century"
(host: Dan Jaffe)







Apr. 8th








Special Event: Beatrice M. Tinsley Visiting Scholar in Astronomy (visit: Apr. 6-18)

Philip F. Hopkins  Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics   Abstract
"Dissipation in the Formation of Elliptical Galaxies:
Putting our Understanding of Spheroid Formation to the Test"
(host: John Kormendy)







Apr. 10th
Thursday





Special Event: Beatrice M. Tinsley Visiting Scholar in Astronomy (visit: Apr. 6-18)

Philip F. Hopkins  Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics   Abstract
"Quasars and Galaxy Mergers: Fueling, Feedback, and Evolution"





Apr. 14th
Monday






Fred K. Y. Lo
  Director, National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO)   Abstract
"Mega-masers, Dark Energy and the Hubble Constant"
(host: Neal Evans)





Apr. 22nd







Ehud Nakar
  California Institute of Technology (Caltech) (visit: Apr. 21-25)   Abstract
"The Search for the Origin of Short Gamma-Ray Bursts"
(host: Milos Milosavljevic)







Apr. 29th







Special Event: Beatrice M. Tinsley Visiting Scholar in Astronomy (visit: Apr. 20 - May 04)

Jonathan McKinney  Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics   Abstract
"Magnetically-Driven Ultrarelativistic Jets from Rotating Black Holes"
(host: Milos Milosavljevic)







May. 6th







Special Event: Beatrice M. Tinsley Visiting Scholar in Astronomy (visit: May 5-16)

Travis Barman  Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff, Arizona   Abstract
"Exploring the Atmospheres of Extrasolar Planets"
(host: Bill Cochran)







May. 20th







Special Event: Beatrice M. Tinsley Visiting Scholar in Astronomy (visit: May 14-31)

Rene Goosmann  Astronomical Institute, Acadamy of Sciences, Czech Republic   Abstract
"Exploring the Innermost Accretion Regions of Supermassive Black Holes"
(host: Martin Gaskell)







May. 27th







Special Event: Beatrice M. Tinsley Visiting Scholar in Astronomy (visit: May 14-31)

Rene Goosmann  Astronomical Institute, Acadamy of Sciences, Czech Republic   Abstract
"Using Polarization to Probe Unresolved Structure of AGNs and Other Objects"
(host: Martin Gaskell)





Colloquia Schedules from Previous Semesters


Visitors to the Department of Astronomy can find detailed
information and maps on our Travel to Austin Page

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please report any errors/omissions to: argus@astro.as.utexas.edu