PALS - 2021-22

Speaker: . Christopher M. Graney,  Specola Vaticana

Abstract: Johannes Kepler, famous today for his three laws of planetary motion, had some pointed things to say about the structure of the universe of stars. Kepler’s ideas stand in contrast to what astronomers tended to assume about the universe.  Kepler’s comments raise the question of where did our ideas about the universe come from? Did they come from science, or did they come from our own ideas and preferences?  The science behind our ideas about the universe of stars is now very solid, but the historical origins of those ideas still matter.

PALS 2021/22

Speaker: J.T. Lauroesch, Ph.D. (University of Louisville)

Abstract:The history of the Hubble begins in 1946 with the vision of Lyman Spitzer Jr, who continued to champion a large space telescope until its launch.  Congressional approval of the large space telescope occurred in 1977.  The launch of the now named Hubble space telescope in 1990 was followed by the disappointment of the discovery of spherical aberration in the primary mirror.  The first servicing mission installed corrective optics, subsequent servicing missions have installed updated and repaired existing instruments.  The rich history as shown through Hubble images will be explored.

PALS 2021/22

Speaker: T. Dowling, Ph.D.

Abstract: Jupiter’s famous banded structure consists of bright, cloudy zones and darker, clear belts. One of the most widespread misconceptions in planetary science is that the cloudy zones Indicate upwelling and the clear belts indicate downwelling. The real mechanism is much simpler and does not involve any vertical motions at all. The key is that the tropopause is flat (like the ocean surface is ‘flat’) and anticyclonic zones are cool simply so they fit under the tropopause. Likewise, cyclonic belts are warm to fill up the space and keep the tropopause flat. These come with simple emoticons: a zone is |*( ( ( and a belt is | ) ) ). WE will connect how these emoticons explain the main aspects of the hypsometric equation and the thermal-wind equation of meteorology ---intuitively and without any equations. And, we will get trained to see clouds without any “up arrow” attached to them, fighting fire with fire by labeling clouds that are clearly not from upwelling with fallacious “up arrows”. Jupiter’s zones and belts turn out to be easily visible evidence that the planet has deeply rooted jet streams.