Planetarium Show Nov. 10: ‘The Cosmos In A Heartbeat’

Southwest Minnesota State University Planetarium and Chicago’s Adler Planetarium combine to present the 2018 Kavli Astronomy Lecture on Saturday from 11:45 a.m.-1 p.m. in the SMSU Planetarium.

The SMSU Planetarium will be taking part in the annual “Kavli Lecture” originating from the Adler Planetarium in Chicago, Ill. The lecture will be domecasted to the SMSU Planetarium and all operations of the SMSU Planetarium will be controlled from the Adler. The lecture will be given by Dr. Shane Larson from Northwestern University entitled “The Cosmos In A Heartbeat.”

Dr. Larson has given a description about “The Cosmos In A Heart.” “A human lifetime is more than a hundred million times shorter than the current age of the universe. Whether you are a professional astronomer, or a casual backyard stargazer, you have only a few decades to drink it all in — to wonder how it all works.The cosmos is full of strange happenings that we sometimes are lucky enough to witness because we happened to be paying attention to the stories the universe is telling us. These tales are carried on bursts of light, showers of subatomic particles, and the faint whisperings of gravity, and every day that passes, we’re getting better at deciphering them.”

Larson is a physics professor at Northwestern University, where he is the associate director of CIERA (Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics). He works in the field of gravitational wave astrophysics, specializing in studies of compact stars, binaries, and the galaxy.

This unique event is free and open to the public.

For more information contact Ken Murphy by email: ken.murphy@smsu.edu.