Join us on Monday, March 25th, for our next Full Moon-th Meetup with our guest Dr. Brad Schaefer, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Physics & Astronomy at Louisiana State University.
Our tradition of hosting online meetups with our Sacred Space Astronomy members and the Vatican Observatory staff, scholars and friends during the Full Moon in Tucson (or thereabout) continues on Monday, March 25th at 12:00 Noon ET (10:00 AM Tucson time). This meetup is a perk for our Sacred Space Astronomy subscribers- you get to chat with each other, and astronomers and scientists from the Vatican Observatory!
We’ll also have the latest astronomy news and an update about the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope*.
As I was scanning Dr. Schaefer’s bio on the LSU website, my eyes kept getting larger and larger, until I saw all the prizes he’s won – then I said something not fit for print! My next thought was “How does Br. Guy know him?”
Brad is an old friend of Br Guy – they were undergrads together. Br. Guy taught a class at MIT as a postdoc, which Brad’s wife Martha TA’d – they turned that into a textbook (which now very out of date!)
Dr. Schaefer’s research interests include: Gamma-Ray Bursts, supernovae, supernova remnants, supernova progenitors, historical records of supernovae, novae, recurrent novae, superflare stars, low mass X-ray binaries, eclipsing binaries, Nereid, Pluto, Kuiper Belt Objects, sunspot counts, the visibility of objects in the sky (especially lunar crescents and heliacal rises), astronomical effects on history, the accuracy of the press in reporting astronomy, the origin of the Greek and Chinese constellations, archaeoastronomy, astronomical events in history (e.g., the Crucifixion and the Star of Bethlehem), and astronomical events in literature (especially in The Hobbit and in the Sherlock Holmes canon).
Writing his PhD thesis about the discovery of gamma ray bursts by a satellite in the early 1980s, somewhat ironically Brad became an expert on how the human eye can see things in the sky. From that expertise he will address two astronomical issues of particular interest this month: how one can use astronomy to date the actual year of the Crucifixion and the first Easter, and a discussion of the April 8 total solar eclipse.
Dr. Schaefer is remembered as the founder of the annual MIT Mystery Hunt – a tradition that continues today.
Dr. Schaefer’s bio also includes a large list of publications – including several prize winners.
Dr. Schaefer’s Wikipedia Entry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bradley_Schaefer
When? Monday, March 25, 2024: Rain or shine
What time? These meetups will happen around lunch time in North America: in particular, 12:00 PM Eastern Standard Time, which is 10:00 AM Tucson time.
How do you access the Zoom link? Join Sacred Space Astronomy and you’ll get an email with the full link! If you are already a member, log in to the Vatican Observatory site, and you will see the Zoom info at the bottom of this post.
This meeting was created in a non-BAA environment and is not intended for the discussion of healthcare, health education, or health data research.
*The Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope consists of the Alice P. Lennon Telescope, and the Thomas J. Bannan Astrophysics Facility.
