Professor Geller's Astronomy, Earth and Space Science Webpage

Welcome to the webpage of Professor Harold Geller of George Mason University's Department of Physics and Astronomy

PHYS 243-004 :: AU f24 PHYS 336-001 :: PHYS 243-317 Spring 2024 :: PHYS 160-3H2 Spring 2024 :: PHYS 160-309 Spring 2024 :: AU s24 ENVS 505-001 :: AU s24 PHYS 336-001 :: Woman's Club of Springfield Looking for Life presentation :: UFO Talk to Kiwanis Club 7 November 2023 :: HNRS 360-005 Fall 2023 :: AU PHYS 336 Fall 2023 :: The Evolution of Space Exploration: From the First Satellite to AI :: Explore Psychology Jobs :: Overcoming Test-Taking Anxiety :: Planetary Hall Water Damage Pictures 14 April 2023 :: The Astrobiology Daily (last day of publication 20 April 2023) :: Astronomy Resources for Kids :: AU PHYS 336-001 Fall 2022 :: PHYS 243-001 Fall 2022 :: HoNoRS 360 :: Community College Resources :: Asteroid Day 2016 at George Mason University :: Asteroid Day 2015 at George Mason University :: Sun/Moon Rise/Set and Phases for DC metro for 2015 by Milt Roney :: Physics Video :: Ion propulsion video :: Observatory Information :: Observing Sessions :: AstroBioProf Twitters :: Northern Virginia Astronomy Club :: 32RCT Astrophotos :: Telescope Installation + :: Telescope Dedication :: 2012 Observatory Calendar :: Astrocast.TV & Blog :: Monthly Sky Tours (`04-`08) :: The Transit of Venus :: Astronomy [NVCC NAS 130] :: The Sciences [HNRS 227] :: Astrobiology [HNRT 228] :: Energy and the Environment [HNRT 228] :: Topics[ASTR 390]: Astrobiology :: ASTR 103 :: ASTR 111 :: ASTR 113 :: The Galaxy Zoo :: ASTR 113c01 :: ASTR 113c02 :: ASTR 113c03 :: ASTR 302 :: ASTR 402 :: ASTR 769 [planet atmos] :: EDCC Courses :: Physics and the Universe :: Astronomy Picture of the Day :: Earth Picture of the Day :: Space Calendar :: CSI759 [EM/Remote Sensing] :: CSI801 [Mars/life/meteors] :: CSI803 [visualizing polar oceans] :: CSI810 [sea ice databases] :: CSI996 [SSDB submission] :: CSI998 [Dissertation proposal] :: WebDBint :: NASA Watch :: SPACEREF :: Space.com :: Universe Today :: Astrobiology Magazine :: SAIC Careers :: Washington Post Classifieds :: SpaceCareers :: Miscellaneous Links :: Society of Amateur Radio Astronomers :: Unix Help :: Bad Astronomy [Phil Plait] :: The Analemma Society :: The Barns at Franklin Park :: RadioSci PPT :: Student Study Tips (recommended by Amy) :: 100 Self-Help & Study Skills for Students with ADD :: Community Colleges & Healthcare Education :: How to Transfer Schools as a Healthcare Student :: A Guide to Psychology Degree Programs :: A Guide to Teaching Degree Programs :: Sports Analytics Degrees :: Starlust Org :: Unlocking Cosmic Secrets with Security Cameras :: Telecommunications satellites and space exploration :: Introducing Coding to Young Minds :: California Masters in Data Analytics/Data Science :: Five STEM Space Activities :: How AI is Revolutioninzing Space Travel :: Enhancing Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability Through Technology

Learn about the night sky for this month from: What's Out Tonight



View a 7 minute video about the GMU Observatory by clicking on the screen image below.


PRESENTATIONS, PHOTOGRAPHS and OTHER INFORMATION
UFO Talk to Kiwanis Club 7 Nov 2023
What Is A Planet: Mars; Pluto and Exoplanets
Mothers of Maria
UFOs: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
Report of the Assessment of the Arlington Public Schools' David M. Brown Planetarium [Geller and Frazier, 2009]
Exoplanets and SETI
Some Questions from Ms. Vallarautto's 6th Grade Class
College of Science Summer 2019 Accolades
An oral history interview with the Brooklyn Public Library
An interview of me written by a journalism student
Apollo 11 Memories [audio]
Q&A with a 7th Grader
Forty+ Years of the Exploration of the Surface of Mars
A Calculus Textbook from 1910 [plain English]
Skype Session Q&A from 8th graders at Fort Mill SC
Neural Network Talk from 1991 at UMCP
Lifetime Achievement Award Listing
Proposed New Standards of Learning (SOL) for Virginia
Standards of Learning (SOL) Public Comments Hearings
Proposed Exoplanet Science Strategy from the National Academy of Science
Klaus Biemann Rebuttal in PNAS
Viking Lander Biology Results Simulation by Ponnaperuma et al.
Press release about Albert Nelson Marquis Award
Q&A Transcript from Rosholt Middle School
Q&A Transcript from O'Neal Middle School
Q&A Transcript from St Clements School
Q&A Transcript from Mrs. Perez's Cambridge Class
GMU Rocketry Club Spring 2018
In Memoriam Words for Stanley Michael Zoltek
The Geller Equation: On the Probability of Successful Sexual Relations with Extraterrestrials
Pictures from the 2017 Asteroid Day Event at GMU Observatory
GCMS, Artificial Neural Networks and the 1976 Viking Lander on Mars
An Overview of the Arctic Observatory CD-ROM [1996]
Pictures from the 2016 Asteroid Day Event at GMU Observatory
"Asteroids: What, Where, How, and Why We Care"
"A Hit: The Chesapeake Bay Impact Crater"
"The 40th Anniversary of Mars Viking Mission"
Pictures from the 2016 Astronomy Festival on the National Mall
tjSTAR presentation on 40th Anniversary of Viking to Mars and 1st Anniversary of New Horizons to Pluto [15.8MB]
"Space Rocks and You" presentation at Peaks of Otter
"Space History Highlights" presntation at Wintergreen Nature Foundation
How to Develop a Problem Based Science Unit (by VISTA team)
Presentation at Almost Heaven Star Party August 2015
Photographs from Asteroid Day 2015 at George Mason University
Photographs from the Astronomy Festival on the National Mall 2015
Lunar Surface Material Mapping Proposal for GMU telescope by Darryl Wilson
CSAAPT Presentation 25 October 2014 on Flipping Astrobiology Lecture and Lab
Interim Recommendations for SOL Related Changes
Arlington Planetarium Presentation on MAVEN and Comet Sider Spring (13.1MB)
Changes in the surface and atmosphere of Mars over 4 billion years (simulation by NASA/GSFC ~51.1MB)
A video of the MAVEN engineering model ~43.7MB
An Overview of the George Mason University Observatory
2014 AAUP National Conference on the State of Higher Education
2013 AAUP National Conference on the State of Higher Education
Observatory Park Ribbon Cutting Pictures :: Telescope Installation Pictures :: Sally Ride Festival Pictures
CSAAPT 2007 Presentation :: OLLI Evolution of the Universe 2005 :: On Origin of Universe and Stars :: Weingartner's Dusty Universe
Cosmos in the Classroom 2004 at Tufts :: AAPT Presentation March 2004 at Washington Academy of Sciences Meeting
Radio Astronomy Presentation to the Society of Physics Students at Northern Virginia Community College
NRAO Field Trip Pictures :: DC Public School Visit Pictures :: NOVAC Roboscope Pictures
Presentation to Conference on Communicating Astronomy to the Public (National Academies 10/1-3/2003)
NAGT 2003 Pictures (Buffalo) :: ISEF 2003 Pictures (Cleveland) :: NAGT 2003 Presentation :: MAPS 2003 Presentation
Life on Mars Presentation :: NOVAC Radio Astronomy Presentation
GWU E-learning conference presentation :: AAPT 1/2002 Presentation :: NAGT 2001 Presentation
Analemma Society Related Pictures :: Education Related Stuff :: Honors 227 Home Page
Campus Pictures Here :: Steve Smith's Meteorites :: NOVAC Related Pictures
Students Enjoying a Telescope Lab :: Physics/Astronomy Student Presentations :: Family Pictures
Pictures from Bucknell University :: The Barns at Franklin Farm Pictures :: Telescope drive repair

Virtual Laboratory Experiments

Astronomy Sites of Interest

Mathematics review sites:

Other Astronomy/Space Sites of Interest:


ASTR 769 Related Links


CSI 759 Related Links


CSI 803 Related Links

You can check out a draft of the term paper on the web: Term Paper. For the CSI 803 Term Project I am proposing to work with another student in class, Gary Page. A detailed outline of our project can be found at this web page . The original preliminary abstract of our project follows: The website called "Flow Dynamics of a Wide Arctic Canyon" is the introductory web page to research conducted by Dr. Sergio Signorini, which may be used as a basis for the CSI 803 term project. Dr. Signorini developed a model of the ocean current flow in the vicinity of Barrow Canyon. Dr. Signorini's results are going to be published in the Journal of Geophysical Research. Some of his results are depicted in a static plot which he has at the following URL: http:// www.arsc.edu/~signorin/f12.jpg . Dr. Signorini has completed a supercomputer model run on the Cray YMP at the Arctic Regional Supercomputer Center in Alaska whose data output he has courteously provided us for this term project effort. The output will be examined and perhaps converted to a format that can be displayed by the freeware from Wisconsin known as Vis5D. Vis5D is a powerful package available on UNIX machines for displaying scientific data. Using this package we hope to develop an animation based on the model output data and demonstrate how best to display such datasets.

CSI 801 Related Links

Here's a link to the CSI 801 homepage . Here are links to pages related to the term project which dealt with the discovery of microbial life on a meteorite with Mars origins and my team's efforts to simulate the temperature conditions on Mars billions of years ago and how that would effect the development of life (particularly the size of the microbes) at that time.

Here are links to homepages produced by other team members:

Rida Moustafa :: Gwen Shafer :: Gary Page :: Charles Barnes

Additional links related to the team project:

Other sites of related interest to CSI 801:


CSI 810 Related Links


CSI 996 Related Stuff

Original paper submitted to the Ninth International Conference on Scientific and Statistical Databases :: Short paper accepted by IEEE.


CSI 998 Related Stuff

Original Dissertation Proposal ::: Second Dissertation Proposal ::: Last Dissertation Proposal in earth science concentration



Web-based Database Interface Software

Examine a web page that will provide you with links to web-based database interface (a.k.a. gateway) software, some of which is available free.

Miscellaneous Links

And finally you may want to mail me here

And then there's the old fashioned contact method of telephone:

  • At GMU: 703-993-1276 Office Telephone in Research Hall Room 216