My Background in Astrophysics

How A PhD in Astrophysics

Opened Me to the Universe

Bill Quirk

Rotary Presentation

Reasons to Have a

Career in Science Its Fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Many Job Opportunities

Academic

Research in other fields

Industry

Government

Unlimited opportunities

Astronomy VS Astrophysics?

Astronomers use instruments to observe

the universe

Astrophysicists study how the Universe

works

What do astronomers observe?

Stars

Planets

Dust & gas between planets

Galaxies

Galaxy clusters

Material between galaxies

Structure of universe

Dark matter & Dark Energy

How do astronomers observe?

Optical telescopes

Infrared telescopes

Radio telescopes

Balloon and aircraft carried infrared

telescopes

Satellite carried infrared, optical,

ultraviolet, X-ray, & gamma-ray telescopes

Types of stars

Main sequence stars

Red giants

White dwarfs

Variable stars

Periodic stars

Nova

Supernova

Neutron stars & black holes

Stellar evolution

Stars

hundreds of times the mass of the sun

few 1/100 the mass of the sun

Biggest stars

Hot, millions of years, black holes

Smaller stars

Cooler, billions of years, white dwarves

Stellar evolution

Supernova Jet

Supernova Explosion

Supernova Remnant

Galaxies

Irregular

Spiral

Elliptical

Galaxy cluster

Galaxy

Shapes

Galaxy types

What do astrophysics try to explain?

Formation of stars

Formation of planets

Stellar atmospheres

Stellar interiors

Planetary atmospheres

Planetary interiors

Formation of galaxies

Cosmology

How do astrophysicists work?

Study observations

Formulate a question

Determine relevant physics, chemistry,

etc.

Preliminary calculation with calculators

and basic equations

Personal computers

Multiprocessing super computers

Computer Programs

Question

Relevant physics, chemistry, etc.

Write basic equations

Write difference equations for computer

Debug program

Find bad code

Add new parameters

Add new physics

Bill Quirk

What has he done?

How did he use his scientific background?

Married Two Children

Married Laurel Quirk, March 25, 1971

Zephyr born 1981, UC Santa Cruz 2003,

Councilor & teacher of high school social

studies in Ukiah, lives off the grid

Ian born 1987, UC Berkeley 2009

Rock band drummer

PG&E

Graduate of Columbia U. NYC

BS in Engineering 1967

PhD Astrophysics 1970

Post Doc Caltech 1970-72

Climate Research NASA Goddard NYC 1972-77 (CO2 Warming, long range forecasting)

McKinsey & Company Management Consultant 1977-78

Amdahl Computer 1978-79

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

1979-2005

Climate Research 1979-81

Nuclear Weapon Design 1981-1993

Foreign Nuclear Weapon Analyst 1993-

2005

Hayward City Council 2004-12

Sacramento Job Interviews 2011-12

Please encourage your kids and grandkids

to pursue a career in science or engineering.

It is good for them and good for the country