Science Utah: Discovering the Milky Way, a Modern Look at our Home Galaxy

Schedule

Thu May 14 2026 at 07:00 pm to 08:00 pm

UTC-06:00

Location

Clark Planetarium | Salt Lake City, UT

Advertisement
What is the Milky Way’s hidden history? New surveys are revealing how our home galaxy formed and evolved.
About this Event

Discovering the Milky Way, a Modern Look at our Home Galaxy

Recent and upcoming surveys are offering an incredible new detailed view of our galactic home, the Milky Way galaxy. New missions are cataloging the star formation history, unveiling a rich history of accretion and dynamical interactions with neighbors, and enabling the creation of a more complete, richer picture of our home as we study it from the inside-out. In this talk, we will take a look at some of these new results and how they reveal our exciting Galactic history.


RACHEL LEE MCCLURE -- Rachel is new faculty up at Weber State University in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. In addition to her teaching load, on campus she coordinates with the student workers of Ott Planetarium to serve both public and institutional astronomy outreach needs and manages the on campus research and public focused telescope fleet. Her research interests center on disk-galaxy evolution processes, using both large computational simulations and targeted galaxy observations. My thesis was an exploration of the formation and evolution of bars in disk galaxies throughout the universe where she provided new constraints on classical-pseudobulge evolution in the presence of a stellar bar and her on-going work aims to expand these constraints to conditions of disk galaxies from early in the history of the universe to connect galactic bar evolution across cosmological time.


This event is free and open to the public, but seating is limited. Please reserve only the number of tickets you will use.



About Science Utah:

The Science Utah Lecture Series is dedicated to bringing the latest scientific discoveries and discussions to the public, for free, by offering engaging lectures led by Utah-based scientists and researchers working in various fields.

To help support Clark Planetarium's efforts, please consider making a small donation at https://givebutter.com/ScienceUT. All donations aid Clark Planetarium and the free community events we offer year-round. Your contribution is invaluable in helping us inspire and educate people of all ages about the wonder of the universe.


Event Photos
Advertisement

Where is it happening?

Clark Planetarium, 110 South 400 West, Salt Lake City, United States

Event Location & Nearby Stays:

Tickets

USD 0.00

Icon
Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.
Clark Planetarium

Host or Publisher Clark Planetarium

Ask AI if this event suits you:

Discover More Events in Salt Lake City

Clay Walker
Thu, 14 May at 05:00 pm Clay Walker

Rockwell At The Complex

CALENDAR
Utah Utes Baseball vs. Baylor Bears Baseball
Thu, 14 May at 06:00 pm Utah Utes Baseball vs. Baylor Bears Baseball

America First Ballpark

Baylor Bears at Utah Utes Baseball at Charlie Monfort Field at America First Ballpark
Thu, 14 May at 06:00 pm Baylor Bears at Utah Utes Baseball at Charlie Monfort Field at America First Ballpark

Charlie Monfort Field at America First Ballpark

TRIPS-ADVENTURES
Provoker in Salt Lake City
Thu, 14 May at 06:00 pm Provoker in Salt Lake City

The Urban Lounge

ART LIVE-MUSIC
Jason Bonham's Led Zeppelin Evening
Thu, 14 May at 08:00 pm Jason Bonham's Led Zeppelin Evening

The Union

fakemink
Thu, 14 May at 08:00 pm fakemink

The Complex - UT

Fakemink at The Complex - The Grand
Thu, 14 May at 08:00 pm Fakemink at The Complex - The Grand

The Complex - The Grand

Micro Days: Extremophiles and Tardigrades
Mon, 13 Apr at 03:00 pm Micro Days: Extremophiles and Tardigrades

Clark Planetarium

AstroTots with Clark Planetarium - Tuesday Sessions Spring 2026
Tue, 14 Apr at 10:30 am AstroTots with Clark Planetarium - Tuesday Sessions Spring 2026

Clark Planetarium

WORKSHOPS ART
Clark After Dark: Lights Out
Tue, 14 Apr at 07:00 pm Clark After Dark: Lights Out

Clark Planetarium

HEALTH-WELLNESS TRIPS-ADVENTURES
AstroTots with Clark Planetarium - Wednesday Sessions Spring 2026
Wed, 15 Apr at 10:30 am AstroTots with Clark Planetarium - Wednesday Sessions Spring 2026

Clark Planetarium

WORKSHOPS ART
AstroTots with Clark Planetarium - Thursday Sessions Spring 2026
Thu, 16 Apr at 10:30 am AstroTots with Clark Planetarium - Thursday Sessions Spring 2026

Clark Planetarium

WORKSHOPS ART
Fun Science Friday: Stargazing Robots
Fri, 17 Apr at 02:30 pm Fun Science Friday: Stargazing Robots

Clark Planetarium Learning Space

Thursday
Fri, 17 Apr at 05:00 pm Thursday

Metro Music Hall

Sci-fi Poetry Writing Workshop
Mon, 20 Apr at 06:00 pm Sci-fi Poetry Writing Workshop

Clark Planetarium Learning Space

ART LITERARY-ART
April Book Club for "Cascade Failure"
Tue, 21 Apr at 06:00 pm April Book Club for "Cascade Failure"

3302 South 900 East , Salt Lake City, UT, United States, Utah 84106

MEETUPS
Dune Book Club at Clark Planetarium
Thu, 23 Apr at 06:30 pm Dune Book Club at Clark Planetarium

Clark Planetarium Learning Space

Tinker Day: Surveyor Ships
Fri, 24 Apr at 02:30 pm Tinker Day: Surveyor Ships

Clark Planetarium Learning Space

Micro Days: Astrobiology
Mon, 27 Apr at 03:00 pm Micro Days: Astrobiology

Clark Planetarium

What's Happening Next in Salt Lake City?

Discover Salt Lake City Events