One Million Miles Per Hour Leaving the Galaxy
Please join the Amateur Observers’ Society of New York on Sunday, November 3, 2024 for a wonderful talk by professor Adam Burgasser.
A native of Buffalo, New York, Professor Adam Burgasser received his B.S. in Physics from the University of California, San Diego, in 1996, and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Physics (with a special emphasis on Planetary Science) from the California Institute of Technology in 2001. His thesis research on the coldest known brown dwarfs (very low mass stars incapable of hydrogen fusion) led to the designation of a new stellar spectral class, the T dwarfs. He continues his observational work on low mass stars and brown dwarfs using facilities around the world, including UC’s Lick and Keck Observatories. After working as a Hubble Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of California, Los Angeles, and then as a Spitzer Postdoctoral Fellow at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, Professor Burgasser joined the Physics faculty at MIT in July 2005, and then the UCSD Physics faculty in 2009. Professor Burgasser is a strong advocate for equity and inclusion in the physical sciences, and has served as chair of the American Astronomical Society Committee on the Status of Minorities in Astronomy and currently serves as a campus LEAD Fellow and member of the UCSD Black Studies Executive Committee. In 2014, he was awarded the UCSD Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action and Diversity Award and UCSD Outstanding Mentor Award. He currently serves as a AAS Vice President.
Research Interests
Observational astrophysics, focusing on very low-mass stars and brown dwarfs; low-temperature stellar and planetary atmospheres; stellar multiplicity; Galactic stellar populations; Physics & Astronomy education; Equity & Inclusion in the physical sciences