Astronomy Lecture - Mapping the Universe in Blurred Lines

Name: Astronomy Lecture - Mapping the Universe in Blurred Lines
Start: 2024-11-08T20:00:00-08:00
Location: 1216 E California Blvd, Pasadena, CA, United States, California 91125

Schedule

Fri Nov 08 2024 at 08:00 pm

UTC-08:00

Location

1216 E California Blvd, Pasadena, CA, United States, California 91125 | Pasadena, CA

Line Intensity Mapping is a new technique for mapping the universe. How does it differ from previous observational methods, and what new information will it reveal about the evolution of galaxies and the universe as a whole? Join us for a 30-minute lecture, followed by a panel Q&A consisting of several astrophysicists to answer your questions about astronomy and space science.
This public astronomy event will be hosted both in-person as well as live-streamed over YouTube Live. The lecture will be 30 minutes, followed by a 90-minute session of telescope-aided stargazing and a Q&A Panel consisting of experts in the department on a variety of astronomy and astrophysical topics. You can attend in person or interact with us through the YouTube interface. Event is free and open to all, no reservations necessary.
For more information including a link to the YouTube Livestream and directions to Caltech, click on the poster image or visit our webpage: http://outreach.astro.caltech.edu
Title: Mapping the Universe in Blurred Lines
Lecturer: Delaney Dunne
Abstract:
Astronomers have many reasons for wanting to map the universe — we want to understand its history, to study how galaxies formed and evolved, and to explain strange forces such as dark matter and dark energy. Typically in order to do this, we observe large surveys of many individual galaxies, but it's almost impossible to see the faintest galaxies with these surveys. There is an emerging technique for mapping the universe that makes it possible to see all galaxies: intentionally making the maps blurry! I'll discuss this new technique, known as Line Intensity Mapping, and describe an ongoing experiment called COMAP, which uses this technique to map out the universe at the most active period in its history.