1977

WARNING: Former history major attempting to describe serious science. Mind-blowing Carl Sagan stuff in the hands of a total amateur. Readers advised to proceed with caution.

On March 5, 1979, the most intense burst of gamma rays ever recorded suddenly struck the solar system. It was followed by a series of less intense bursts originating from the same spot in the cosmos. Satellites were jolted in their orbits, while on earth I proposed to my future wife. Astronomers were baffled.

The event intrigued Rob Duncan, a theorist now at the University of Texas. In 1992 Rob and his collaborator, Christopher Thompson, published a paper suggesting that these phenomena, known as "soft gamma-ray repeaters," were the product of a new kind of star, called a magnetar. Magnetars would have a solid crust covering an exotic liquid core. The motion of the huge magnetic field of the star would heat up its surface, causing it to crack under the strain. These "starquakes" would blast the cosmos with gamma rays.

Now the first magnetar may have been found, confirming Rob's prediction. In May 1998 a team of NASA and international astronomers described x-ray measurements of a soft gamma-ray repeater known as SGR 1806-20. The measurements show an object spinning at a rate characteristic of a heavy, supermagnetic star, with a magnetic field 100 times stronger than the magnetic fields around any known star. "The magnetar model is the only one that can account for the properties of SGR 1806-20," wrote the authors of the article published in the May 21 issue of Nature. The confirmation of Rob's theory has been widely reported in journals including Scientific American,Astronomy, and New Scientist. Wow!

In September the class executive committee met in Hanover to begin to look ahead to our 25 th reunion in three and one half years, discuss ideas for a new class project, and adopt the magnetar as the official class celestial body. We also discussed improving class communications through e-mail and a web page. To this end, we would encourage you all to subscribe to the College's Vox Alumni Network, which has great promise as a vehicle for electronic communications with classmates, alumni, and other members of the Dartmouth community. Basically, each alum is given a permanent Dartmouth e-mail address where friends and classmates can contact you, even if you move or change your e-mail address. You can have messages forwarded automatically to your present e-mail address or access them directly with a password. To activate your VAN address, go to the website at and follow the instructions or call the Office of Alumni Relations toll-free at 888/228-6068.

Apologies to John Donvan, whom I misidentified in the October column when describing his excellent report on hepatitis C that was featured on ABC News Nightline earlier this year. I'll ask John to let us know if his feature will be telecast again in the future. In our house these days it seems that a battle erupts whenever Joyce and I try to change the channel from Animal Planet.

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