In association with The Irish Times                 

"The Cosmological Distance Ladder - the key to understanding the Universe"

by Professor Michael Rowan Robinson, President of the Royal Astronomical Society, Imperial College London, UK.

Monday August 11 2008 at 8:00pm

Our ability to measure distances in the universe has, from the earliest times, been bound up with progress in understanding the universe.  It was Hubble's measurements of galaxy distances that led to our picture of an expanding universe of galaxies.  Recently, using supernovae and structure observed in the cosmic microwave background radiation, a new picture of a universe dominated by dark matter and dark energy has emerged.

Professor Michael Rowan-Robinson is an astronomer and astrophysicist. He is Professor of Astrophysics and until May 2007 was Head of the Astrophysics Group at Imperial College London. From 1981 to 1982, he gave public lectures as professor of astronomy at Gresham College. He is currently the president of the Royal Astronomical Society. Professor Rowan-Robinson's research interests include: The Spitzer Space Telescope SWIRE project; The European Large Area ISO Survey; The UK SCUBA Survey (see James Clerk Maxwell Telescope); The IRAS PSC Redshift Survey ; the Herschel Space Observatory SPIRE instrument; the Planck Surveyor HFI. Professor Rowan-Robinson was awarded the 2008 Hoyle Medal by the Institute of Physics for his pioneering research in infrared and submillimetre astronomy, and observational cosmology. (Biography courtesy Wikipedia)

Order DVD HERE

                                                
Physics Bldg, Trinity College, Dublin 2. Near the Westland Row or Lincoln Place entrances 

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          Admission: € 7 (€ 5 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: August 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 €7 each (add €5 for P&P for any number of DVDs).