June 2018 FAS Meeting

The June meeting of the Forsyth Astronomical Society will be this coming Wednesday, June 13th at 7:30 pm at Kaleideum North. The program will be a presentation by Samuel D. Flynn, a doctoral candidate at NC State University. Mr. Flynn will be presenting a program entitled:

Ghosts From a Dying Star

Using neutrinos oscillations to probe supernovae and beyond

Weighing in at a 511,000 times lighter than the electron, neutrinos hold the record for nature’s lightest particles.  Combined with the fact that they come in 3 flavors, their lack of electric charge, their weak interactions, and their ghostlike ability to avoid detection, the neutrinos are a contender for nature’s most interesting particles as well.  Despite the difficulty involved in detecting these elusive particles, they may hold the key to the future of astronomy. Neutrino mixing, a phenomena which allows neutrinos to change flavors, presents a powerful tool to probe the hidden contents of stars, supernovae, and even black hole accretion disks.  In these unique, cosmic laboratories full of dense matter and at times unbelievably large populations of neutrinos, this peculiar mixing behavior can occur in characteristic ways as the particles escape, carrying information about these environments with them. In this talk, we will explore a brief history of neutrinos and their flavor oscillations, how the special conditions inside of supernovae might allow neutrino astronomy to one day see inside these events, and how these cosmic labs might prove a useful probe into the mysterious nature of the neutrinos themselves

Following the presentation portion, we will have a brief business/planning meeting and as always, there will be an informal social gathering 30 minutes or so before the meeting. Come early for the best choice of doughnuts.  All meetings are open to the public, free of charge and all are welcome. Hope to see you there.

A reminder to club members: It’s time again for renewal of annual dues. You can pay them at any meeting or by mail. Dues are now $35/year for individuals, $40/year for a family membership and our student rate is still $5/year. For any other interested persons, if you have ever wanted to join our organization now is the prime time to do it. Watch for a post in the coming days explaining membership benefits. Don’t forget to renew your Astronomical League membership, $7.50 additional to your FAS membership, as well if you participate in that group. Don’t know about the Astronomical League? Ask club member Sean Wood, the FAS AL correspondent.