Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin Lectures

The Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin Lecture honors one of the great scientists of the 20th century. With her Ph.D. thesis on the abundance of the elements in stars, Payne-Gaposchkin began to invent observational astrophysics. Over the next five decades, her research covered many important issues in stellar astrophysics, including the evolution of binary and single stars, the structure of pulsating variables, the formation of O stars in the spiral arms of our galaxy, and sequential star formation in the Magellanic clouds. Her monographs inspired several generation of astronomers. And her popular books delighted readers with the wonders of the universe. The Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin Lecture series was established in October 2000 during the centenary year of her birth. The goal of the series is to remember Payne-Gaposchkin by honoring a modern astrophysicist with broad accomplishments.

Click on the titles for abstracts and videos of the lectures (when available).

SpeakerTitleVideo
Fiona Harrison 14 May 2015 Science Highlights from the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR): Bringing the High Energy Universe into Focus
Bruce Draine 17 April 2014 Andromeda's Dust
Neta Bahcall 07 March 2013 Where is the darkmatter?
Judith Cohen 12 May 2011 40 Years of Accurate GalacticStellar Abundances
Reinhard Genzel 13 May 2010 Formation and Evolution of Massive GalacticDisks at z~1-2
Michel Mayor 15 May 2008 Exoplanets : The Road to Earth Twins
Martha Haynes 08 November 2007 HI Cosmology in the Local Universe with ALFALFA
Wendy Freedman 16 March 2006 Measuring Cosmological Parameters
Ewine van Dishoeck 13 April 2005 Ice Cold and Steaming Hot: Spitzer Observations of Gas and Dust in Star- and Planet-Forming Regions
Sandra Faber 27 May 2004 Galaxy Evolution over the Latter Half of Cosmic History
Frank Shu 30 January 2003 The Formation of Planetesimals
Caty Pilachowski 09 May 2002 Heavy Metal from Ancient Superstars