Astronomy Talk: The Darkest Secrets of the Universe

From dark matter to galaxy cannibalism, black holes, time machines, gravitational waves, Schrödinger’s cat, theory of inflation, and the Big Bang, Dr. GuhaThakurta will weave these cosmic secrets into the story about the origin of the Periodic Table of elements and how complex life on Earth developed.

He’ll present the birth and evolution of galaxies, starting from early ripples in the fabric of spacetime caused by the tiniest quantum mechanical fluctuations and their subsequent amplification by gravity, as well as the modern observational techniques that astronomers around the world are using to study the mysteries of the universe around us.

 

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Guest Speaker

RAJA GUHATHAKURTA

Co-Chair, Professor, and Astronomer

Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California Santa Cruz