AUSTIN, Texas—On Saturday, February 6, from 1-2 p.m., astronomer Karl Gebhardt will be delivering the Eighteenth Annual Great Lecture in Astronomy.In the lecture, "Walk Softly When Exploring the Dark Side of the Universe: Black Holes, Dark Matter and Dark Energy," Gebhardt will offer a broad overview of what astronomers currently know, and how they're working to know more, about the "dark components" of the universe.
"The current understanding of the Universe is undergoing a fundamental transformation," says Gebhardt, professor of astronomy at The University of Texas at Austin. "While dark energy, dark matter and black holes are unlikely to be physically related, the observational techniques needed to study them are very similar. What we're discovering about each of these phenomena, as we move forward, is a big part of what makes this such an exciting and unique period in the field of astronomy."
Dr. Gebhardt has won numerous awards, including a Hubble Fellowship from NASA and a National Science Foundation Career Award. Most of his career has focused on understanding the role that black holes play in the formation of a galaxy, and he's measured more black hole masses than anyone in the world. His recent work has focused on understanding dark energy with the Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment (HETDEX), and he and colleagues have outlined a unique approach, using the Hobby-Eberly, that they expect will provide the most accurate measure of dark energy for many years into the future.
The lecture, which is free and open to the public, will be held in the AVAYA Auditorium (Room 2.302) in the ACES Building. It's sponsored by the McDonald Observatory and the Department of Astronomy Board of Visitors.
For more information, contact Elizabeth Donihoo at (512) 471-3552 or elizabet@astro.as.utexas.edu.
Comments 2
This lecture is from 1-2 pm. Thought I'd add it for convenience, as the time isn't stated here.
Good point. I added it to the first paragraph. -Dan