NYU physicist Michael Blanton will deliver “Mapping the Universe with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey,” on Fri., April 26, 4-5:30 p.m. at NYU’s Center for Genomics and Systems Biology.
The lecture is part of NYU’s “Science on the Square,” a series of lectures focusing on scientific topics of interest to the general public and sponsored by NYU’s Dean for Science.
Blanton was part of a team that constructed the largest-ever three-dimensional map, produced by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, of massive galaxies and distant black holes using data from the Sloan Foundation Telescope at Apache Point Observatory in New Mexico. The map will help the investigation of the mysterious “dark matter” and “dark energy” that make up 96 percent of the universe—and allow scientists to retrace the history of the universe over the last 11 billion years. In his lecture, Blanton, an associate professor in NYU’s Department of Physics, will describe how the survey works and what scientists have already learned from it.
The lecture is free and open to the public. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information, call 212.998.3800. Reporters interested in attending must RSVP to James Devitt, NYU’s Office of Public Affairs, at 212.998.6808 or james.devitt@nyu.edu. Subways: N/R [8th Street], 6 [Astor Place].
