The Lawrence Hall of Science
The public science center of the University of California, Berkeley.
Open Wednesday-Sunday 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. Animal Discovery Zone 11:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.
We’ll bring our science programs to you.
Our offerings are built for you, whether you are an informal educator, a science center director, a classroom teacher, or a school and district leader.
Our services are designed to support you in using data to demonstrate the impact of your STEM learning experiences and make strategic programming decisions. We can partner with you to bring interactive, relevant, and accessible learning experiences to your audience.
View All >
Search
At this month’s Midday Science Cafe, we’ll take a star-studded intergalactic journey to see some of the universe’s hottest and brightest objects. First stop: quasars. Berkeley Lab’s Dr. Satya Gontcho A Gontcho will explain how quasars—the most luminous astronomical objects in the universe—are used as “lighthouses” to help locate hidden matter. Although this matter makes up most of the universe, because it does not emit light, Dr. Gontcho A Gontcho has to use ingenious techniques like this to study it. We’ll then travel to solar systems with stars hotter than the Sun that emit extreme amounts of ultraviolet radiation and can fully strip nearby planets of their atmospheres. UC Berkeley’s Steven Giacalone studies this phenomenon in order to determine how prevalent this process is and, more importantly, if planets orbiting these hot stars can be habitable. So grab your sunscreen and hop in for a trip that’s out of this world!
Steven Giacalone
PhD Candidate, Department of Astronomy, UC Berkeley
Dr. Satya Gontcho A Gontcho
Cosmologist, Physics Division, Berkeley Lab
scienceatcal@berkeley.edu
Sign up to hear about events, camps, classes and more!