Carleton College’s 2014 Chesley Lecture in Physics and Astronomy will “Journey to the Center of the Milky Way.” Presented by University of Iowa professor Cornelia Chesley Lang, the annual lecture will be held Thursday, Oct. 9 from 7 to 8 p.m. in Olin Hall Room 149. Following her presentation, if skies are clear, attendees are invited to a telescopic observation of the Milky Way in the Goodsell Observatory. This event is free and open to the public.
An esteemed professor and researcher in the Department of Physics & Astronomy at the University of Iowa, Lang will describe her observations using telescopes like the Very Large Array radio interferometer, the Spitzer infrared space observatory and the Hubble Space Telescope that reveal the extreme astrophysics of this unusual environment.
Professor Lang explains, “The Center of our Milky Way Galaxy is vastly different than the place where the Sun resides (the ‘Solar Neighborhood’). The physical conditions are significantly more extreme in the Galactic center: denser molecular clouds (which are the birth place of new stars), star clusters more closely packed than in the rest of the Galaxy, and a 4 million solar mass black hole confirmed to be at the very core. Detailed observations of our own nucleus provides us with a window into understanding other galaxies in our universe.”
Cornelia Chesley Lang is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. Her research interests focus on understanding the astrophysics at the very center of our Milky Way Galaxy and of other nearby galaxies using radio telescopes at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in New Mexico and also satellites such as the Hubble Space Telescope.
Her research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, NASA, and several University of Iowa Internal Grants. She has recently served as the chair of a major international science symposium on the Galactic center, and during the last 5 years she has served on the National Academy of Sciences Decadal Survey of Astronomy and Astrophysics committee (2009-2010) and the National Science Foundation’s Portfolio Review of Astronomical Sciences committee (2010-2012).
Professor Lang especially enjoys teaching the large introductory astronomy lecture courses and was awarded with the Collegiate Teaching Award in 2007 and the President and Provost Award for Teaching Excellence in 2013.
This event is sponsored by the Carleton College Department of Physics and Astronomy, with additional support from The Chesley Lecture Fund. For more information, including disability accommodations, call (507) 222-4383.
