Lecture 30 March 2008

In association with the Irish Times

"Adventures with the Hubble Space Telescope"

by Lars Lindberg Christensen, Head of Communications ESA/Hubble

Monday March 31st 8PM

In this lecture Lars will talk about the invaluable Hubble Space Telescope which has increased our knowledge of the Universe beyond expectations.

Hubble is one of the most successful scientific projects of all time, both in terms of its scientific output and in terms of its almost iconic public appeal. Hubble’s enormous impact derives from its ability to exploit a unique scientific niche where no other instruments can really compete at the moment — consistently delivering super-sharp images and clean, uncontaminated spectra, also in the elusive infrared and ultraviolet. This has opened up new scientific territory and resulted in many paradigm-breaking discoveries. Hubble’s exquisite image quality has enabled astronomers to gain entirely new insights into the workings of a huge range of different astronomical objects and provided the visual overview of underlying astrophysical processes taking place planets, stars and galaxies.

On top of all this astronomers are lucky scientists. Their telescopes do not only produce results of great scientific value, but also of eye-catching beauty and artistic potential. This talk aims to also show how Hubble has built a bridge between science and art.

Now in its final years the Hubble or HST was launched in 1990 and has since then played a key role in our understanding of the Universe. It was among other things central to the discovery of Dark Energy, that mysterious force that causes the Universe to accelerate. It has allowed us to see further back in time to the dawn of the Universe. It helps in the discovery of new extrasolar planets. It has allowed us to accurately date the "Big Bang" at 13-14 Billion years old.

Lars is very much the public face of ESA and the Hubble Space Telescope. He is also Press Officer for the IAU (International Astronomical Union).

Book seats HERE

Order DVD HERE

Lecture will be held in the Hamilton Bldg, Trinity College, Dublin 2. Near the Westland Row or Lincoln Place entrances MAP of Campus Directions and maps: How to get to Trinity College
Free parking is available on Westland Row after 7PM.
Map of area around Trinity College

Admission: € 5 (€ 3 members and concessions)

This lecture is also available to members nationwide on DVD, which you can order by credit card online HERE or by calling (01) 847 0777 (alternatively post a cheque or postal order to: March 2008 DVD, Astronomy Ireland, PO. Box 2888, Dublin 5.) As a sample, a low-resolution version will be available FREE on this website. DVDs of this and past lectures are just €5 each (add €5 for P&P for any number of DVDs).

You may also be interested in our April 14th Public Lecture with pop-start/astrophysicist Dr Brian Cox who is working at CERN on the Large Hadron Collider which hopes to explain Dark Matter, Mini Black Holes any maybe the ultimate theory of the universe. Click HERE....