Astro Night – June 2nd

Fri, June 03, 2016

EVENT TIMES AND LECTURE INFORMATION

Doors: 7:30 pm
Talk: 8:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Stargazing*: 9:00 pm – 10:30 pm

Eliot Quataert (UCB) – "Black Holes: The Science Behind the Science Fiction"

Black Holes are one of the most remarkable predictions of Einstein’s theory of gravity:  so much mass is compressed into such a small volume that nothing, not even light, can escape.   This talk will describe the evidence that black holes are common in the Universe and how black holes give rise to many of the most remarkable phenomena in the night sky.  It will also describe the Event Horizon Telescope, an ongoing project aimed at directly seeing the event horizon of a black hole for the first time.

Bio: 

Eliot Quataert is a Professor of Astronomy and Physics at UC Berkeley and holds the Thomas and Alison Schneider Chair in Physics.   He is also the Director of the Theoretical Astrophysics Center.   Quataert is an astrophysical theorist who works on a wide range of problems, from the astrophysics of stars and black holes to how galaxies form.  He has received a number of national awards for his research and is also a highly regarded teacher and public lecturer.  

*NOTE*: Stargazing is dependent on weather conditions; lectures will always occur as scheduled. For more information please visit the Astro Night event page.