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November 14th, 2001 Archive

Renowned astronomer Dr. Lynn Cominsky of California State University, Sonoma, will present Exploding Stars, Blazing Galaxies & Giant Black Holes: The Extreme Universe of Gamma-Ray Astronomy, an illustrated non-technical lecture Wednesday, Nov. 14, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in the Smithwick Theater at Foothill College in Los Altos Hills. No science background is required and the lecture is appropriate for students age 13 and older. Admission is free and the public is invited to attend.

Dr. Cominsky leads the education and outreach mission of NASA's Gamma-Ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) project, and has worked on the Uhuru, Extreme Ultra Violet Explorer, and other space missions. She is also the deputy press officer of the American Astronomical Society. The author of more than 50 research papers, she is equally well known for her ability to explain complex astronomical ideas in basic terms to students, teachers and community members.

The lecture will focus on methods by which current and future telescopes in space can help us explore some of the most bizarre and intriguing objects in the universe. Gamma rays, the most energetic waves that the universe sends to us, can reveal dying stars, stellar corpses devouring one another, and gargantuan explosions in the hearts of other galaxies-phenomena whose power dwarfs all human activity.

The lecture is presented as part of the 3rd Annual Silicon Valley Astronomy Lecture Series which is sponsored by Foothill College, NASA-Ames Research Center, SETI Institute and Astronomical Society of the Pacific.

Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. Visitors must purchase a required campus parking permit for $2. Parking lots 1, 5, 6 and 7 provide easy access to the theater. From Interstate 280, exit El Monte Road and travel west. For lecture information call (650) 949-7888.