February Meeting and Lecture, Friday Feb. 7th at 7:30 pm

Lienhard Hall, 3rd floor
Pace University, Pleasantville, NY

Methane on Mars

Br. Robert Novak, CFC, PhD
Iona College

February is Mars month at WAA. Brother Novak is a member of the team at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center’s Solar System Exploration Division, studying the Martian atmosphere using large terrestrial telescopes in Hawaii. He will bring us up to date on exciting recent findings from his group and from the Mars Curiosity rover that may suggest a biologic origin to atmospheric methane on the Red Planet.

Brother Novak is a member of the Congregation of Christian Brothers (Latin: Congregatio Fratrum Christianorum), an order within the Catholic Church dedicated to the education of youth, especially the poor. Iona College was founded by the Christian Brothers in 1940 specifically to provide higher education opportunities for the disadvantaged. Br. Novak recently retired from the Chairmanship of the Physics Department at Iona. He is also a member of WAA.

Pre-lecture socializing with fellow WAA members and guests begins at 7:00 pm!