A Lecture by Dr. Sandra Faber from the Lick Observatory of the University of California
Less than one hundred years ago, astronomers did not know about galaxies or that the Milky Way is a galaxy in a vast foamy sea of galaxies. Today, astronomers have made remarkable progress in understanding how galaxies form in our expanding Universe and the crucial role that they play in how the elements we are made of were built, and even how our planets and our Solar System came to be. We now know that the formation of our Milky Way is an indispensable cosmic step on the road to life as we know it. Dr. Faber has been studying galaxy formation for over thirty years and will distill dramatic recent discoveries to present a comprehensive yet digestible account of why we are here and where we are going...cosmically speaking.
About Dr. Sandra Faber
Astronomer, University of California Observatories/Lick Observatory
Santa Cruz, California Dr. Faber is a world-renowned astronomer who was recently awarded the 2009 Bower Award and Prize for Achievement in Science by the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. An excerpt from her bio care of the Franklin Institute: From creating one of the first comprehensive models of how the universe formed, to her work suggesting there is a massive black hole at the center of all galaxies, Sandra Faber has led a revolution in understanding the structure of the universe. She was an early proponent of incorporating dark matter into galactic models; she has determined new ways to identify age, size and distance of galaxies; and she helped discover the "Great Attractor," a gravitational anomaly in the universe. She has also shown innovative leadership in the development of astronomical facilities. Continue reading about Dr. Faber at the FranklinInstitute.edu.
Presented by the Chemical and Biological Sciences + Chemical and Biological Engineering departments