Astronomy (Audio)

As part of UC San Diego’s Division of Physical Sciences 50th Anniversary Lecture Series, join UC San Diego’s Tom Murphy on an exploration of how his project looking for deviations in Einstein’s theory of general relativity led to the discovery of the Soviet Lunokhod 1 lunar rover that vanished mysteriously nearly 40 years ago. Series: "Frontiers of Knowledge" [Science] [Show ID: 20010]

400 years ago, our world-view changed when Galileo proved that the Earth was not the center of the universe but orbits around the Sun. 15 years ago the world shifted again when the first planets were discovered orbiting other stars. Last year, using adaptive optics and the 10 meter W.M. Keck telescope in Hawaii, a Lawrence Livermore National Lab team produced the first ever picture of another solar system. One day, these techniques may even lead to an image with a pale blue dot circling a nearby star - another Earth. Join LLNL astronomer Bruce Macintosh and Lisa Poyneer as they describe the new technologies that made these pictures possible. Series: "Lawrence Livermore National Lab Science on Saturday" [Science] [Show ID: 20235]

Megan McArthur, Astronaut and UC San Diego graduate who served on the final Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission, discusses the experience of becoming an astronaut. Series: "Women in Science" [Science] [Show ID: 18130]

Robert C. Kennicutt, Jr., a prominent American astronomer with the University of Cambridge, discusses the hidden universe that can only be studied fully from space-borne telescopes. Series: "Scientific Horizons" [Science] [Show ID: 19869]

Sukanya Chakrabarti, UC Berkeley, explains how computer simulations tare used to understand the evolution of galaxies. Series: "Science Today" [Science] [Show ID: 18325]

Aerogels are a class of materials with fascinating properties but they are hardly materials at all as they can be composed of up to 99.8% empty space. Aerogels are among the most versatile materials available for technical applications due to their wide variety of exceptional properties. This material has chemists, physicists, astronomers, and materials scientists utilizing its properties in a myriad of applications. In this lecture Dr. Gash and Mr. Dean Reese will describe and demonstrate the structure, properties, and advanced applications of aerogels, and even synthesize one. Series: "Lawrence Livermore National Lab Science on Saturday" [Science] [Show ID: 17645]

The solar system formed from a cloud of interstellar gas and dust cloud about 4.6 billion years ago. Life began on earth about 3.5 billion years ago following a period of intense bombardment by asteroid fragments and comets, intense volcanism and finally development of a stable crust and a hospitable atmosphere. Thanks to more powerful telescopes and other state-of-the-art observational methods, we can now see "stellar nurseries" and young stars at various stages of formation. In this talk we’ll learn what triggers star formation in clouds, circumstellar disks and planet formation within the disks, and we’ll discuss early life on earth. Series: "Lawrence Livermore National Lab Science on Saturday" [Science] [Show ID: 17644]

Leon Lederman was co-winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1988. He recalls his life after being discharged from the U.S. Army after WWII. From a returning troop ship docking at the Battery in New York, he hastened uptown to register as a graduate student in physics at Columbia University. His story sketches major events from there to the Nobel Prize celebration for the discovery of the muon neutrino, proving that there are at least two families of neutrinos. Series: "UC Berkeley Graduate Lectures" [Science] [Show ID: 17595]

Every couple of years, the earth is hit by a body with energy near that of the Hiroshima bomb. Deposited high in the atmosphere these events causes little or no damage. On longer timescales, impacts occur with the potential to destroy regions, or whole civilizations. Learn about the impact threat, followed by a systematic development of the requirements to divert such an object. Series: "Lawrence Livermore National Lab Science on Saturday" [Science] [Show ID: 17643]

Megan McArthur, Astronaut and UC San Diego graduate who served on the final Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission, discusses the experience of becoming an astronaut. Series: "On Beyond" [Science] [Show ID: 17782]