Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association Welcomes Dr. McKinley Brumback as Featured Guest for October Science Speaker Series

October 4, 2023

Nantucket, MA – The Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association (MMA) announces that it will host Dr. McKinley Brumback, as a featured presenter for its October Science Speaker Series. Her presentation will take place on Wednesday, October 25 at 7pm. It will be presented via Zoom. This event is free to all.


“Using X-Rays to Probe the Universe’s Strongest Magnetic Fields”


High energy astrophysics tests our understanding of fundamental physics in the most extreme environments in the Universe. Among these are neutron stars, which host the Universe’s most powerful magnetic fields. These fields are impossible to reproduce in Earth-based laboratories, but observational astrophysics offers a direct way to investigate these environments. Dr. Brumback works with systems called X-ray binaries, in which gas donated by a stellar companion moves towards the neutron star and becomes increasingly hot until it emits X-rays. Eventually, the magnetic force becomes much stronger than the gravitational force and the gas is funneled onto the magnetic poles of the neutron star. Brumback is interested in studying the shape and movement of gas in this region, where the gas flow transitions from gravitationally dominated to magnetically dominated. By using X-ray observations from different NASA missions, these regions can be studied and the shape of the gas as it moves around the neutron star can be mapped.


Professor McKinley Brumback is an astronomer who studies X-rays coming from some of the most energetic and extreme environments in the Universe. She uses observations from NASA and ESA X-ray

observatories to investigate how matter behaves close to neutron stars, the ultra-dense and magnetic objects left behind by massive stars. Brumback is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics at Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont. She completed her PhD in Physics and Astronomy at Dartmouth College in 2020. After graduation, she continued her X-ray astronomy research with postdoctoral positions at the California Institute of Technology and the University of Michigan.


Join Dr. McKinley Brumback for this Science Speaker Series Talk on Zoom. Pre-registration is required. To register for this event, please follow the link below:

https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_lPAtdNpxTlSMwL_7p3YsWg#/registration


This series is generously sponsored by our lead sponsor, Bank of America.


The Maria Mitchell Association is a private non-profit organization. Founded in 1902, the MMA works to preserve the legacy of Nantucket native astronomer, naturalist, librarian, and educator, Maria Mitchell. The Maria Mitchell Association operates two observatories, a natural science museum, an aquarium, a research center, and preserves the historic birthplace of Maria Mitchell. A wide variety of science and history-related programming is offered throughout the year for people of all ages.


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For Immediate Release

September 15, 2023

Contact: Molly Mosscrop

mmosscrop@mariamitchell.org

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Maria Mitchell In Her Own Words

By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • July 6, 2026
July 15. {1863} My dear Sally . . . I think Mitchell is all right in his algebra. He can’t stand an examination in Trig but I don’t believe he will have a rigorous one. Father has seen the Prof. and will give him a letter to them.  If you can’t be honest with your sibling, who can you be honest with? Apparently, Sally Mitchell Barney’s son, William Mitchell Barney – known as Mitchell as his cousin William Mitchell Barney was known as Willie (how is that for honoring your father?!) – was visiting his aunt Maria and his grandfather, William Mitchell, at their home in Lynn, MA. Sally still lived on Nantucket and I suspect Mitchell was not only visiting but getting some much needed help with his mathematics by his aunt Maria. As always, she is brutally honest – he won’t pass a test in trigonometry (but, neither would I!). JNLF

Top O’ the Ridge!

By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • June 29, 2026
In April and early May, at long last, the Mitchell House roof was replaced. (I noted this in an earlier blog.) I had also noted that the roofwalk, given the condition it was in and its location – sitting on the ridge – had to be replaced. They had thought they could jack it up – as they have done with other walks – but the Blizzard of February 2026 that was ALL wind (83 MPH winds – read Category 1 Hurricane) and no real snow, made the walk impossible to treat in such a manner (read: crumble). So, after much discussion, review by our preservation easement holder, and permits, as well as some fundraising, we are replacing the roofwalk. The prior walk was not the original. The original blew off in a gale in the late nineteenth century, replaced at some point in the 1930s, and likely replaced again in the 1960s or 1970s. Then, since that time, it was heavily repaired. Its framing members were notched to accept the ridge boards (read: peak) of the roof and I think that may have been an original way to construct a walk. Makes perfect sense – and gives the walk more support and a lower profile. It was after all about putting out chimney fires and preventing roof fires. People copied what worked – and there have been a few others noted to be built in this manner still. It presents an issue though – because if you need to work on the ridge board or close to it – you cannot get to it easily – I guess you may be able to access it to some extent by lifting the deck boards of the walk. The new Mitchell House roofwalk will sit about six inches above the ridge – which will also allow air to circulate better over the ridge and the shakes in that area. That is the only thing that will really be different. It is protected by a preservation easement – as part of the Mitchell House’s easement – and frankly, even if we did not have an easement, we would not want it to look any different. So keep your eyes to the skies at 1 Vestal as we work to re-build the walk. With a special thank you to Barber and Sons and Lydon and Sons. JNLF

Maria Mitchell In Her Own Words

By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • June 22, 2026
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