By Victor Davis

AAAP Revisits Peyton Hall on the Campus of Princeton University

The December 2022 meeting of the AAAP will take place IN PERSON on Tuesday, December 13^th at 7:30 PM. As usual, the meeting is open to AAAP members and the public.

Hybrid Meeting

You may choose to attend the meeting in person or participate via Zoom or YouTube as we’ve been doing for the past few years. (See How to Participate below for details). Participants who choose to participate virtually will be able to log in to the meeting as early as 7:00 pm to chat informally with others who log in early. We’ve had some security concerns during a past broadcast, so we are re-instituting the Zoom waiting room. Please be patient for the host to recognize you and grant you entry into the meeting. Be aware that you must unmute yourself to be heard by other participants.

For the Q&A session, you may ask your question using Zoom’s chat feature or you may unmute yourself and ask your question directly to the speaker. To address background noise issues, we are going to follow the rules in the table below regarding audio. If you are not speaking, please remember to mute yourself. You are encouraged, but not required, to turn your video on.

Director Rex Parker will be out of town (out of the country, in fact) for December’s meeting, so Assistant Director Larry Kane will guide the meeting.

Meeting Event	Participant Can Speak?	Participant Can Self-Unmute?
Pre-meeting informal chatting	Start All on Mute	Yes
Assistant Director Larry Kane’s General Remarks	Start All on Mute	Yes
Program Chair Victor’s Speaker Introduction	Start All on Mute	Yes
Speaker Presentation: Prof. Prof. Joshua Winn Exoplanets: Science and Science Fiction	No	No
Q&A Session	Start All on Mute	Yes
Business Meeting	Yes	Yes
Assistant Director’s remarks/Informal chatting	Start All on Mute	Yes

Getting to Peyton Hall

The parking lots across the street (Ivy Lane) from Peyton Hall are now construction sites, unavailable for parking. We’ve been advised by the administration of the astrophysics department that we should park in the new enclosed parking garage off Fitzrandolph street and walk around the stadium and athletic fields. Here’s a map of the campus and walking routes from the parking garage to Peyton Hall. The map shows the recently completed East Garage. Not shown is an access road Sweet Gum that connects from Faculty Road to an entrance at the lower left corner of the garage. Stadium Road connects from Fitzrandolph Road to another entrance at the opposite corner (and higher level) of the garage.

Recent reconnaissance visits to campus show that the walk from the parking garage to Peyton Hall takes about 15 minutes. We will post small signs marking the path.

“Meet the Speaker” dinners

Along with our return to Peyton Hall, we are re-instituting our “Meet the Speaker” dinners at Winberie’s Restaurant & Bar at One Palmer Square. The restaurant has a meeting room that accommodates up to 30 people.  I have reserved this room for 5:45 pm on meeting night. Please contact me by phone or email if you are planning to attend.

Victor Davis
victor.davis@verizon.net
program@princetonastronomers.com
(908) 581-1780

Featured Speaker: Joshua Winn, PhD

Professor of Astrophysical Sciences
Director of Graduate Studies, Princeton University
jnwinn@princeton.edu

Exoplanets: Science and Science Fiction

For centuries, people have wondered whether the stars in the sky harbor planets of their own.  Astronomers began discovering such “exoplanets” in the 1990s, and by this point, more than 6,000 are known.  One reason to study exoplanets is to learn about the process of planet formation; another is to seek planets that might be suitable for life as we know it.  This presentation will concentrate on a less scientific reason: to try ‘confirming’ science fiction.  Does the universe really contain lava-covered planets, planets with two Suns, planets near black holes, and other worlds familiar from science fiction?

Joshua Winn, PhD
Josh Winn’s research goals are to explore the properties of planets around other stars, understand how planets form and evolve, and make progress on the age-old question of whether there are other planets capable of supporting life. His group uses optical and infrared telescopes to study exoplanetary systems, especially those in which the star and planet eclipse one another. He was a Participating Scientist in the NASA Kepler team and is a Co-Investigator and Architect of the ongoing Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite mission. Over the years, he and his group have also pursued topics in stellar astronomy, tidal evolution, planetary dynamics, radio interferometry, gravitational lensing, and photonic bandgap materials.

How to Participate if you are attending via Zoom:

• Please make sure you have Zoom installed on your computer. You do not need a Zoom account or to create one to join the meeting. Nor are you required to use a webcam.
• Please see below for the link to the meeting, or visit our website.

Topic: AAAP December Meeting-Dr. Joshua Winn of Princeton will speak on “Exoplanets: Science and Science Fiction.”
Time: Dec 13, 2022 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting Link,   Meeting ID: 837 2225 9102  Passcode: 887836

AAAP webcast:  This month’s AAAP meeting, beginning with Rex’s opening remarks and ending at the beginning of the business meeting, will be webcast live on YouTube and recorded for subsequent public access on AAAP’s YouTube channel. Be aware that your interactions during this segment, including questions to our guest speaker, may be recorded for posterity. 

Join YouTube Live to listen to the speaker using the link below –

  Dr. Joshua Winn, Exoplanets: Science and Science Fiction.

This session will be recorded and saved on YouTube. Send me an email at program@princetonastronomy.org if you have any concerns. 

“Unjournal Club”

There is no “Unjournal Club” presentation scheduled this month. As you may know, guest speakers receive a baseball cap with the AAAP logo embroidered upon it as a “thank you” for making a presentation to us. We’re expanding the hat giveaway to members who contribute an “Unjournal Club” presentation to encourage participation.

We hope to make these short presentations a regular feature of our monthly meetings. We’d like to know what members are doing or what members are thinking about in the broad range of topics encompassed by astronomy. A brief ten-minute (or so) presentation is a good way to introduce yourself and the topics you care about to other club members. If you are interested in presenting a topic of interest, please contact either director@princetonastronomy.org or program@princetonastronomy.org.

A look ahead at future guest speakers:

January 10, 2023 Virtual meeting	Alyssa Pagan, Space Telescope Science Institute Alyssa works to process the JWST images that have been leaving us sockless. She’ll talk about JWST and her work turning its data into images. This meeting will be virtual only, while renovations to Peyton Hall’s lecture hall are completed.
February. 2023	Jenny Greene, Princeton University Professor of Astrophysics Jenny recently wrote an article on middleweight black holes for Sky & Telescope. She will discuss the contents of her article.
March 14, 2023	Joe DePasquale, Space Telescope Science Institute Joe is Senior Data Imaging Developer in the Office of Public Outreach at the Space Telescope Science Institute. A colleague of Alyssa’s, Joe will describe his work turning JWST data into images.
April 11, 2023	Ira Polans, former Program Chair of AAAP Rising nearly 400 feet above the desert floor in a remote section of ancient Anasazi territory in New Mexico is a sacred Native American site that a thousand years ago revealed the changing seasons to Anasazi astronomers. Ira will present a documentary film about the “Sun Dagger” and talk about indigenous people of New Mexico. Note that this film is solely for viewing by in-person members, as copyright restrictions will not permit broadcasting it on the internet.
May 9, 2023	Gary Rendsburg, Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies and History at Rutgers. Prof. Rendsburg will talk about “The Jewish Calendar,” with emphasis on its astronomical connections to lunar months, intercalated month to adjust to the solar year, festival days, and new moon observances.
June 13, 2023	Bill Murray, AAAP’s Outreach Director and staffer at NJ State Museum planetarium Bill will give his traditional planetarium show at the New Jersey State Museum in Trenton.

As always, members’ comments and suggestions are gratefully accepted and much appreciated.

Solar Observing in Millington, NJ
Save the date: April 23, 2023 – Long Hill Township Street Fair.
Each year I set up solar telescopes at the Long Hill Township street fair. This is the town I live in, and although I realize it’s a bit of a schlep for many AAAP members, I’d be delighted to have the participation of my fellow astrobuddies. There are lots of kids with sticky fingers and unhealthy food, and I always have a good time. My participation is weather dependent, so please check in with me if you’re thinking about coming out.