The next Kartchner Caverns State Park astronomy program will be Saturday, March 12, 2016. Weather permitting, there will be solar telescopes set up starting at about 1 pm. At 5:30 pm, there will be a talk in the Discovery Center Auditorium. The guest speaker will be University of Arizona and Steward Observatory Astronomer Dr. Kevin Hainline, and his talk is titled, “Hunting for Supermassive Black Holes.” Black holes – objects so massive that not even light that gets caught inside their reach can escape – are not just a theoretical prospect. In this talk, Dr. Hainline will describe how astronomers have been finding black holes with a variety of cutting edge techniques, with a focus on his own work searching for supermassive black holes. The intense gravity from these objects can serve as an engine for a powerful light source that can have a significant impact on the stars and gas throughout the galaxies that host them. Dr. Hainline will also discuss his work on the James Webb Space Telescope, which is currently being built for launch in 2018, with a focus on what we will learn from this telescope about the history of the growth of black holes across cosmic time.
After the program, we will look through the telescopes of the Huachuca Astronomy Club of Southeastern Arizona. Don’t miss the close-up views of the great planet Jupiter, craters and mountains of the moon, the star formation region of the Great Orion Nebula, distant galaxies, and many other wonders of the night sky. Sunset will be at about 6:30 pm, and bring your jackets. For more information about Kartchner, visit their website at: http://azstateparks.com/Parks/KACA/
Dr. Kevin Hainline is a postdoctoral researcher on the James Webb Space Telescope NIRCam science team at Steward Observatory at the University of Arizona. His research explores active galaxies and quasars both nearby and at large cosmic distances. He received his PhD from UCLA in 2012 and had a three year position at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire prior to moving to Tucson. He has a passion for science outreach education, with many years of experience through the UCLA Planetarium and the Montshire Museum of Science in Norwich, Vermont.