DATE: 7:30 p.m. Feb 6, Feb 20, March 13, April 3, 2009.

EVENT: The University of Michigan’s Winter 2009 Theme Semester “The Universe: Yours to Discover” distinguished speakers series.

Feb. 6: Alan Stern, former associate administrator at NASA, will reveal our revised understanding of the solar system in his lecture, “A Revolution in Planetary Science: The Three-Zoned Solar System”. No longer do we view the solar system’s architecture as inner terrestrial planets and outer gas giants, with misfit Pluto orbiting beyond. Pluto is now seen in context, as one of many dwarf planets orbiting in a third equally fundamental zone of our planetary system that lies beyond Neptune. Stern will describe this revolutionary transformation in astronomy’s worldview of our home solar system, as well as its implications for understanding both the taxonomy of solar systems around other stars and also for planet classification.

Feb. 20: Andrea Ghez, professor of physics and astronomy at the University of California, Los Angeles and 2008 MacArthur genius award recipient, will present a close up portrait of the super massive black hole at the center of our Milky Way Galaxy. Definitive proof of a massive central black hole is provided by the motion of stars in the immediate vicinity. Based on 14 years of high resolution imaging, Ghez’s team has moved the case for a super massive black hole at the Galactic Center from a possibility to a certainty. Her team has also revealed that the stars orbiting in such close proximity are apparently massive and young. The origin of these stars is difficult to explain, given the strong tidal forces, and may provide key insight into the growth of the central black hole.

March 13: Joseph Taylor, James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor of Physics at Princeton University and 1993 Nobel Prize winner, will deliver a lecture titled “Binary Pulsars and Relativistic Gravity.”

April 3: Fred Adams U-M professor of physics and 1996 Warner Prize winner, will give a lecture titled “The Future of our Universe: From the 21st Century to the End”.

All lectures are free and open to the public, and are followed by telescope viewing at the Angell Hall Observatory (weather permitting).

PLACE: 1800 Dow Chemistry Building, 930 N. University Ave., Ann Arbor.

SPONSORS: Department of Astronomy, Exhibit Museum of Natural History, Student Astronomical Society, Michigan Center for Theoretical Physics.

CONTACTS: Sarah Lloyd, (734) 764-3440, [email protected]; Dan Madaj, (734) 763-4190, [email protected]

The Universe website