CONFERENCIA "From the 2026 Total Solar Eclipse to the Dark Universe"

CONFERENCIA ÍNTEGRAMENTE EN INGLÉS impartida por Alex Filippenko, Professor of Astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley, USA
About this Event

A total solar eclipse is one of nature’s grandest, most spectacular phenomena – truly an unforgettable experience. “Eclipse chasers” travel to the far corners of the world for a precious, few-minute view of the Sun when its bright disk is exactly blocked by the Moon, revealing the spectacular “diamond-ring effect,” the thin solar chromosphere, colorful prominences, and the tenuous corona. On August 12, 2026, a total solar eclipse will be visible from parts of Spain, providing a great opportunity for millions of people to witness this amazing event. Come learn about the eclipse and how to view it safely. As a bonus, the last part of the lecture will be about dark matter, whose gravity holds galaxies and clusters of galaxies together, and especially dark energy, which causes the Universe to expand at an accelerating rate between clusters of galaxies!

Alex Filippenko is a Distinguished Professor of Astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley, USA. His research has been published in over 1200 papers, and he has been recognized by several major prizes, including a share of the Gruber Cosmology Prize (2007, 2026) and of the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics (2015). He is an elected member of the USA National Academy of Sciences (2009) and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2015). Alex has also won numerous awards for teaching, including the 2006 National Professor of the Year, as well as “Best Professor” on the UC Berkeley campus a record 9 times. He has a special personal interest in total solar eclipses and has observed 20 so far.

A los asistentes a la conferencia se les hará entrega de unas gafas especiales de eclipse.