hanna_wittmack_DESMA9_Event03

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This week I was able to attend the 132nd faculty research lecture, an event that happens bi-annually and rotates between speakers from the humanities and speakers from the sciences. The university holds the lecture to showcase the achievements of its staff and allow more people to learn from their expansive knowledge. The 132nd lecture featured Alice E. Shapley, a professor in the physics and astronomy department who studies the formation of galaxies(Figure A). 

Figure A: Event registration 

A galaxy is a collection of gas, stars, and dust held together by gravity. As inhabitants of earth, we are part of the milky way galaxy. As Shapely described most of what we know about galaxies are based on the images we are able to capture of them. Overall we have found that there are two major types of galaxies. The first is the elliptical(Pictured below, Figure B) which has a smooth elliptical shape normally shining a cooler blue color  with little variation in particles. With little structure seen, an Elliptical galaxy can be differentiated by its length and width depending on how long or thin it appears.

Figure: B Elliptical Galaxy taken from Shapley's lecture 
The second type of galaxy is the Spiral galaxy(Figure C), which is what our milky way falls into. The spiral galaxies have a central bulge with extending arm-like structure that circulate the middle bulge. Tending to be older, the galaxy shines a reddish color and makes up a majority of all galaxies. I really enjoyed the talk Shapley gave, because it was about something I don't normally get to learn about and makes thinking of humans as so small and insignificant. I would suggest this lecture to anyone who wants to know more about the science beyond our world.
Figure C: Spiral Galaxy taken from Shapley's lecture 
Image Citations:

1. Event Registration, Hanna Wittmack, 2022
2. Elliptical Galaxy, Alice Shapley, 2022
3. Spiral Galaxy, Alice Shapley, 2022

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