Science Cafe Orlando

Why do we see colors? Why don’t our eyes detect all wavelengths of light? Why is the sky blue and why are sunsets so colorful? Together with planetary scientists Dr. Addie Dove and Tracy Becker, we will address these questions, talk about the electromagnetic spectrum, and look at examples of how to change the way we see objects everyday. We will also learn how astronomers use telescopes that observe at different wavelengths of light to better understand our universe.

Tracy Becker is a graduate student in the physics department at the University of Central Florida on the Planetary Sciences track. She studies Saturn’s rings using data from the Cassini spacecraft, which is currently in orbit around Saturn. By looking at the way the tiny particles in the rings diffract starlight, she measures the sizes of some of the smallest dust particles in the rings. She runs the public outreach program at the Robinson Observatory at UCF and helped host the 2013 Southeast Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics.

Addie Dove, Ph.D., is a planetary scientist who currently holds a position as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Central Florida, and as the Laboratory Manager for the Center for Microgravity Research and Education (CMRE) there. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Colorado in May, 2012. Her thesis work was focused on the lunar plasma and dust environment, and her research expertise also includes lunar dust adhesion. At the CMRE, she leads laboratory-based studies of the behavior of planetary regolith in reduced gravity and normal gravity environments making use of parabolic airplane flights, suborbital rockets, the International Space Station, and a 0.8-second drop tower. She is a Co-Investigator of an experiment that will fly on the International Space Station to study low-velocity collisional behavior of small particles. She is also involved in a variety of outreach projects, and Co-Creator of the Lunar Graduate Conference (LunGradCon).