Add to Calendar 2026-03-02T16:00:00 2026-03-02T17:00:00 Conceptual Dilemmas in Salish Asterism Reconstruction: “The Canoe", "Cast away Children", “Grizzly Bear in the Sky” and "Camas Baking Pit" Event Information: Abstract: This presentation provides an overview and associated dilemmas encountered within the continuing work toward reconstructing Salish asterisms using ethnographic evidence from Salish-speaking communities across the Northwest. Drawing from documented ethnographies of the Salish (Montana), Schi̲tsu'umsh (Idaho), Nlakaʼpamux (British Columbia), Qlispel (Washington), and Syilx (British Columbia), this research highlights connected narratives surrounding four key asterisms: "The Canoe" (part of Orion), "Cast away Children" (Pleiades and surrounding stars), “Grizzly Bear in the Sky” (Dipper) and "Camas Baking Pit" (Auriga).  This exploration not only sheds light on the diverse yet parallel cultural traditions of the Salish people but also contributes to a nuanced understanding of a once-unified astronomical body of knowledge. This research illustrates the importance of lived experience, archival and ethnographic research in resolving historical inconsistencies and potentially imposed interpretations while piecing together the astronomical traditions of the Salish speaking communities.   Bio: Dr. Shandin Pete was raised in Nłq̓alqʷ (“Place of the thick trees”, Arlee, Montana). His mother is from the Bitterroot Band of Salish in Montana and his father is Diné from Beshbihtoh Valley in Arizona. He is a hydrogeologist and science educator with interest in Indigenous research methodologies, geoscientific ethnography, Indigenous astronomy, social-political tribal structures, culturally congruent instructional strategies, and indigenous science philosophies. Most of his work in recent years has focused on community engagement to understanding shifts in an Indigenous paradigm of research for science knowledge production. This work has included extensive collaboration with tribal knowledge holders across Native communities and Indigenous academic scholars at institutions nationally and internationally. Learn More: View Shandin's faculty page at EOAS: https://www.eoas.ubc.ca/people/shandinpete  See his UBC Expert Profile: https://news.ubc.ca/expert/shandin-pete/  Read UBC article: "Reclaiming Indigenous tradition from Disneyfication" Read EOAS article: "Dr. Shandin Pete is the 2025 AGU Education Sector Dorothy LaLonde Stout Education Lecture Recipient" Watch Youtube video "24 questions with Dr. Shandin Pete" by the UBC Science Undergraduate Society Resources: The importance of ethnoastronomy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndi9sq-uLHk  Indigenous astronomy: how Salish people use the sky to tell time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBMvD_EhOys  Salish skies: an overview of continuing work toward reconstructing Salish asterisms using ethnographic evidence from Salish-speaking communities across the Northwest: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcGPvz4iYlA  Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC) World Asterisms Project Event Location: HENN 318

Add to Calendar 2026-03-09T16:00:00 2026-03-09T17:00:00 Cosmological constraints from the Dark Energy Survey Event Information: Abstract: The Dark Energy Survey (DES) imaged 1/8 of the full sky 10 times in each of 5 optical/NIR filters over the course of 6 years.  I will describe the survey, and the results of the recently completed primary cosmological analysis using the weak gravitational lensing and clustering measured from  ~150 million galaxies.  These measurements, combined with the Hubble diagram derived from ~1600 DES Type Ia supernovae, and other state-of-the-art optical/NIR surveys, offer the most stringent tests to date of whether the low-redshift universe we see could have evolved from its early state, as observed via the cosmic microwave background, under the baseline “LCDM” cosmological model.  I will describe how advances in methodology, as well as larger surveys, should yield more-stringent tests in the coming few years. Bio: Gary Bernstein’s research is focused on the use of gravitational lensing—the deflection of light by gravity as predicted by general relativity. His current work consists of large astronomical survey projects from space and ground that will use this lensing effect to measure as-yet-unexplained dark matter and dark energy. His past projects have included surveys of the solar system beyond Neptune and construction of one of the first mosaic CCD cameras to be placed on a large telescope, which was used to measure many of the high-redshift supernovae that provided early evidence of the accelerating universe. The recipient of a CAREER Faculty Award from the National Science Foundation, Bernstein received his doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley, and his bachelor’s degree in physics from Princeton University. He taught at the University of Michigan before joining the Penn faculty in 2002. Bernstein is co-creator of the popular Penn physics course Energy, Oil, and Global Warming. Resources: View Gary's University of Pennsylvania faculty page and personal website Read UPenn article "Gary Bernstein Honored for Extraordinary Achievement and Service" Watch his video on the evidence for Dark Matter: Gary Bernstein - The evidence for Dark Matter  Event Location: HENN 318

Add to Calendar 2026-03-16T16:00:00 2026-03-16T17:00:00 A Galactic Exoplanet Census with the Roman Space Telescope Event Information:   Abstract: NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, with a planned launch in late 2026, will open up unprecedented discovery space in the infrared universe. Combining Hubble-like sensitivity and resolution with a field of view 100 times larger and a sky-mapping speed 1,000 times faster, Roman will conduct panoramic, high-resolution surveys that will transform our understanding of dark energy, exoplanetary systems, galactic structure, the solar system, and star formation — all while producing an enormous data set that will be analyzed for decades to come. One of Roman’s Core Community Surveys is the Roman Galactic Bulge Time Domain Survey (RGBTDS), an ambitious program that will monitor 1.7 square degrees toward the crowded Galactic center with unprecedented precision and cadence. Over 440 days across six observing seasons, Roman will repeatedly image the same stars every 12 minutes, enabling the detection of planetary systems by using microlensing to reveal thousands of cold planets and elusive free-floating worlds, and transits to discover tens of thousands of hot and warm planets, including Earth-sized and larger worlds orbiting their stars. Together, these observations will deliver the first comprehensive galactic census of exoplanets, spanning all major stellar populations and probing planets with radii or masses above ~2× Earth’s at all separations, from hot Jupiters to icy wanderers beyond the snow line. I will highlight Roman’s revolutionary capabilities, preview its expected scientific yield, and describe the efforts of the Roman Galactic Exoplanet Survey Project Infrastructure Team (RGES-PIT), which is developing the framework, tools, and strategies to maximize the scientific return from the RGBTDS.  Bio: A member of the faculty since 2006, Prof. Gaudi is a leader in the discovery and statistical characterization of extrasolar planets using a variety of methods, including transits and gravitational microlensing. In 2008, he and his collaborators announced the discovery of the first Jupiter/Saturn analog. Prof Gaudi is deeply immersed in analytic and numerical techniques for assessing the yield, biases, and discovery potential of current and next-generation surveys to determine the demographics of exoplanets. More broadly, his interests revolve around the information content of large datasets. Prof. Gaudi is a member of the Science Definition Team for NASA’s Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST), and is the chair-elect for the NASA Exoplanet Exploration Analysis Group. Widely recognized within the community for his work, Prof. Gaudi was the 2009 recipient of the Helen B. Warner Prize of the American Astronomical Society, received NSF CAREER and PECASE awards, was named a University Distinguished Scholar in 2016, and in 2017 he was awarded the NASA Outstanding Public Leadership Medal in recognition of his "outstanding leadership as the ExoPlanet Program Analysis Group Chairperson having significant impact on NASA's search for exoplanets and life in the universe." Learn More: View his webpage from Ohio State here: https://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/gaudi.1/index.html About the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Grace_Roman_Space_Telescope About the Roman Galactic Bulge Time Domain Survey (RGBTDS): https://science.nasa.gov/mission/roman-space-telescope/galactic-bulge-time-domain-survey/ About Prof. Gaudi's areas of expertise: Extrasolar planets: https://science.nasa.gov/exoplanets/ About Starlight suppression technology: https://science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/programs/exep/technology/starshade/ About Astrobiology: https://astrobiology.nasa.gov/  Event Location: HENN 318

Add to Calendar 2026-03-23T16:00:00 2026-03-26T17:00:00 The Galaxy Eras Tour: The formative years of star formation and supermassive black hole growth Event Information: Abstract: While observations of local galaxies tell us that the masses of central supermassive black holes are correlated with the masses of their host galaxies, this seemingly obvious relation is a challenge for galaxy formation models. One way to constrain models is to rewind the clock and measure the relative growth rates of stars and supermassive black holes, and the feedback between the two, in galaxies at different eras in their lifetime. Observational results from JWST are suggesting more numerous and massive populations of active black holes at early times. This exciting result can constrain how black holes initially form, but most of the black hole mass is built up later around cosmic noon, when these processes were tangled in webs of opacity. I will present new results from JWST MIRI aimed at understanding the coevolution of stars and supermassive black holes in galaxies during the formative years of peak growth and the transition period when their growth rates are rapidly declining. The unique infrared tracers of these processes are not impeded by dust obscuration and can quantify even the most heavily enshrouded active galactic nuclei.  Looking to the future, I will discuss how we can map this coevolution in >100,000 distant galaxies with the transformational capabilities of the new far-infrared probe mission concept PRIMA.   Bio: Alexandra Pope is a Professor in the Department of Astronomy at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and chair of the Five College Astronomy Department. She received her PhD from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada and was later a Spitzer Space Telescope Postdoctoral Fellow at NOAO in Tucson. Alex is an observational astronomer focused on understanding dust-obscured star formation and supermassive black hole growth in galaxies. She is the Science Lead for PRIMA, a far-infrared NASA probe mission concept, and she was a member of the NASA STDT for the Origins Space telescope. Alex is the recipient of the 2024 ADVANCE Faculty Peer Mentor Award and the 2018 Distinguished Graduate Mentor Award at UMass.   Learn More: See Alexandra's University of Massachusetts faculty webpage View her personal website Read this Astrobites article on Alexandra, covering her experience as a graduate student in PHAS: "Meet the AAS Keynote speakers: Dr. Alexandra Pope" Read this Eureka Alert article on Alexandra's research, "UMass Amherst astronomer leads science team helping to develop billion-dollar NASA satellite mission concept" Watch this astronomy seminar on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-y-X51bTi0    Event Location: HENN 318