Description of talk, from Dr. Arnaud:
What would the Universe look like if you could see it through X-ray eyes ? Using telescopes flown in space we have answered this question over the last four decades. We see thermonuclear explosions on the surfaces of compact stars, matter falling into black holes, clouds of million-degree gas which are millions of light-years across, and much else. In this talk I will give an introduction to X-ray astronomy and explain how we use it to learn about black holes and dark matter.

Info on Dr. Arnaud:
Keith Arnaud was educated at the University of Cambridge where he read mathematics as an undergraduate before obtaining a PhD at the Institute of Astronomy. In 1985 he moved to the US to take up a postdoctoral position at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. He came to Maryland in 1988 when he started work at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. He has participated in a number of satellite observatories, several in collaboration with the Japanese space agency, as well as the Astro-1 mission on the space shuttle Columbia in 1990. His scientific interests include cosmology, clusters of galaxies, and active galactic nuclei. He has also worked extensively on statistical and computational issues in the analysis of X-ray astronomy data.

Directions to UMD Campus:
http://www.transportation.umd.edu/visitor/directionstocampus.html

Parking Information:
http://www.transportation.umd.edu/visitor/campusmap.html
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Sponsors of this event: AstroTerps, SPS, and the D.C. Area Phi Beta Kappa Association