Maui Public Talk: "Stellar Winds": Observing Stars from Haleakala

University of Hawaiʻi
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Posted: Jul 17, 2008

IfA postdoctoral fellow David Harrington will give a talk entitled "Stellar Winds: Observing Stars from Haleakala" at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, July 23 at the Maikalani building in Pukalani. This Maui Maikalani Community Lecture is sponsored by the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy.

On at Haleakala, multiple telescopes observe the sun, stars, and space debris. Some of this research involves observing the process of star formation—how a young star interacts with its planet-forming circumstellar disk. Other projects involve investigating the structures seen on the sun, such as sunspots, active regions, and coronal loops. During the past five years, David Harrington has participated in these projects by building an instrument for the 4-meter Advanced Electro Optical System (AEOS) telescope and using it to observe young stars. Since processes on these young stars are somewhat similar to those on the sun, finding the similarities and differences helps us understand both in more depth. This talk will interrelate the sun, young stars, and some of the current projects at the observatories.

Harrington received his bachelor's degree from Michigan Technical University in 2003 and his PhD from the University of Hawaii this year. He has spent over 120 nights observing on AEOS and has authored more than 10 scientific papers. He has studied young stars, stellar magnetic fields and the solar corona, and also participated in the observations for NASA's Deep Impact mission.

The address of Maikalani, also known as the Advanced Technology Research Center, is 34 Ohia Ku Street, Pukalani, above Kamehameha Schools in the Kulamalu Town Center (the first light after King Kekaulike High School, just off Kula Highway). For a map, go to http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/maps/Maui-ATRC.html.

Admission is free, and street parking is available. For more information, call 573-9500 on Maui.


For more information, visit: http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/info/press-releases/MauiLectures/Harrington-07-08.html