by Victor Davis, Program Chair

Going for Gold
The April, 2025 meeting of the AAAP will take place in Peyton Hall on the campus of Princeton University on Tuesday, April 8th at 7:30 PM. As usual, the meeting is open to AAAP members and the public. Participants can join the meeting in-person at Peyton Hall or log in to the Zoom session as early as 7:00 pm to chat informally before the meeting begins. The evening’s guest speaker is Eliot Quataert, Professor of Astrophysical Sciences at Princeton University. His talk is entitled “Cosmic Gold: Neutron Star Mergers, Gravitational Waves, and the Origin of the Heavy Elements”

Options for Attending the 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). Due to security concerns, if you log in before the host has set up internet connectivity in Peyton Hall, you may need to wait in the Waiting Room for a few minutes until the host is prepared to admit you into the meeting. You’ll need to unmute yourself to make comments or ask questions. It’s polite, though not required, for you to enable your camera so other participants can see you.

Meet the Speaker Dinner
Join us at Winberie’s for our traditional fête. Reservation as usual is for 5:45 pm. Those who wish to participate should contact me at program@princetonastronomers.org to let me know you’re coming.

Here’s the anticipated agenda for April 2025’s monthly meeting of the AAAP:

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. It’s about a 10-15 minute walk from the parking garage to Peyton Hall.

Featured Speaker:
Eliot Quataert
quataert@princeton.edu

Professor of Astrophysical Sciences
Princeton University

“Cosmic Gold: Neutron Star Mergers, Gravitational Waves, and the Origin of the Heavy Elements”

Cosmic Gold: Neutron Star Mergers, Gravitational Waves, and the Origin of the Heavy Elements
Scientists have recently developed a new way to `see’ the universe, using gravitational waves predicted by Einstein over a century ago. These waves can teach us about some of the most exotic objects known, including black holes and neutron stars.   Remarkably, they have also helped solve a longstanding puzzle about where in the Universe some of the elements we know and love here on Earth are produced, including gold, platinum and uranium   Eliot Quataert will describe the exciting and remarkable new results coming out of our first steps into the gravitational wave era.

Eliot Quataert is a Professor of Astrophysical Sciences and the Charles A. Young Professor of Astronomy at Princeton University. He is an astrophysics theorist who works on a wide range of topics, including stars and black holes, accretion theory, plasma astrophysics, and how galaxies form. His research utilizes both analytic calculations and numerical simulations. He teaches undergraduates and graduate students and also enjoys giving non-technical talks to the public on astronomical topics.

Prof. Quataert earned his undergraduate degree at MIT, his PhD from Harvard, and was a postdoc at the Institute for Advanced Study. He joined the faculty at UC Berkeley before moving to Princeton in 2020.

How to Participate (Links)
Zoom & YouTube Live
Amateur Astronomers Association of Princeton is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: April 2025 AAAP Meeting-Eliot Quataert, Professor Princeton U, Cosmic Gold: Neutron Star Mergers, Gravitational Waves, and the Origin of the Heavy Elements
Time: Apr 8, 2025 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting

Meeting ID: 811 7384 9436
Passcode: 252509


Click the above icons for Zoom and YouTube

Date	Featured Speaker	Topic
May 13, 2025	James Stone Emeritus Professor of Astrophysical Sciences and Emeritus Lyman Spitzer, Jr. Professor of Theoretical Astrophysics Princeton University jstone@astro.princeton.edu	TBA
June 10, 2025	Jacob Hamer Assistant Curator NJ State Museum Planetarium Jacob.Hamer@sos.nj.gov	Dr. Hamer has expressed his intention to continue AAAP’s tradition to host the June meeting at the planetarium of the NJ State Museum in Trenton. The meeting will feature a presentation of the planetarium’s current sky show, a live planetarium tour of the night sky, and a guest speaker presentation.
July-August	No monthly meetings
Sept. 9, 2025	Edwin L. Turner Emeritus Professor of Astrophysical Sciences Princeton University elt@astro.princeton.edu	TBA
Oct. 14, 2025	Becka Phillipson Assistant Professor in Physics Villanova University rebecca.phillipson@villanova.edu	TBA Thanks to Bill Thomas for suggesting this speaker.
Nov. 11, 2025	Romain Teyssier Professor of Astrophysical Sciences and Applied and Computational Mathematics Princeton University teyssier@princeton.edu	TBA

As always, members’ comments and suggestions are gratefully accepted and much appreciated. Thanks to Ira Polans and Dave Skitt for setting up the online links and connecting the meeting to the world outside Peyton Hall.

victor.davis@verizon.net
program@princetonastronomers.org
(908) 581-1780 cell