Dr. Scott Randall
Black Holes, Exploding Stars, and Clusters of Galaxies:
20 Years of NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory
Thursday, October 10 at 7:00 pm
Launched in 1999, Chandra is one of NASA’s four “Great Observatories”, a series of satellites designed to study the sky over a broad range in wavelengths, from infrared to gamma rays. 20 years later, Chandra is still providing the sharpest look ever at the X-ray universe. Chandra’s unprecedented observing capabilities have allowed scientific breakthroughs and important contributions on everything from supermassive black holes, to exploding stars, to the environments of alien worlds, and to the largest bound objects in the universe, clusters of galaxies. In this talk we will discuss some of Chandra’s most notable research highlights from the past two decades, and take a tour of some of the many breathtaking astronomical images it has provided.
Scott Randall received his PhD in astronomy from the University of Virginia in 2005. He then did a postdoc at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, MA, before moving to the Chandra Mission Planning Science Operations Team at the same institution in 2007. Scott’s research interests include X-ray and high-energy astrophysics, AGN feedback, galaxy clusters, large scale structure and cosmology, and dark matter. He currently splits his time between helping to operate NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, mentoring graduate students and postdocs, and doing research with his collaborators from around the world.
The Science Lecture Series at Emera Astronomy Center will take place the second Thursday of each month and is a partnership project with the Maine Science Festival and will feature research from a variety of science disciplines from around our state and use the digital planetarium to visualize these discoveries in a new dramatic and immersive way.
Tickets for planetarium programs are $6 for Adults, $5 for UMaine Students/Veterans/Senior Citizens, and $4 for children under 12. Click here to view our calendar.
Tickets are available online at http://astro.umaine.edu, by calling 581-1341, or at the box office.
