Steven Kahn Cassuis Lamb Kirk Professor in the natural sciences and professor of particle physics and astrophysics at Stanford is the Director of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), designed to survey half the sky every few nights, in search of the seen (over 3 billion galaxies) and the unseen (dark matter and dark energy). Through a technique called weak gravitational lensing, observational data can be used to map out the structure of dark matter in the universe and help us understand how that structure has evolved with cosmic time. LSST also provides crucial information on the structure of the outer regions of the Milky Way, makes a census of moving objects in the solar system, and discovers transient phenomena in the universe on a wide range of timescales. Steven will discuss this and take questions in this salon.

Date: Saturday, May 14, 2016 Time: TBD

Location: Stanford Lab of Steve Kahn; Physics and Astronomy Building at Stanford, Room 102/103

Donor: Stanford Department of Physics, Steven Khan