"The motivation is fundamental: the origin of starlight begins the process of chemical evolution which ultimately leads to our own existence in this remarkable Universe.” – from the pamphlet description of 2018’s Brinson Lecture
A week or so ago, I received a notice from work informing me of the 2018 Brinson Lecture which took place just a few days ago on Thursday, May 17. The lecturer, Richard Ellis, an astrophysics professor at the University College London, came all the way to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s MacLean Ballroom to talk about new studies regarding the development of the first galaxies. One would think – right when the Big Bang happened, right? Whenever that was.
Though I arrived about thirty minutes late due to unexpected high traffic, I was still able to pick up on about five percent of Dr. Ellis’s lecture. That would have probably been the same amount of understanding I would have got if I had arrived early. Dr. Ellis was kind enough not to underestimate his audience, which, I think, is something that happens much too often at lectures of this type. However, in a ballroom that was about fifty percent full, I’m not sure how much of the audience was on the same page as Ellis, let alone the same (or vaguely the same) profession. I sat behind a man who began snoring midway through one of my favorite parts of the lecture, and who, after the lecture was over, upon his waking, did not hesitate to fill his plate up with free lecture food. But… I digress.
When I walked in, the screen had some sort of map on it, which I could not read. In terms of science, I will admit that I am fairly illiterate, and sadly so. Yet, I was not discouraged. Dr. Ellis’s energy, enthusiasm, and pride in his work and in his students was immediately felt, keeping, I think, most of the audience from walking out due to incomprehension.
What I gathered:
1. Light – that is, light that illuminates so we can see – appeared 250 million years after the Big Bang. It didn’t just show up immediately – it took time for atomic gas to transform into what we call light. Dr. Ellis explained how they figured this out, which was fairly recently (I couldn’t grasp this part, unfortunately).
2. There are now telescopes with cameras that can photograph the forming of galaxies in *real time* (or as close as we can get to it). One photograph showed the forming of seventy-five (or more) galaxies forming all at once. When I heard this I gasped loudly – I had no idea that the forming of galaxies was still happening, let alone the forming of seventy-five at oncee, let alone the fact that this can be photographed! (Hearing this was my favorite part of the lecture.)
3. Three facilities the general public should know about which carry the highest, best telescopes: European ELT (which stands for Extremely Large Telescope – no joke), the Giant Magellan, and the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT).
4. Young stars can be seen with ultra-violet light, and older stars can be seen with optical light (but I didn’t grasp the importance of these facts).
5. There is such a thing called Interstellar Dust. Interstellar Dust is produced by exploding stars (dying stars). Interstellar Dust then absorbs starlight and then begins to glow. We now can measure the age of galaxies by some of radiation from the dust.
6. The universe has always been expanding. But new discoveries show that the universe is expanding faster than ever before, and the rate is only increasing. Which means, our future is very, very dark, as galaxies get farther and farther apart. No one knows why the universe is expanding faster. We do know that this “darkness” won’t happen for billions of years.
7. A career in astrophysics is unlikely. But studying astrophysics can lead to other careers in the STEM program. One brilliant student that Dr. Ellis saw graduate went to Wall Street, for example, because although he didn’t find a job in his specified field, he was much needed for his analytical expertise, etc. over there. I also think being able to do astrophysics requires a bit of talent – it seems to me that a mind has to be “tuned” into that kind of thinking in order to want to pursue it.
8. Scientists to know, and know well: Albert Einstein, Arthur Eddington, and Edwin Hubble.
All in all, I had a fantastic time at the lecture. It was not a surprise to me that there were only three simple and short questions from the stunned audience at the end.
I absolutely loved this quote that Dr. Ellis put up on his last slide, from Mr. Edwin Hubble (of the Hubble telescope):
“At the last dim horizon, we search among ghostly errors of observations for landmarks that are scarcely more substantial: The search will continue. The urge is older than history. It is not satisfied and it will not be oppressed.” – from Edwin Hubble’s book “The Realm of the Nebulae”
- F
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