Prof. Michael Turner’s May 5 lecture at Adler Planetarium to be simulcast nationally

Prof. Michael Turner will explore some of the biggest mysteries of modern cosmology in a 7:30 p.m. May 5 lecture at the Adler Planetarium. The cosmologist’s Kavli Fulldome Lecture, titled “From the Big Bang to the Multiverse and Beyond,” will be streamed live at 15 other institutions across North America.

Is the universe part of a larger multiverse? What is speeding up the expansion of the universe? Turner will address these and other mysteries that inspire modern cosmologists. His talk will stream live simultaneously at 15 other institutions across North America. This dome-cast will allow audiences across North America to immerse themselves in the live presentation and ask questions, and will include institutions like the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, the Pacific Science Center in Seattle and the H.R. MacMillan Space Centre in Vancouver, British Columbia.

A theoretical astrophysicist, Turner is the Bruce V. and Diana M. Rauner Distinguished Service Professor and director of its Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics. Turner helped to pioneer the interdisciplinary field of particle astrophysics and cosmology. He has made seminal contributions to the current cosmological paradigm known as LambdaCDM, including the prediction of cosmic acceleration. Turner has received numerous prizes and is a member of the National Academy of Sciences.

Tickets for the May 5 event are $10 general admission, $5 for Adler Planetarium members and students. A speaker reception will follow the lecture. For more information, visit the event website.

Current list of institutions participating in the dome-cast:

• American Museum of Natural History, New York City.
• Denver Museum of Nature and Science, Denver.
• Pacific Science Center, Seattle.
• Cradle of Aviation Museum, Garden City, N.Y.
• Minnesota State University Moorhead, Moorhead, Minn.
• Gary E. Sampson Planetarium, Wauwatosa, Wis.
• Casper Planetarium, Casper, Wyo.
• Bell Museum of Natural History, Minneapolis.
• Peoria Riverfront Museum, Peoria, Ill.
• H.R. MacMillan Space Centre, Vancouver, B.C.
• The Journey Museum and Learning Center, Rapid City, S.D.
• Aldo Leopold Nature Center, Madison, Wis.
• Marshall W. Alworth Planetarium, University of Minnesota Duluth.
• Jackson Middle School Observatory, Champlin, Minn.
• Planetarium and Visualization Theater, University of Alaska, Anchorage.