Monthly Meeting: Dr. Shane Larson
Apr 19, 2024
7:00 pm - 10:00 pm
scheduled
Free Public Program starts at 7:00 PM followed by the Regular Business Meeting starting about 8:30 PM (open to public)
PROGRAM
Dr. Shane Larson, Research Professor at Northwestern University and Associate Director of Ciera, Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics, will be the Speaker for this month's meeting of LCAS. His presentation will be:
'The Dark Side of the Universe: Dark matter and dark energy in the galaxy and Cosmos'
The Cosmos abounds with matter that emits copious amounts of light, both in the spectrum of visible colors we perceive with our eyes as well as in invisible light such as x-rays and radio waves. But in the latter half of the 20th Century we discovered that a significant part of the Universe is filled with matter that doesn't emit ANY light at all. In the last two decades, we have discovered an even more mysterious material that appears to be driving changes in the scale of the Universe. These dark influences are known as "dark matter" and "dark energy", and can only be perceived by their gravitational influence on all the bright, shining matter we know and love. In this talk we'll discuss why we think the dark matter and dark energy are out there, and explore some of the ideas we have for discovering just what it might be. Dr. Larson has presented many times to LCAS in the past and this is sure to be a very educational and informative talk.
Afterwards LCAS members will show guests the night sky through powerful telescopes (weather permitting). Please join us.
Normal Meeting Schedule
7:30-8:30 Business Meeting
8:30-9:45 Free Program
9:45-10:30 Outside Observing (weather permitting)
Meeting agenda subject to change to accomodate special events.
