Spergel to present 'Taking the Baby Picture of the Universe' April 24

David Spergel, Charles Young Professor of Astronomy and chair of the Department of Astrophysical Sciences at Princeton University, will present the Eberly Family Distinguished Lecture in Science at Penn State at 4 p.m. on April 24 in the HUB Auditorium on the University Park campus.  This free public lecture, titled "Taking the Baby Picture of the Universe," is sponsored by the Penn State Eberly College of Science.

Spergel's research interests range from the physics of the early universe to the search for extrasolar planets. Over the last few years, he has focused much of his attention on analyzing data generated by the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) satellite, which was launched into space in 2001. WMAP makes fundamental measurements of the properties of our universe. Spergel also is a member of a group of scientists that is developing new technologies that one day may be able to directly image Earth-like planets. He is leading a NASA study to build the Telescope for Habitable Exoplanets and Interstellar/Intergalactic Astronomy (THEIA), a four-meter space telescope aimed at detecting and characterizing extrasolar planets.

Spergel is a MacArthur Fellow and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. He recently was listed in Time Magazine as "one of America's top scientists."  He earned a bachelor's degree at Princeton University in 1982 and a Ph.D. degree at Harvard University in 1985. He joined the Princeton faculty in 1987. Spergel has held visiting faculty positions at the University of Maryland, the Institute for Advanced Study, and the AstroParticule et Cosmologie in Paris.

For more information about the lecture, contact the Eberly College of Science Office of Alumni Relations and Development at (814) 863-4683 or (800) 297-1429.

David Spergel Credit: Penn StateCreative Commons

Last Updated January 9, 2015