February 15, 2019 7-9PM

Event Type: Lecture and Stargazing
Title: The Universe at Cosmic Noon
Lecturer: Rachel Theios
Position: Graduate Student
Institution:Caltech
Abstract:
Ten billion years ago, the universe was a busy place. The rate at which galaxies were forming stars was at an all-time high, supermassive black holes were consuming gas and stars like never before, and the universe itself was a lot smaller than it is today. The way in which galaxies evolved through this period had profound impacts on our present-day universe, but until recently, it’s been difficult to see these galaxies from this period due to their very large distances. With today’s advanced telescopes, we’ve been able to observe vast numbers of these ancient galaxies, and we’ve found that they look fundamentally different from nearby galaxies. I'll discuss how galaxies have changed over the evolution of the universe and what it means for us today.