Description
This class is an attempt at summarizing the spectacular advances in our knowledge about our universe that have occurred since the breakthrough achieved by Edwin Hubble. The class will address both the technological advances during the last hundred years as well as the resulting discoveries. The crucial role of advanced telescopes, both terrestrial and space-borne, the all-new fields of infrared, X-ray and radio astronomy, space probes and landers, gravitational wave detection, and new auxiliary techniques such as adaptive optics astronomy will be explored. Finally, we will endeavor to review our overall view of the cosmos as a result of the momentous discoveries such as exoplanets, the existence of black holes, the detection of the cosmic microwave background, the presence of dark matter and energy and, ultimately, the Big Bang and the emerging concept of the multiverse.. This class is intended to be a sequel to that given in the Fall 2025, entitled “From Aristarchus to Hubble”.
Pedro Lilienfeld is an electronics engineer and applied physicist with a life-long interest in Astronomy and Cosmology who became an amateur astronomer at age 15. He is a graduate of a special course in Astronomy under UNESCO auspices. He is presently a consultant and was Principal Science Advisor at Thermo Fisher Scientific in Franklin, MA.
