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DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260313T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260313T213000
DTSTAMP:20260516T161058
CREATED:20260209T195735Z
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UID:10001751-1773430200-1773437400@www.ocastronomers.org
SUMMARY:General Meeting – March 2026
DESCRIPTION: Join Zoom\n\nFree and open to the public but per our host’s policy\, minors (under 18) are welcome to attend as long as they are accompanied by their parent or guardian at all times.\nThis meeting’s speaker will present inperson from the campus of the Chapman University.\n  \nThe Milky Way’s Central Black Hole:\n  \nLessons on accretion physics\n  \n \n  \nEvery large galaxy hosts a black hole at its center. These black holes’ feedback on their host galaxies shapes the evolution of galaxies and\, ultimately\, affects the Universe as a whole.  The Milky Way’s own supermassive black hole\, Sagittarius A*\, is the closest such object and the only one that can be studied in unprecedented detail – down to individual orbiting stars\, small infalling clouds\, and even its event horizon. Yet\, despite its proximity and decades of observations\, its behavior remains among the most challenging to explain. This talk explores Sagittarius A*\, its immediate surrounding\, and the challenges of describing black hole accretion physics. Particular emphasis is placed on the recent discovery of a wind associated with Sagittarius A*. The talk will also address what our own black hole can teach us about supermassive black holes across the Universe. \n \nElena (Lena) Murchikova is an astrophysicist interested in black holes. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Northwestern University. Originally from Moscow\, Lena holds two PhDs: one in astrophysics from Caltech and another in particle physics from Moscow State University. She completed her postdoctoral studies at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton and at Harvard University’s Black Hole Initiative. Outside of research\, Lena enjoys mountaineering and (drone) photography. \nViews: 12
URL:https://www.ocastronomers.org/calendar/general-meeting-2026-03/
LOCATION:Irvine Lecture Hall of the Chapman University\, 336 N Center St\, Orange\, CA\, 92866\, United States
CATEGORIES:General Meetings
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260410T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260410T213000
DTSTAMP:20260516T161058
CREATED:20260404T193452Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260404T193452Z
UID:10001756-1775849400-1775856600@www.ocastronomers.org
SUMMARY:General Meeting - April 2026
DESCRIPTION: Join Zoom\n\nFree and open to the public but per our host’s policy\, minors (under 18) are welcome to attend as long as they are accompanied by their parent or guardian at all times.\nThis meeting’s speaker will present online.\n  \nSupernovae\, Dark Energy\, and the\n  \nMystery of the Accelerating Universe\n  \n  \n \nType Ia supernovae are brilliant explosions of white dwarf stars and are some of the most powerful tools for measuring the universe. By comparing how bright these supernovae appear to how bright they really are\, astronomers can measure distances across billions of light-years. In the late 1990s\, these measurements led to one of the most surprising discoveries in the history of science: the expansion of the universe is speeding up\, driven by a mysterious phenomenon that was named dark energy. \nIn this talk\, we will explore how supernova discoveries (including contributions from dedicated amateur astronomers) feed into modern cosmological measurements. Along the way\, we’ll see how today’s observations are deepening the mystery of dark energy rather than closing the case. The accelerating universe remains one of the biggest puzzles in physics and supernovae are still lighting the way toward the answer. \n\nDavid Rubin is an Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. His research focuses on using exploding stars called Type Ia supernovae to measure the expansion history of the universe and understand the nature of dark energy. He works on survey design\, calibration\, and statistical methods for current and next-generation observatories\, including the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. \nDr. Rubin received his Ph.D. in physics from the University of California\, Berkeley working with Saul Perlmutter. He is still a member of the Supernova Cosmology Project and has authored or co-authored numerous publications on supernova cosmology and the accelerating universe. \nViews: 12
URL:https://www.ocastronomers.org/calendar/general-meeting-april-2026/
LOCATION:Irvine Lecture Hall of the Chapman University\, 336 N Center St\, Orange\, CA\, 92866\, United States
CATEGORIES:General Meetings
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260508T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260508T213000
DTSTAMP:20260516T161058
CREATED:20260430T014916Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260430T014916Z
UID:10001780-1778268600-1778275800@www.ocastronomers.org
SUMMARY:General Meeting - May 2026
DESCRIPTION: Join Zoom\n\nFree and open to the public but per our host’s policy\, minors (under 18) are welcome to attend as long as they are accompanied by their parent or guardian at all times.\nThis meeting’s speaker will present online.\n  \nEarly galaxies and infant black holes\n  \nin the primeval Universe\n  \n   \nFinding and understanding the nature of the first stars at cosmic dawn is one of the most important and most ambitious goals for modern astrophysics. The first populations of stars produced the first chemical elements heavier than helium and formed the first\, small protogalaxies\, which then evolved\, across the cosmic epoch\, into the large and mature galaxies\, such as the Milky Way and those in our local neighbour. Equally important and equally challenging is the search\, in the early Universe\, of the seeds of the first population of black holes\, which later evolved in the supermassive black holes at the centre of galaxies\, with masses even exceeding a billion times the mass of the Sun. When matter accretes on such supermassive black holes it can become so luminous to vastly outshine the light emitted by all stars in their host galaxy. \n  \nSince its launch\, about two years ago\, the James Webb Space Telescope has been revolutionizing this area of research. Its sensitivity in detecting infrared light from the remotest parts of the Universe is orders of magnitude higher than any previous observatory\, an historical leap in astronomy and\, more broadly\, in science. I will presents some of the extraordinary discoveries from the Webb telescope\, which have resulted in several unexpected findings. I will also discuss the new puzzles and areas of investigation that have been opened by Webb’s observations\, how these challenge theoretical models\, and the prospects of further progress in the coming years. \n \nRoberto Maiolino is Professor of Experimental Astrophysics in the Department of Physics and at the Kavli Institute for Cosmology\, University of Cambridge. He is also an Honorary Professor at University College London and a Royal Society Research Professor. \nHe has served as Director of the Kavli Institute for Cosmology\, Cambridge\, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society. He was knighted by the President of Italy in the Order of the Star of Italy and was awarded the Blaauw Honorary Professorship at the University of Groningen. \nHis research focuses on the formation of galaxies and black holes\, using observations from some of the largest ground-based and space telescopes. He has played a leading role in several major projects\, including the James Webb Space Telescope\, the MOONS spectrograph for the Very Large Telescope\, and the ANDES spectrograph for the Extremely Large Telescope. \n  \n  \nViews: 12
URL:https://www.ocastronomers.org/calendar/general-meeting-may-2026/
LOCATION:Irvine Lecture Hall of the Chapman University\, 336 N Center St\, Orange\, CA\, 92866\, United States
CATEGORIES:General Meetings
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