Frontiers of Astronomy: 25 Years of the Hubble Space Telescope
Date: Thu. October 15th, 2015, 8:00 pm-9:00 pmLocation: Cleveland Museum of Natural History
25 Years of the Hubble Space Telescope
Frank Summers, Space Telescope Science Institute
In April 1990, astronauts aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery deployed the Hubble Space Telescope into Earth orbit, and launched a new era of astronomical discovery. Now, 25 years later, we celebrate a remarkable milestone for a space observatory whose ground-breaking investigations have brought revolutionary changes in our understanding from planets, stars, nebulae, and galaxies to the very frontiers of the cosmos. Explore the trials and triumphs of NASA’s first Great Observatory, and experience a compendium of some of the greatest imagery the universe has ever known. It’s a celestial silver celebration!
Dr. Frank Summers is an outreach astrophysicist who illuminates and elucidates the awesome beauty and intricate wonders of our universe. His expertise spans a diverse range from research cosmology and high-performance computing to scientific visualization, education, and public engagement. For the last 14 years, he has contributed to all aspects of the Hubble and James Webb Space Telescope press, education, and outreach through news media, web sites, educational programs, social media, museums and planetariums.
His specialty is creating accurate and aesthetic scientific visualizations by combining research computer simulations and Hollywood rendering techniques. He was a writer, science advisor, and scientific visualization supervisor on the IMAX film “Hubble 3D”, contributed data, science, and visuals to the Academy Award-nominated IMAX film “Cosmic Voyage”, and directed the IMAX short film, “Hubble: Galaxies Across Space and Time”. Online, he is the host of the “Hubble’s Universe Unfiltered” video podcast and blog. He lectures widely, consults on books and documentaries, and has created a 24 lecture DVD course on our new views of the solar system for The Great Courses.
Dr. Summers obtained his B.S. in Physics at Virginia Tech, and his M.A. and Ph.D. in Astronomy at the University of California at Berkeley. After research post-docs at Princeton and Columbia, he shifted focus to professional astronomy outreach as the lead astronomer developing exhibits for the year 2000 rebirth of the Hayden Planetarium in New York City. He currently works in the Office of Public Outreach at the Space Telescope Science Institute.
These talks are held in partnership with the Cleveland Museum of Natural History at 8:00pm on Thursday nights. Admission is free to the general public; parking is available in the museum lot for a $6 charge.