UA Sky Viewing, Talk Offer Close Look at Moon, Saturn; Info on Invisible Objects

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Visitors can view the moon and Saturn through a University of Alabama telescope Tuesday, March 27 and take in a talk on neutrinos, tiny, invisible objects said to pass through the human body by the millions every second.

The free event, hosted by UA’s department of physics and astronomy, begins at 7:30 p.m. in Gallalee Hall, room 227, with a talk by Dr. Heinrich Paes, assistant professor of physics at UA. His talk is titled “Traveling Back in Time with Neutrinos in Extra Dimensions.”

At 8 p.m., visitors can climb into UA’s observatory to use a 16-inch research grade reflector telescope atop Gallalee to view Saturn and the moon. The viewing session, which is contingent on the weather, is hosted by Dr. Philip Hardee, professor of physics and astronomy.

Neutrinos are electrically neutral, sub-atomic particles, which pass effortlessly through all matter. It’s been estimated that trillions of the tiny, invisible objects pass through the human body every second. Although their existence has been theorized for half a century, physicists only recently showed these particles have mass.

Gallalee Hall is located near the northwest corner of University Boulevard and Hackberry Lane on the UA campus. For more information about scheduled events, phone 205/348-5050 or see http://www.astr.ua.edu/Public.html.

The department of physics and astronomy is part of UA’s College of Arts and Sciences, the University’s largest division and the largest liberal arts college in the state. Students from the College have won numerous national awards including Rhodes Scholarships, Goldwater Scholarships and memberships on the USA Today Academic All American Team.