Icko Iben Jr. Distinguished Lecture Series in Astronomy
About the Iben Lecture Series
Founded in 1997 and named in honor of Distinguished Professor Emeritus Icko Iben Jr., the Icko Iben Jr. Distinguished Lecture Series brings a noted astronomer to campus to highlight some of the latest developments in astronomy in a forum geared for the general public.
The 2010 Iben Lecture - "Exploring the Dark Side of the Universe"
The Astronomy Department is pleased to announce the 2010 Icko Iben Jr. Distinguished Lecture in Astronomy will be delivered by Dr. Tony Tyson, Distinguished Professor of Physics at the University of California, Davis. In his lecture, "Exploring the Dark Side of the Universe," Prof. Tyson will discuss one of the most intriguing mysteries in astronomy today. The talk will be at 7:00pm on September 15th in Foellinger Auditorium at the University of Illinois. This event is free and open to the public.
There is something mysterious lurking between the stars and galaxies. Most of our universe is composed of invisible Dark Matter and Dark Energy. Little is know about their nature, even though they drive the evolution of our universe. Physicists are excited because this "dark sector" of nature is beyond our current understanding, implying new physics. But how can we probe this dark sector? We have developed techniques for making dark matter visible. Examples of recent explorations of the dark side of our universe will be shown. Astronomers and particle physicists have banded together to build the next facility to probe dark energy and dark matter. You can share in this adventure.
Tyson received his B.S. in Physics from Stanford in l962 and Ph.D. from University of Wisconsin at Madison in 1967. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Philosophical Society. His current research is in cosmology: dark matter, gravitational lensing, and the nature of dark energy. He directs a national effort to build the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope.
Image Credits: LSST
Past Iben Lectures
- Spring 2009: "Dark Energy and the Runaway Universe", Alex Filippenko, University of California, Berkeley
- Fall 2008: "The World According to the Hubble Space Telescope", Mario Livio, STScI
- Spring 2006: "The Mars Exploration Rover Mission", Steven W. Squyres, Cornell University
- Fall 2004: "Massive Black Holes, or Gravity Strikes Back", Reinhard Genzel, Max-Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics & University of California, Berkeley
- Fall 2003: "Cosmic Collisions: How Astronomers are Saving the World", David Morrison, NASA Ames Research Center
- Fall 2002: "The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence", William J. Welch, University of California, Berkeley
- Spring 2002: "Large Optical Telescopes: The Next Generation", W.L.W. Sargent, California Institute of Technology
- Fall 2000: "Are We Alone?", Steven Beckwith, Space Telescope Science Institute
- Fall 1999: "The Universe: Big, Old, Accelerating?", Robert P. Kirshner, Harvard University
- fall 1997: "Binary Pulsars and Einstein's Gravity", Joseph H. Taylor, Princeton University