Rachel Bowyer to Speak as Featured Guest for Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association’s Science Speaker Series

Website Editor • March 24, 2021

Update: Due to unforeseen circumstances, we are rescheduling the Wednesday, March 24 Winter Science Speaker Series talk. The new date will be Wednesday, March 31 at 7pm. The registration link for the event remains unchanged.


On March 31st at 7pm, the Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association (MMA) is hosting a live lecture entitled, “Hidden Patterns in Galaxy Motions: What They Can Tell Us About the Universe” presented by former MMA National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates (NSF-REU) intern, Rachel Bowyer. This talk is part of our FREE Winter Science Speaker Series and will be held via Zoom.


Galaxies move at hundreds of miles per second through space, yet they are so far away, that they appear stationary to us on Earth. However, recent advancements in observing techniques have made it possible to observe the motion of hundreds of thousands of galaxies all across the sky. These observations are revealing complex, streaming and swirling patterns in galaxy motions that are rich in information about our universe’s formation and evolution. Specifically, these motions can tell us about the formation of structure in the universe and about primordial gravitational waves. In this talk, Bowyer will discuss the emerging field of “real-time cosmology” and how patterns in galaxy motions can be used to study the early universe.

 

Bowyer is an Astrophysics graduate student working towards her Ph.D. at the University of Colorado, Boulder. She researches cosmology and the early universe, specifically, what observed galaxy motions can tell us about gravitational waves and the formation of structure in the universe. Recently, Bowyer was awarded the prestigious Chambliss Astronomy Achievement Award for the presentation of her work at the American Astronomical Society meeting. Bowyer began her research career at the Maria Mitchell Observatory in the summer of 2017. At the MMO, she worked on a project to map the dark matter structure in galaxy clusters using the effects of gravitational lensing. Aside from research, Bowyer enjoys undergraduate teaching and is interested in using the principles of Universal Design to develop accessible curriculum. Bowyer is committed to mentoring young scientists, and frequently serves as a mentor to women and minority undergraduates.

 

To register for this event, please follow the link below:

https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_cy3o0mxkTAmSw59qVtmSCA

 

This is the last lecture in our Winter Science Speaker Series. Please visit our YouTube channel to watch the previous speakers and stay tuned for our Summer Speaker Series beginning in June.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnsCpmupLX6juHyeaVGydunBH6R58j8hS


This series is organized by the Maria Mitchell Association, 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.

For Immediate Release

March 24, 2021

Contact: Kelly Bernatzky, MMA Development Associate

kbernatzky@mariamitchell.org

Recent Posts

Maria Mitchell In Her Own Words

By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • July 7, 2025
July 31, 1883. I had two or three rich days! On Friday last I went to Holderness, N.H.. to the Asquam House; I had been asked by Mrs. T to join her party. There was at this house Mr. Whittier, Mr., and Mrs. Cartland, Professor and Mrs. Johnson, of Yale . . . The house seemed full of fine, cultivate people. We stayed two days and a half. And first of the scenery. The road up to the house is a steep hill, and at the foot of the hill it winds and turns around two lakes. The panorama is complete one hundred and eighty degrees. Beyond the lakes lie the mountains.  The Asquam House sat atop Shepard Hill and was built in 1881. A hotel, it has space for fifty guests, it was located near Squam Lake and became part of a summer enclave that developed there in the later part of the nineteenth century. Today, the area is a National Historic Landmark, but sadly, the hotel was demolished in 1948. Maria would have been familiar with these people seen here – and others I did not include – but particularly John Greenleaf Whittier who was something of a family friend. He was close to one of her younger brothers, William Forester. JNLF

Keep Calm and Bird On: July 2025

July 1, 2025
“If you don’t look, you don’t see. You have to go and look.” -Edith Andrews

The Birth of the Maria Mitchell Observatory: Celebrating Over 100 Years of Discovery

By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • June 30, 2025
As we are now complete with the conservation of the historic Maria Mitchell Vestal Street Observatory (MMO), I thought it would be good to post a series of blogs concerning it history and activities, as well as some of the amazing people who have made it what it is over the last 100 plus years. Therefore, over the next few weeks, the focus will be on the MMO. And it is now open for tours – Monday through Saturday 11-1PM. Founded in 1902, the Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association (MMA) had its beginnings in the Mitchell House where Maria Mitchell was born. Over the first few years, the preservation of the Mitchell House, family artifacts, and the collection and display of Nantucket’s native flora and fauna, as well as a small library, were the key components of the MMA. Special “Moon Evenings” were held on the lawn and people observed Nantucket’s night skies using several small telescopes, including William and Maria Mitchell’s two-and-three-quarter-inch Dollond telescope. The popular evenings led to the inevitable – a desire and need to expand based on the demands of the visitors to, and members of, the MMA. In 1906, Lydia Hinchman, a founder of the MMA and a family member, purchased the house and lot adjacent to the Mitchell House. The house – once the home of William Mitchell’s father and mother – was taken down. The MMA began a dialogue with the Harvard College Observatory and its director, Edward Pickering, Ph.D. The connection to Harvard was to become essential to the success of the beginning years of the Maria Mitchell Observatory and continued a legacy of friendship and work – Maria Mitchell and her father worked with the Bonds who once ran the observatory at Harvard and the families were close friends. Besides his assistance, Pickering asked a member of his staff, Annie Jump Cannon, to assist the MMA. This “provided an indispensable collaboration for Nantucket astronomy,” with Cannon spending two weeks on the island in 1906 and 1907 lecturing and teaching. While back at Harvard, she continued to teach the students on Nantucket by mail. Cannon would go on to be recognized as the leading woman astronomer of her generation and as the founder of the MMA’s Astronomy Department. JNLF
Show More