|
|
Two MIT Kavli Institute IAP 2013 activities on the "Life Cycle of Stars" were selected to be video-recorded as part of an ongoing MIT Libraries and AMPS video project sponsored by Neil Pappalardo. See "The High Energy Lifestyle of Young Stars" by Dr. Norbert Schulz (MIT Kavli Institute); "Dissecting the X-rays from Supernova Remnants" by Dr. Laura Lopez (Pappalardo Fellow, Einstein Fellow, MIT Kavli Institute). Note: MIT retains copyright to these videos.
Sara Seager received her B.Sc. in mathematics and physics from the University of Toronto in 1994. She earned a Ph.D. in astronomy from Harvard University in...
Researchers at The Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research explore extreme and unusual phenomena found beyond the Earth including extrasolar planets, black holes, neutron stars, and distant galaxies and clusters of galaxies.
The Magellan Telescopes Consortium, consisting of then Observatories of the Carnegie Institution of Washington (OCIW), University of Arizona, Harvard University, University of Michigan, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), jointly run two 6.5 meter optical telescopes in the southern hemisphere. The telescopes, named after Walter Baade and Lucius Clay, are located on Cerro Las Campanas at an altitude of 8000 feet in the Chilean Andes.
Magellan Clay Telescope, open, by A. Frebel
First light for the Baade telescope occurred on September 15, 2000, and the dedication of both telescopes took place on December 9th, 2000. The telescopes began operations in February 2001 and September 2002, respectively.
Each telescope has two f/11 Nasmyth ports and three folded Nasmyths, and allows for rapid between ports. The Clay telescope has an f/5 Cassegrain port and a deformable adaptive secondary that delivers an f/16 beam at one of the Nasmyth ports. The consortium partners have provided instruments for direct imaging and spectroscopy at optical and infrared wavelegths.
In 2010 Professor Rob Simcoe of MIT installed FIRE, a high throughput medium resolution spectrometer on the Baade telescope, where it is now a facility instrument. Simcoe and his students and collaborators have used it to study the enrichment of the intergalactic medium by the first galaxies.
The Magellan telescopes are equipped with a closed-loop active optics system that ensures that images delivered by the telescope are as good as the atmosphere permits. Professor Paul Schechter (who did much of the system design) and his students exploit this to study the distribution of dark matter by measuring the gravitational lensing of
galaxies and quasars.
Professor Anna Frebel and her students and collaborators use MIKE, the high resolution spectrometer, to study the abundances of elements in very old stars with near primordial compositions. The abundance patterns they observe tell us about the first generation of stars, which are likely to have been very different from the stars we observe today.
Prof. Josh Winn has used Magellan to observe extrasolar planets via lightcurves of transits/occultations as they pass in from of their host star, and also velocity variations they induce via doppler reflex motion.
MKI Affiliates in the Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences department (including Prof. R. Binzel and the late Prof. J. Elliot) have used Magellan to characterize the surface compositions, sizes, and orbits of asteroids and other small bodies in our own Solar System.
MKI Magellan Projects
MagE
MagIC
A nearby star is pummeling a companion planet with a barrage of X-rays a hundred thousand times more than the Earth receives from the Sun. Credit: NASA/CXC/NSF/IPAC/2MASS (see the 
