Astronomy Program: TINY BIT OF SHAKIN’ GOIN’ ON: Gravitational Waves and the Universe

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Presented in partnership with Tri-State Astronomers

Dr. Lawrence Marschall, Professor of Physics Emeritus, Gettysburg College, presents a program on an aspect of astronomy. Always entertaining and informative, this year’s program on cosmic waves will be both. On September 14, 2015, two unusual observatories, one in Louisiana and another in Washington State, recorded the near-simultaneous arrival of gravitational waves, the first time these subtle distortions of space had been detected, though their existence was predicted by Albert Einstein a century earlier. The discovery, perhaps the most remarkable and challenging astronomical measurement of the century, opened up a new way for astronomers to study the universe. Dr. Marscahll will give some background on the nature of these odd ripples in the cosmos, and explain how, by observing changes on the earth’s surface that are smaller than the nucleus of an atom, astronomers are now able to study some of the most powerful events in the universe—the collisions of black holes millions of light years away. Star viewing after the program, weather permitting. Free. For more information visit www.renfrewinstitute.org or call 717-762-0373.