Los Alamos Reporter

PEEC Planetarium Program Explores The Universe In Six Numbers On Friday, Nov. 13

This image from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope shows a portion of the Leo P dwarf galaxy (stars at lower right represented in blue). Leo P is a star-forming galaxy located about 5 million light-years away in the constellation Leo. A team of scientists collected data from about 15,000 stars in Leo P to deduce its star formation history. They determined that it went through three phases: an initial burst of star formation, a “pause” that lasted several billion years, and then a new round of star formation that is still continuing. The image from Webb’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) combines infrared light at wavelengths of 0.9 microns (represented in blue), 1.5 microns (green), and 2.77 microns (red). The stars in Leo P appear blue in comparison to the background galaxies for several reasons. Young, massive stars that are common in star-forming galaxies are predominantly blue. Leo P also is extremely lacking in elements heavier than hydrogen and helium, and the resulting “metal-poor” stars tend to be bluer than Sun-like stars. A bubble-like structure at bottom center is a region of ionized hydrogen surrounding a hot, massive O-type star. Photo Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, K. McQuinn (STScI), J. DePasquale (STScI)

PEEC NEWS RELEASE

What makes our universe capable of supporting life? Could the universe have turned out very differently if a few fundamental numbers were even slightly changed? On Friday, November 13, the Pajarito Environmental Education Center (PEEC) will host The Universe in Six Numbers, a planetarium program, presented by Dr. Joyce A. Guzik, exploring the fundamental properties and forces that shape our universe. The program will take place from 7 to 8 p.m. at the Los Alamos Nature Center Planetarium.

Inspired by Lord Martin Rees’s book Just Six Numbers, the presentation will use visualizations and illustrations to explore six numbers that characterize the universe. Rees argues that even slight changes to these numbers could result in a universe that is empty, chaotic, or unable to support the complexity necessary for life.

The talk will also explore the possibility of a multiverse: a vast, perhaps infinite, collection of universes, each with different values for these fundamental numbers. Participants will hear how scientists have expanded their understanding of the universe since the book was first published in 1999, including discoveries that have reshaped our understanding of cosmology.

About the Presenter
Dr. Joyce A. Guzik is a Laboratory Fellow in the Applied Theoretical Physics (X) Division at Los Alamos National Laboratory, where she has worked for 38 years. Her research has spanned nuclear weapons science, global security, and astrophysics, including contributions to nuclear forensics and stellar evolution and pulsation modeling.

Guzik holds bachelor’s degrees in physics, mathematics, and Russian studies from Cornell College in Iowa and a Ph.D. in astrophysics from Iowa State University.

Admission is $8 for adults, $6 for children, and $20 for families. Seating in the planetarium is limited, and advance registration is encouraged.

For more information, visit PEEC’s website at peecnature.org/events. Stay connected on social media for updates on each week’s activities.