CIERA Astronomy Night Out

Enjoy a free public lecture by Dr. Caitlin Witt, activities for the whole family, and telescope observing!

In the cosmic symphony of gravitational waves, supermassive black hole binaries provide the bass notes. However, when these colossal duos play all at once, their individual melodies overlap into an indistinct rumble. After 15 years of effort, astronomers announced last summer that they have at last found evidence for this background hum of gravitational waves using an observatory that spans our entire Milky Way galaxy. Tune in with us to hear more about gravitational wave symphonies, monstrous black holes, colliding galaxies, dead stars, and more!

Dr. Caitlin Witt is a joint postdoctoral fellow at Northwestern and the Adler Planetarium, where she studies supermassive black hole binaries. Her specialty is multimessenger astronomy, meaning she uses both light and gravitational waves to search for these dynamic monsters. Outside of her research, Caitlin can frequently be found reading novels “alarmingly quickly”, chattering about comics and animation, or horseback riding.

Please RSVP so we know how many to expect, but proof of ticket purchase is not required.

If you have any questions about this event, or would like to make an accessibility request (eg. ASL interpretation), please contact [email protected]. CIERA is Northwestern University's Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics.

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