Spring Dinner, Saturday March 17, 2012

We are most fortunate to welcome Society member Dr. Belinda Wilkes (Jesus College, Cambridge) as our speaker. She is a Senior Astrophysicist at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) , part of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, MA. A native of Shropshire, England, Dr Wilkes came to the United States as a NATO postdoctoral fellow at the Steward Observatory in Tucson, Arizona, after gaining her B.Sc. in Astronomy and Physics at St Andrews University and her doctorate in Optical Astronomy at Cambridge University. She has been at SAO since 1984, continuing her research on quasars (super-massive black holes in the cores of galaxies) and working on a number of X-ray satellite programs. Dr Wilkes has worked on NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory since before its launch on the shuttle Columbia in July 1999, and was appointed Assistant Director of the Chandra X-ray Center in 2001. This meeting provides a rare opportunity for the earth-bound to explore a whole new world with a stellar guide. You can see information about Chandra’s results on its web site, recently for example “ Chandra Finds Fastest Wind From Stellar-Mass Black Hole” (http://chandra.harvard.edu/press/12_releases/press_022112.html)

The cost of this event is $55 per person, and includes an elegant buffet dinner and wine at dinner. There will be a cash bar at the reception (water & sodas free). Dress will be business attire. Booking is now closed. To check for late availability, please contact Dr. Richard Mansfield at rjwmansfield@post.harvard.edu.

Please be sure to make your booking by Friday, March 9^th.

Reception: 6:00pm Sincerely,

Talk: 7:00pm David Manns

Dinner: 7:45pm David G Manns, Trinity (Cantab.)

Location: Algonquin Club, Boston MA President of the Society

Directions to the Algonquin Club