Join us: NASA Hubble Fellow talks about the origins of all matter (for all ages)

HFC will host NASA Hubble Fellow Dr. Elias Aydi who will give an astronomy presentation for all ages called “OUR ANCESTORS: The Evolution of Stars” on Friday, May 10, from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. in the Berry Auditorium (Room L-115) on the first floor of the Andrew A. Mazzara Administrative Services & Conference Center (ASCC) (Building L on the main campus).

“Evolutionary biology has already settled the debate that humans descend from the great apes (hominids) family. The discovery of DNA has made it difficult to doubt that all living organisms on Earth share a common ancestor. This is the story you hear from evolutionary biologists, but as an astronomer, I have a different version of the story: If you ask me who or what our ancestors are, my answer would be the stars! Come join me in a cosmic trip to go much further back in time. We'll gaze at our evolutionary process, learn about stellar explosions, and meet our astronomical ancestors,” said Aydi, a NASA Hubble Fellow at Michigan State University.

Aydi’s presentation will be between two shows in the Hammond Planetarium (Room J-102) in the Science Building (Building J on the main campus), which will run from 6:00 p.m. through 7:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. through 9:00 p.m. We encourage you to pair Aydi’s lecture with one of these planetarium shows, which is part of an annual astronomy conference called “Compact Objects in Michigan and Ontario (COMO).” This year marks the first time HFC is hosting the conference.

HFC physics and astronomy instructor Jesse Mason organized the conference and the evening of public engagement.

"How often do you get to meet an astrophysicist and hear them tell the ultimate origin story – where all the matter in our bodies came from?” said Mason. “I'm so pleased we're able to give our community the opportunity to hear this story from an expert like Dr. Aydi and see some of the most beautiful pictures in the universe."

“We live in a golden age of astronomy”

“I wanted to be a physicist since I was in high school. Astrophysics, in particular, appealed a lot to me – the urge to understand the world and the origin of the cosmos,” said Aydi. “I was always fascinated with stories of celestial bodies – from black holes to star explosions to comets. I decided this is what I wanted to do for a living: Learn about the universe.”

Aydi said while it is challenging to get students excited about the sciences, particularly astronomy, cutting-edge technology and state of the art facilities allow us to explore the universe like never before.

“We live in a golden age of astronomy,” said Aydi. “This allows us not only to do groundbreaking research, but also motivates and excites younger generations about astronomy. Many programs and initiatives across the nation are working toward making astronomy more diverse and equitable. This is manifesting with record high numbers of new undergraduate students majoring in astronomy across all national institutions.”

Admission is free. Registration is requested but not required

For questions or more information, contact Jesse Mason at planetarium@hfcc.edu.