Astronomer to Discuss Living at South Pole in Talk at Allegheny College
MEADVILLE, Pa. – Feb. 28, 2011 – Distinguished astronomer John Briggs will present a free public talk titled “Antarctic Odyssey: Winter-Over at South Pole Station” on Saturday, March 5 at 7:30 p.m. in Carr Hall auditorium on the Allegheny College campus.
In 1994 Briggs stayed for a year at Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, located atop 9,300 feet of ice on the Antarctic plateau. He was part of the first winter-over team from the Center for Astrophysical Research in Antarctica, a collaboration headquartered at the University of Chicago’s Yerkes Observatory. Briggs operated pioneering equipment built to study the cosmos in near-infrared light, which at most sites on Earth is normally absorbed by water vapor before it reaches the ground.
Briggs will present photographs and discuss the human experience of life at the South Pole, including the environment, odd natural phenomena, science and the fun-loving society that evolved at the station as the weeks and months passed. Because of the extreme conditions — temperatures at the South Pole can fall below minus 106 degrees Fahrenheit in the winter — specialized aircraft can visit the station only during the four months of the southern summer.
A highlight of Briggs’ experience was watching the impact of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 into Jupiter, an event that was more completely observed from South Pole Station than from anywhere else on the planet.
Briggs is an astronomer, teacher and research engineer who worked at many observatories in the United States and abroad and who now operates a new observatory near Vail, Colo. He has served as editor at Sky & Telescope magazine, past president of the Antique Telescope Society and visiting scholar at Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass. National Geographic Society and other publications have featured his photography.
To reach Carr Hall from downtown Meadville, travel north on North Main Street. After passing campus, turn left onto Allegheny Street and then turn into the first or second parking lot on the left. Carr Hall is the second building from the corner of Allegheny Street and Park Avenue. A campus map is available at www.allegheny.edu/visitors/.
For more information about this presentation, contact James Lombardi, associate professor of physics, at (814) 332-2975 or jalombar@allegheny.edu.