Astronomy professor to present Chemerda Lectures in Science on Sept. 24-26

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Anthony C.S. Readhead, Robinson Professor of Astronomy, Emeritus, at Caltech, will present the 2019 John M. Chemerda Lectures in Science on Sept. 24, 25 and 26, on the Penn State University Park campus.

Readhead will give a public lecture titled “The Renaissance in Experimental Radio Astronomy — from Supermassive Black Holes to the Big Bang” at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 24, in 100 Huck Life Sciences Building. He will describe how recent advances in radio astronomy will soon allow new insights in some of the most fundamental questions in astronomy.

Readhead will also present two additional lectures of a more technical nature: “Cosmology at Radio Wavelengths and the Battle with Galactic Foregrounds” at 3:45 p.m. on Sept. 25, and “Key Cosmological and Astrophysical Questions that can be Addressed by New Radio Observations of Relativistic Jets” at 2:45 p.m. on Sept. 26. Both lectures will be presented in 538 Davey Lab.

These free public lectures are sponsored by the Penn State Eberly College of Science.

Readhead is a world leader in studies of observational cosmology, especially the cosmic microwave background radiation, and active galaxies, with special emphasis on the central engines that drive them and the formation of relativistic jets. In his investigations of these phenomena, he has regularly been involved in creating state-of-the-art instrumentation and techniques. He has led the Cosmic Background Imager project in Chile and was an early leader in the development of very long baseline interferometry imaging techniques to study active galaxy jets. He works closely with his students and postdocs and has mentored many scientists who are now research leaders in their fields.  

Readhead is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. An excellent teacher and highly sought public speaker, his work has been featured in various broadcasts, including "The Astronomers" and "NOVA." He has also served as the director of the Owens Valley Radio Observatory.

The John M. Chemerda Lectures in Science are named in honor of John M. Chemerda, a chemist who earned his bachelor's degree at Penn State in 1935. The organizing committee for the lectures includes faculty and staff from the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, including Peter Meszaros, chair; Niel Brandt; Alex Wolszczan; and Deanna Confer.

Additional information about Readhead can be found at astro.caltech.edu/~acr.