Radiations
Department
of Physics and Astronomy
Carleton College
You are invited to the Observatory open house,
Friday, February 6 from 7 to 9 p.m., if clear. You can view planets, the moon,
stars, galaxies, and nebulas. Dress very warmly, since all viewing areas must
be maintained at outdoor temperatures. The open house will be canceled in the
event of clouds. The observatory holds open houses the first Friday of every
month.
Comps Calendar:
February 2, Ted Holby, ÒPhase Transitions:
From A to ZÓ
Monday, 3:10-4:20
p.m., Olin 04
Do you wonder what happens when water freezes or boils? Why does a magnet not work at high
temperatures? How does
Bose-Einstein condensation work? Come to Olin 04 on February 2 at 3:10 pm to
learn the answers to these and many other interesting questions! Find out what we know about phase
transitions and how we know what we know.
February
6, Clark Ritz, "Booming Dunes and Granular Physics"
Friday, 3:10-4:20
p.m., Olin 04
Italian explorer Marco Polo in 1295 described
certain sounds he heard in the deserts of China as the Òsounds of all kinds of
musical instruments, also of drums and the clash of arms,Ó which he believed to
be caused by evil spirits. Today we know that the avalanching of certain
special Òbooming dunesÓ creates these incredible booming emissions. The
mechanism that produces the sounds is still somewhat of a mystery. The problem
stems from the fact that the physics of granular materials (sand, Malt-O-Meal,
pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics to name a few) is still its own mystery. My talk
will introduce some basic granular physics and some of the problems scientists
run into when working with them. From there I will remind everyone how sound in
general is produced before moving on to the specific problem of booming dunes
and what makes them so noisy.
Introductory papers of upcoming talks are
available in binders in the second and third floor lounges. These will provide you with important
background information and a brief outline of the talks to be presented.
2004 REU and
Internship Information
List of
REU and internship opportunities are also on the Carleton Physics Web at:
http://webapps.acs.carleton.edu/curricular/physics/for_students/summer_jobs_internships/
Carleton Summer Internship
Cindy Blaha is looking for two students with an
astrophysics background who are interested in joining her in a summer research
project. The project will focus on
the evolutionary history of galaxy M33, a spiral neighbor to our own Milky Way.
Massive stars and star formation play an integral role in shaping the
evolutionary history of a galaxy. These stars have a huge impact on their
galactic neighborhoods and can form in a wide variety of different
environments, ranging from high-density nuclear regions to isolated ionized
hydrogen regions in the disks of spiral galaxies. The summer research project will involve analysis of optical
observations of three large CCD images spanning the entirety of M33. Each field has a set of B, V and R
(blue, green and red) broadband images as well as three images taken through
narrow interference filters centered on specific emission lines of ionized
hydrogen, sulfur and oxygen. Using all these images together, the galactic
Òlife historyÓ of M33 will be studied. Data analysis will involve use of the Image Reduction and
Analysis Facility (IRAF) and other image processing software on several
operating systems. Summer work
will also include CCD observing in Goodsell Observatory and helping out with
public evenings. Please contact
Cindy if you are interested in applying.
The deadline for materials to be included
in Radiations is noon Thursday prior to the week you would like the information
to appear.