Highlights of Modern Astrophysics and Cosmology

Highlights of Modern Astrophysics and Cosmology

Dr. Edwin F. Erickson, NASA Ames Research Center, Ret.

From Exoplanets to Gravitational Waves, from Black Holes to the Cosmic Microwave Background, from Dark Matter to Dark Energy – modern observations are revealing exciting details of these and other phenomena of fundamental astronomical significance.  As technical capabilities extend our limits of perception, theoretical astrophysicists strive to interpret the observations, elevating our understanding of – and raising intriguing questions about – the origin, the evolution, and the future of the Universe:  Cosmology. 

Successful theories not only describe and explain what is observed, but predict as yet unseen and even unobservable features of nature.  Driven by curiosity, the astronomers and physicists  are pursuing development of new facilities and ideas to further extend our limited perception and understanding.  The talk will describe some basic Physics principles and their application to astronomy, to demonstrate some of what we know, how we know it, and what we don’t know.