Stargazing Lecture

Stargazing is dependent on clear weather, but lecture and Q&A happen regardless. Event will occur in-person, with lecture and Q&A additionally live-streamed on YouTube.

For remote viewers, the event will be live-streamed here:
https://www.youtube.com/live/wkU52cdZq6k

8:00–8:45 p.m. - Public Lecture
8:45–9:45 p.m. - Panel Q&A and Guided Stargazing

Many astrophysical objects: planets, the stars those planets orbit, the galaxies made up of those stars, and the "super-massive" black holes at the centers of those galaxies, are believed to form from fundamentally the same process, gravity pulling together material and concentrating it. Just modeling that is challenging enough, and often requires massive supercomputer simulations. But if gravity was the only thing that mattered, our Universe would look completely different from what we see. Instead, gravity must compete against a number of "feedback" processes which push back against it: material condensing into these dense objects can launch incredibly fast-moving outflows and winds, as well as copious amounts of radiation (how we see them in the first place!) which in turn heats up the gas and dust falling in and opposes gravity. The most massive stars explode as supernovae, and the most rapidly-growing black holes shine as quasars, the brightest sources in the Universe. Modeling the balance or "feedback" between these different processes is challenging from both a physics and computational point of view, and this is why we can still be surprised by fascinating new types of objects being discovered by the James Webb Space Telescope (perhaps the first galaxies, stars, and giant black holes?). But there has been remarkable progress on the theory and computation side to keep pace with new discoveries, and together these advances have transformed our view of the origins of these seemingly-disparate objects.


About the Series

Stargazing Lectures are free lectures at a public level followed by a Q&A panel and guided stargazing with telescopes (weather permitting). All events are held at the Cahill Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics at Caltech and are free and open to all. No reservations are needed. Lectures are 30 minutes; stargazing and panel Q&A last 60 minutes. Stay only as long as you want.

Stargazing is only possible with clear skies, but the lecture and panel Q&A take place regardless of weather.

For directions, weather updates, and more information, please visit: http://outreach.astro.caltech.edu.