Prof. Caty Pilachowski of Indiana University will talk about huge
clusters of stars in the Milky Way in the annual endowed lecture.
"As we celebrate the 400th anniversary of the invention of the telescope in
1608, and, next year, the 400th anniversary of Galileo's first use of the
telescope to study the celestial sphere, we can also celebrate the star
cities of the Milky Way - the glorious globular star clusters that surround
our galaxy. Just as the telescopes of the 17th century opened the sky for
discoveries of star clusters and nebulae, 21st century telescopes take us to
explore the origin and evolution of globular star clusters in our galaxy, and
in galaxies far away. Globular clusters offer a glimpse of early star
formation in the Universe, and of the origin of the basic elements of the
periodic table. Some globular clusters harbor black holes, while others may
be the remnants of galaxies shredded by the tidal forces of the Milky Way.
And above all, the globular clusters are magnificent sentinels in the night
sky, shining with the power of hundreds of thousands of suns."