Join Glen Petitpas will be at ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center at 7 p.m. Saturday for a talk on “Beyond the Eyeball — Come see what you are missing.”
Join Glen Petitpas will be at ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center at 7 p.m. Saturday for a talk on “Beyond the Eyeball — Come see what you are missing.”
Petitpas says most people who love astronomy fell in love with the beautiful photographs taken at optical wavelengths. As it turns out, many of the spectacular nearby reflection nebulae and dusty spiral arms in distant galaxies which often grace the covers of astronomy magazines are actually acting to obscure some of the more fascinating astrophysical phenomena, such as the birth of stars and massive black holes.
Petitpas will demonstrate how optical light can only contribute a very small portion of our understanding of the universe and he will show several examples of how the current generation of telescopes operating at wavelengths invisible to the human eye can peer deeper into regions completely obscured at optical wavelengths.
Petitpas is an astronomer at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory Submillimeter Array on Mauna Kea.
(SMA). He has been working at the SMA on the Big Island for more than eight years. Originally from Canada, he received his Ph.D. from McMaster University in Ontario and held post-doctoral positions at the University of Maryland and the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. During these postings, he used submillimeter interferometers to study the molecular gas content and dynamics of nearby galaxies.
He will also discuss how upcoming telescopes — which are so large and expensive they are global collaborations — will change the way astronomers study the universe.
Since stars are born in molecular gas clouds, studying their composition and motion teaches us about the conditions under which large scale star formation is triggered. By studying gas dynamics in galaxies, we can learn about the feeding mechanism for the black holes responsible for the extreme energy output observed in many active galaxies.
The evening program will be hosted by Peter Michaud of Gemini Observatory, who will provide observational highlights of the current night sky over Hawaii, pointing out prominent constellations and stars one can see during this time of year. The monthly Mauna Kea Skies planetarium presentations are held on the third Saturday of each month. Cost is $8, with member discounts.