Images of the Infant Universe: The Latest Results from the Planck Satellite at Foothill College Nov. 12

As part of the 15th annual Silicon Valley Astronomy Lecture Series, Lloyd Knox, Ph.D., of the University of California, Davis, will discuss Images of the Infant Universe: The Latest Results from the Planck Satellite, an illustrated, non-technical lecture Wednesday, Nov. 12, at 7 p.m. in the Smithwick Theatre atFoothill College in Los Altos Hills. Admission is free and the public is invited. Seating is first come, first served. Arrive early to locate parking.

For the first time, instruments in space and on the ground allow scientists to make precise measurements of the properties of the early universe (soon after the Big Bang.) Knox will show the detailed images of the sky obtained by the Planck satellite and explain how they show the “infant universe.”

These pictures are made from light that has been traveling our way for nearly 14 billion years, since the universe was only a few hundred thousand years old. He will explain how such images provide us with our best means of studying events mere fractions of a second after the Big Bang, events responsible for the creation of all structure in the universe, without which we would not exist.

A professor of physics at UC Davis, Knox holds a doctorate from the University of Chicago and has devoted his research career to using the cosmos as a laboratory for studying the fundamental laws of nature. He is leading the U.S. team determining the basic characteristics of the cosmos from the data recently acquired by the European Space Agency’s Planck satellite.

The free lecture series is sponsored by the Foothill College Astronomy Program, NASA Ames Research Center, SETI Institute and Astronomical Society of the Pacific. A number of past Silicon Valley Astronomy Lectures are now available free on YouTube on the series’ own channel atwww.youtube.com/user/SVAstronomyLectures/.

The site gives instant access to more than 20 past lectures, including Steve Beckwith on the Hubble Telescope’s deepest views, Mike Brown on his discovery of worlds beyond Pluto, Natalie Batalha on the Kepler mission planet discoveries, Chris McKay on what it’s like on Saturn’s moon Titan, Sandra Faber on the origin of galaxies, Alex Filippenko and Roger Blandford on black holes, and Seth Shostak on new approaches t o finding extra-terrestrial civilizations.

Parking lots 1, 7 and 8 provide stair and no-stair access to the theatre. Visitors must purchase a parking permit for $3 from dispensers in student parking lots.

Dispensers accept one-dollar bills and quarters; bring exact change. Foothill College is located off I-280 on El Monte Road in Los Altos Hills.

For more information, access www.foothill.edu or call (650) 949-7888.

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--Image and information courtesy of Foothill College.