New and exciting activities in the
McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences
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Recent News from MacCenter Fellows
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Lucy in the Sky with Asteroids
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Dr. Hal Levison is an Institute Scientist at the Southwest Research Institute and the Principal Investigator of the Lucy mission, a groundbreaking exploration of the Jupiter Trojan asteroids. Levison is renowned for his significant contributions in several areas, including studying how planets and smaller bodies form and evolve,
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examining the populations and long-term dynamical behavior of comets and objects in the Kuiper belt, exploring the origin and stability of Trojan asteroids, and understanding the processes involved in the formation of moons and other satellites.
The Lucy mission, named after the famous Lucy fossil that revolutionized our understanding of human evolution, aims to reveal the "fossils of planet formation." Appropriately, the fossil collection itself was named after the Beatles' 1967 hit "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds." This NASA space probe has embarked on a twelve-year journey to explore a record number of asteroids, providing unprecedented insights into our solar system’s origins and evolution.
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Using drone imagery to help the slow loris
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Leslie Annette Paige, a graduate student in biological anthropology, is using remote sensing technologies to map loris habitats in the highest possible resolution.
Paige came to WashU with a strong interest in geospatial technology but no practical experience with the tools. She took GIS courses, ultimately developing a collaboration with Alex Bradley and Bill Winston in the Fossett Laboratory for Virtual Planetary Exploration after taking their course "Geospatial Field Methods." "They provided training in drone survey methods and data analysis techniques as well as the equipment that we have used to conduct our surveys," she said.
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NASA Selects X-ray Mission for Study
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NASA selected two proposals for further assessment as part of a new line of missions the agency is calling Probe Explorers. One of the selected missions is the Advanced X-ray Imaging Satellite, or AXIS. Chris Reynolds, the Spring 2024 McDonnell Distinguished Lecturer, is the principal investigator and MCSS Fellow Tansu Daylan, assistant professor of physics, is part of the Science Team for the AXIS mission.
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Axis would be an X-ray imaging observatory with a large, flat field-of-view and high spatial resolution. It would study the seeds of supermassive black holes; investigate the process of stellar feedback, which influences how galaxies evolve; and help determine the power sources of a variety of explosive phenomena in the cosmos. The observatory would build on the successes of previous X-ray observatories, capturing new capabilities for X-ray imaging and imaging spectroscopy.
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2024 Robert M. Walker Distinguished Lecture Series
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Institute Scientist
Southwest Research Institute
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Electromagnetic Fireworks Triggered by a Black Hole Feeding on its Magnetized Plasma Corona
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Space Sciences/Astrophysics Seminar
John Mehlhaff
Université Grenoble Alpes
Friday, October 4
11:00am, Compton 241
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Geophysical and Environmental Applications of Imaging Radar Systems
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Imaging Seminar
Roger Michaelides
WashU
Friday, October 11
8:30am, Green Hall, Rodin Auditorium L0120
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| Achieving the Science of the Extreme Universe Through Developments in Gamma-Ray Instrumentation and Telescopes
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Space Sciences/Astrophysics Seminar
Regina Caputo
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Friday, October 11
11:00am, Compton 241
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| McDonnell Center Contacts |
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Compiled and edited by Alison Verbeck. Please send any contributions to alison@wustl.edu.
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