Friday, November 4, 2011
Dr. Frederick R. Chromey Jr., Matthew Vassar Jr. professor of astronomy and director of the observatory at Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, N.Y., will address the AAA Friday, November 4, on òÀÜThe Mystery of Beta Lyrae: Astronomical Spectroscopy for Amateurs.òÀÝ The free public lecture begins at 6:15 p.m. in the Kaufmann Theater of the American Museum of Natural History.
Chromey will discuss two ideas. òÀÜFirst, I want to promote the idea of amateur astronomers making practical spectroscopic observations. Second, I want to describe the very special object Beta Lyrae, and some spectroscopic observations of it that my students and I are making. This bright, relatively nearby double star is one of the rare cases in which the effects of stellar evolution can be seen on the timescale of a human life. It also presents an opportunity to closely examine the behavior of an accretion disk. Understanding Beta Lyrae can improve our understanding of accretion-disk behavior in other astrophysical processes, such as the formation of planets and the generation of energy in quasars and in active galactic nuclei.òÀÝ
Chromey, who holds a Ph.D. in astronomy from Harvard University, was assistant professor of physics at Brooklyn College before joining Vassar in 1981. He became director of the observatory in 1990, and oversaw construction of the Class of 1951 Observatory building, which began operations in 1998.
Although Chromey teaches all parts of the astronomy curriculum, he particularly enjoys teaching nonscientists, as well as teaching observational techniques, planetary physics, and observational cosmology.
Chromey worked briefly at the Goddard Space Flight Center and has held visiting positions at Kitt Peak National Observatory and a number of other astronomy centers. ChromeyòÀÙs current research concerns the behavior and spectroscopic monitoring of bright stars. In 2010, he publishedˆàTo Measure the Sky, an undergraduate text in observational astronomy.
Other lectures in the AAAòÀÙs 2011-2012 series, all on Fridays, are as follows:ˆàDecember 2, Michael Shara, American Museum of Natural History, òÀÜHow Novae and Supernovae Are ConnectedòÀÝ; January 6,ˆàRobert Nemiroff,ˆàMichigan Technological University/NASA, òÀÜBest Short Astronomy VideosòÀÝ; February 10, Glennys Farrar,ˆàNew YorkˆàUniversity, òÀÜGetting Photos of Supermassive Black Holes Tearing Stars ApartòÀÝ; March 2, Charles Keeton, Rutgers University, òÀÜA Ray of Light in a Sea of Dark (Matter)òÀÝ; April 6, Debra Fischer, Yale University, òÀÜSearching for Earthlike WorldsòÀÝ; and May 4, Alex Wolszczan, Penn State University, òÀÜThe Astronomical Future of Man.òÀÝ