Astronomy & Space
9 am–4 pm |
145 McCone Hall
- Touch a Meteorite!
- Learn where meteors come from, what they feel like and what they're made from. A UC Berkeley student whose family is known for their extensive private meteorite collection will be sharing many of their finds along with information on how to identify and collect them yourself. Get your Science@Cal Passport stamped, too!
Geology undergraduate Jason Utas
9:30–10:30 am |
3 LeConte Hall
- Exploring Impacts in our Solar System using 8-10 m telescopes
- Hear about seemingly diverse topics,which will give you an overview of what we have learned about impacts and impactors through observations at visible and infrared (adaptive optics) wavelengths at Keck, Gemini, the VLT and HST.
Chair, Astronomy Department Imke de Pater
10 am–3:30 pm |
Sproul Plaza & Lower Sproul Plaza
- Astronomy Demonstrations & Hands-on Activities
- Help astronomers build a scale model of the solar system, read the "fingerprints" of stars, and make craters on the moon. Also, learn why the sky is blue, and what all this hype about dark matter is about with graduate astronomy students.
10 am–3:30 pm |
Sproul Plaza & Lower Sproul Plaza
- Portable Planetarium Shows
- Who says you can't see stars in the Bay Area?!?! Learn about the astronomical objects, mythology, and history behind the constellations visible in our spring sky. We'll have continuous 15-minute shows, as weather permits, hosted by graduate astronomy students.
10 am–3:30 pm |
Sproul Plaza
- Solar Viewing
- Safely observe the sun through a telescope along with graduate astronomy students! See sunspots, solar flares, and other activity. Also, you can check out a sundial as weather permits and get proof that the earth is rotating. Get your Science@Cal Passport stamped here!
10:30 am–noon |
1 Pimentel Hall
- Beautiful Atmospheric Sights
- Learn how the interplay of light with the atmosphere can create rainbows, solar and lunar halos, the green flash, sun dogs, colorful sunrises and sunsets, auroras, and other stunning effects! Voted the "best professor" on campus a record nine times, Dr. Alex Filippenko is one of the world's most highly cited astromoners and has been featured in many science documentaries.
Professor Alex Filippenko
10:30 am–3:45 pm |
Hearst Field Annex, Building D
- Astronomy Undergraduate Lab Tour
- Professor Carl Heiles and current students will take you on a tour of the astronomy lab. Students are observing planets, galaxies, comets, and clouds with the Leuschner Observatory telescope and learning about interferometry, the basis for modern radio astronomy.
11–11:45 am |
141 McCone Hall
- Jupiter's Icy Moons & Fun with Liquid Nitrogen
- In this interactive session, Professor Burkhard Militzer shares his research about conditions on Jupiter's icy moons and demonstrations with liquid nitrogen to show how the properties of materials change at low temperature.
Professor Burkhard Militzer
11 am–12:15 pm |
2 LeConte Hall
- Why Are There Stars?
- On a clear night, the sky is filled with countless stars. These objects must be the natural outcome of processes that occur all the time, throughout our galaxy and others. Indeed, images taken with radio and infrared telescopes show us new stars forming relatively nearby.
Associate Research Astronomer Steven Stahler
11 am–4:30 pm |
Space Sciences Laboratory (take Hill Shuttle from Evans Hall east entrance)
- Walking Tour of the Space Sciences Laboratory
- See UC Berkeley's cutting-edge space science research lab. Learn about the illustrious 50-year history of NASA missions, visit our 60' high bay, the cosmochemistry laboratories that analyzed lunar samples, a clean room where a Hubble instrument was built, and a Nobel laureate's office. Tours start at 11 and leave every 20 minutes from the Addition Conference Room. Last tour is at 4:20.
11 am–5 pm |
Space Sciences Laboratory (take Hill Shuttle from Evans Hall east entrance)
- Adventures in Space Science
- Learn about UV rays, magnetism, solar energy, and more. Look through a solar telescope. Many activities specifically for TEENS and some for children, ages 6-12. After you do the activity, you'll get your Science@Cal Passport stamped!
11 am–5 pm |
Space Sciences Laboratory (take Hill Shuttle from Evans Hall east entrance)
- Teen Surfin' the Solar Wind Booth
- Participate in fun activities including trying out an infrared camera, a solar Jeopardy game, and a coronal mass ejection video launcher. Hang out with cool ultraviolet wave "Sonny." Teen Solar Investigators will be hosting the booth. This event is specifically for teens.
Noon–1 pm |
141 McCone Hall
- Hunting & Collecting Meteorites
- Learn about how geology major Jason Utas successfully tracks, locates and studies meteorites. Then head to the classroom next door to explore the Utas family's meteorite collection from the moon, Mars and space. Discover the clues to where each meteorite came from.
Geology undergraduate Jason Utas
Noon–1 pm |
Space Sciences Laboratory (take Hill Shuttle from Evans Hall east entrance)
- Venus & Maya Astronomy
- As one of the brightest objects in the night sky, people have observed the planet Venus for thousands of years. This lecture will investigate the science behind Venus' appearances as both the Morning and Evening Star and explore how these cycles were recorded and understood by Maya people in southern Mexico and Central America. Come to the Addition Conference Room.
Space Sciences Lab Coordinator of Education Programs Nancy Ali
Noon–4 pm |
Lawrence Hall of Science (take Hill Shuttle from Evans Hall east entrance)
- Journey Through Space
- Join in free, drop-in presentations in the Planetarium at the Lawrence Hall of Science. Find out about the latest research, what's in the sky tonight, and get your astronomy questions answered!
1–2 pm |
Space Sciences Laboratory (take Hill Shuttle from Evans Hall east entrance)
- NASA Missions at the Space Sciences Lab
- The Space Sciences Laboratory aims to stimulate faculty and student participation in space research with funding from NASA. A panel of a postdocs, scientists, and engineers who build and test the instruments will talk about current missions and take questions. Come to the Addition Conference Room.
1–2:15 pm |
120 Latimer Hall
- The Modern Origins Story: From the Big Bang to Life on Earth
- In this talk, Professor Quataert will describe how the universe evolved from its smooth beginnings to its current state, emphasizing how gravity reigns supreme and builds up the planets, stars, and galaxies required for biological evolution to proceed. Quataert was named a Simons Investigator last year.
Professor Eliot Quataert
1:30–2 pm |
LeConte Hall, west entrance lobby
2–2:30 pm |
LeConte Hall, west entrance lobby
2:30–3 pm |
LeConte Hall, west entrance lobby
- Dark Matter Search: Open Laboratory Tour
- Explore the mysteries of dark matter with graduate physics students. What are physicists learning about WIMPS (weakly interacting massive particles), the universe and the Big Bang?
2–3 pm |
Space Sciences Laboratory (take Hill Shuttle from Evans Hall east entrance)
- Cool Careers in Space Science
- How do you get the cool jobs at the Space Sciences Lab? Please join us for an informal panel discussion with scientists, engineers and students to learn about the various paths that have led them to the exciting work that goes on at our laboratory. Don't miss this great opportunity to explore careers in Space Science in the Addition Conference Room!
2–3 pm |
4 LeConte Hall
- The World as a Hologram: Black Holes, Information & the Quest for a Unified Theory of Nature
- Black holes are perhaps the most enigmatic objects in nature. Forged out of the gravitational force, they absorb all matter that falls into them, allowing nothing to escape. Yet, black holes emit a faint glow--as Stephen Hawking first realized, they slowly morph into a cloud of radiation and disappear. So how much information is in the universe? Do space and time end at the edge of a black hole? Come explore these questions and how they may hold the key to the unification of quantum mechanics and gravity.
Professor Raphael Bousso
2–3:15 pm |
100 Lewis Hall
- Are We Alone?: SETI@home & the Search for ET
- Hear about Berkeley's SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) program via the world's largest telescopes. Volunteers have a small-but-captivating chance that their computer will detect the first signal from a civilization beyond earth.
SETI Project Director Dan Werthimer
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