Third Thursday Telecons

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DanZ
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Third Thursday Telecons

Post by DanZ »

Dear Dusters,

Stardust@home Director Dr. Andrew Westphal would like to offer you the opportunity to speak with him directly about the future of the Stardust@home program and other related matters. We are planning to "soft launch" what we're currently calling Third Thursday Telecons. On the Third Thursday of every month at 11am U.S. Pacific Time, you will be invited to call-in and ask your questions and otherwise join the live discussion. We'd like to start this month if possible. Therefore, please let me know if you can join us on Thursday, February 19, 2015 at 11am Pacific Time for the first telecon. If we get an enthusiastic enough response, we'll be go for launch! Please note, this conversation will be in English only, and we apologize in advance for any inconvenience.

Hope to hear from you soon!

Dan
caprarom
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Re: Third Thursday Telecons

Post by caprarom »

I'll be available, Dan. Regards, Mike C.
SmithES
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Re: Third Thursday Telecons

Post by SmithES »

Hey, Dan Z, I'm in! That is, I will give it a try and see if I can successful join you. That is 8:00 am my time zone. Great idea! Would love to touch bases about the future of StarDusters, among other topics. (The info panel beside my post says I joined Stardust Sunday, April 17, 2011. Nope, I entered as Duster ERSTRS in August 2006.) Evelyn, ERSTRS, Smith ES
piergio
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Re: Third Thursday Telecons

Post by piergio »

Hi, Dan

I will try to be on line; but in which way?

mopigi
DanZ
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Re: Third Thursday Telecons

Post by DanZ »

Thanks so much for replying! That's three to start, hopefully we'll get more. Let me make sure Dr. Westphal is still committed to doing this (it was last week we talked), and then I'll get back to you with the call-in instructions. In the meantime, please check your timezone so you know what 11am Pacific Standard Time is in your area: http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/

More soon!

Dan
DanZ
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Re: Third Thursday Telecons

Post by DanZ »

Hi Everyone.

The call-in number for Thursday is 1-866-740-1260. When prompted, please enter the passcode 6422969 followed by the # (pound) key. If you need a number from outside the US, please enter 6422969 at http://www.readytalk.com/account-admini ... al-numbers to retrieve the correct phone number to dial. Also, please help us spread this info to any other dusters you know!

Thanks - we look forward to speaking with you soon!

Dan
SmithES
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Re: Third Thursday Telecons

Post by SmithES »

Session #1, on 2-19-15----Great Session! I made notes about plans for future dusters. Excited about the 7 candidates we have already, and plans for next step---the hunt for larger particles, measuring Oxygen isotopes! I had wondered if our job as Dusters was nearly over, but it sounds like the project will continue for the next generation of dusters, at least! Thank you, "cousin" Westphal! (My family came from the Black Forests of Germany in 1625, I claim relationship to Andrew :) ) Evelyn, SmithES, ERSTRS
DanZ
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Re: Third Thursday Telecons

Post by DanZ »

Really glad you could join us Evelyn, and it was great to hear your voice! We'll do this again next month if people want it, so please let us know. All the best! Dan
caprarom
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Re: Third Thursday Telecons

Post by caprarom »

It was interesting and informative, Dan. I've got it penciled in already on next month's calendar. Thanks to all. Mike
DanZ
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Re: Third Thursday Telecons

Post by DanZ »

Wonderful Mike! In fact, feel free to list your questions ahead of time here. This goes for everyone.

Dan
caprarom
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Re: Third Thursday Telecons

Post by caprarom »

Dan, perhaps not germane to current activities, but in Phase VI we introduced some cometary movies into the mix. I'm curious if anything interesting resulted from that. I think we flagged several potential candidates from those movies - aside from perhaps being smaller, any other differences from the bits identified by the cometary team? Mike
DanZ
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Re: Third Thursday Telecons

Post by DanZ »

Thanks for the question Mike. We'll be happy to address it on Thursday, March 19th at 11am PDT (San Francisco Time). The call-in number for these telecons remains the same, and is 1-866-740-1260. When prompted, please enter the passcode 6422969 followed by the # (pound) key. If you need a number from outside the US, please enter 6422969 at the website here to retrieve the correct international toll-free phone number to dial. You can also check your own corresponding time using the World Clock. Also, please help us spread this info to any other dusters you know.

Thanks again - we're looking forward to our next conversation with you all!

Dan
PS - There is still time to submit additional questions for the Berkeley team for the next telecon. The cutoff date/time for new questions will always be the Monday before the Thursday telecon, or in this case, Monday, March 16, 2015 at 11:59 PM Pacific Daylight Savings Time (San Francisco Time).
DanZ
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Re: Third Thursday Telecons

Post by DanZ »

We decided to postpone this month's call until tomorrow. Thus, please try and join us Friday, March 20th at 9am San Francisco Time (PLEASE NOTE THE NEW TIME for just this one call). The call-in number for these telecons remains the same, and is 1-866-740-1260. When prompted, please enter the passcode 6422969 followed by the # (pound) key. If you need a number from outside the US, please enter 6422969 at the website here to retrieve the correct international toll-free phone number to dial. You can also check your own corresponding time using the World Clock. Also, please help us spread this info to any other dusters you know. Talk with you soon! Dan
DanZ
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Re: Third Thursday Telecons

Post by DanZ »

A big thank you to those of you who participated in today's telecon (which was postponed from yesterday due to Dr. Westphal being on travel). Evelyn (ERSTRS) kindly summarized the discussion for all of you and has submitted the following report. Thank you very much Evelyn! We hope more of you can join us next month.

Dan

ERSTRS's report on Stardust@home telecon, March 20, 2015.

Among the topics discussed: Update on dusting, including information about the approximately 1/3 of collector tiles yet remaining to be examined; Cometary tracks found in Tile 28 and the important clues they have revealed about track density; and a discussion of new frontiers now being explored by NASA spacecraft.

There have been 400 possible tracks found by Dusters, so far.

Dr. Westphal gave details for the Rosetta/Philae craft that landed on Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko in November 2014. He was excited as he described the surface of the Comet: "Bizarre surface, weird arrangement of 20 or more objects on the surface that appear to have been moved around by wind, which is impossible of course." He said the area around the objects looked like that seen around stones observed on deserts (ex. Death Valley) that leave tracks when wind-blown.

The weirdness of Comet C-G brought up the subject of the Dawn mission to Ceres. The spacecraft has taken the highest resolution images of this dwarf planet that have ever been seen my man. "What are those two bright spots on Ceres?," Dr. Westphal asked. "We don't know, but each one exists in the bottom of a crater. We see a plume-spectrum emission that produces its own light. It is very puzzling."

Dr. Westphal mentioned NASA's New Horizons spacecraft that is now examining Pluto close up. I interjected, "I am excited about the probe to Pluto, because "I want to see that little guy back as a planet in our Solar System!" (Laughter in background)

Mike asked a question about Cometary Tracks and noble gasses found in Tile 28. I believe Dr. Westphal said that one of the major goals of the examination of noble gasses in Tile 28 was to reveal the bulk chemical composition of Wild 2. The data provided by the University of Minnesota revealed an important clue about track density. Dr. Westphal said noble gasses must have been implanted in the comet very early in our Solar System's history.

On the subject of extracting Tracks from the aerogel to examine in detail, he offered a note of caution. There probably will never be another probe sent out to gather more tracks on aerogel from a comet---Wild 2 is, and was unique. Therefore, the utmost care must be taken to prevent damage to the original dust particles collected. They can never be replaced. Methods to extract them without damage, continue to be explored.

And now a personal note:

Hey Fellow Dusters!: Please participate in the next call-in session tentatively scheduled for April 16, 2015! It doesn't cost a thing, It's easy to participate, and the time spent is extremely rewarding. (Today's session lasted about 30 minutes) You will get to talk about the ongoing Stardust search, as well as the latest missions in progress or being planned by NASA. When it is over, you can have fun telling all your friends about all the things you know and they don't! : ) :lol:

Also, we Dusters were encouraged to "keep dusting!" We still have about a third of the Tiles to examine.

Evelyn (ERSTRS)
DanZ
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Re: Third Thursday Telecons

Post by DanZ »

Here's another wrap up of last week's telecon from our good friend Mike, aka caprarom. Thanks for the great report! Dan
I certainly second Evelyn's sentiments. Dr. Westphal (Andrew) was actually reporting live from a Houston conference. Aside from topics directly related to our Stardust project, our wide-ranging discussion included items such as:

The Rosetta Team finding features on the surface of the comet very much like the patterns in desert sands when wind blows around a boulder - not much "wind" on a comet, so how to explain those? Also, some of the surface particles appear to have density akin to our aerogel - that's one "fluffy" comet!

The Dawn mission to Ceres where two anomalous bright spots are observed showing signs of a plume - rather unexpected. Also, the brightness may not just be reflective; it appears there is light emission taking place!

Fun stuff - and there was more. As Evelyn says, join us next time if you can.
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