Date: Monday, Aug. 8, 2016
Time: 7:30 PM to 9:45 PM
Location: Griffith Observatory/Leonard Nimoy Event Horzon Theater
 
Our guest speaker for the meeting will be Andreas Faisst, a SNSF post-doctoral fellow at the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center and the Cahill Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics at Caltech. Andreas' main interests include early galaxy formation at very high redshifts and the physics of star-formation quenching in massive galaxies at intermediate redshifts.
 
The title of Andrea's talk is: “The Life of Galaxies: From turbulent Birth to (a silent) Death”
 
And here a short synopsis:
 
 
“What types of galaxies do exist? How do they grow? How do they form their stars? Why do they suddenly stop forming stars and become massive dead galaxies? These are current hot questions in astrophysics. The world’s best telescopes allow us to peer into the darkness of the early Universe to study the formation of the first galaxies only 500 million years after the Big Bang. With the wealth of data we have in hand, we are able to gather large samples of galaxies across 13 billion years of cosmic time - from the Big Bang to today. These allow us to follow the average properties of the first galaxies over time, study the evolution of these galaxies, and answer the above questions (hopefully). In my talk, I will explain what techniques and tricks are used to find and study the first galaxies that were formed in our Universe. Then, I will take the audience on a journey through more than 12 billion years of cosmic time, following galaxies from their birth to their death."
 
 
Biography: 
 
Andreas Faisst, born in Zurich (Switzerland), is a professional astronomer at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California (USA). His research focuses on the study of the formation and evolution of the first galaxies in the early Universe also with the help of local galaxies. Thereby he uses the largest telescopes on Earth (the 10-meter Keck Observatory; the Atacama Large Millimeter/Sub-millimeter Telescope (ALMA) and the Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile) and in Space (the Spitzer Infrared Telescope and the Hubble Space Telescope). Andreas Faisst has obtained his Master degree of Science (in Physics) in 2011 at ETH Zurich where he also graduated to became Dr. of Science (in Astrophysics) in 2015. His thesis topic was the “Evolution ofstar-forming and quiescent massive galaxies through cosmic time”. Shortly thereafter, he moved to Pasadena where he is currently holding a research position as post-doctoral research fellow at the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC) at Caltech.
 
Andreas Faisst is not only a professional astronomer, but also heavily involved and engaged in public outreach. Between 2009 and 2015, he led more than 300 public tours at two local Observatories in Zurich for schools, companies, and the general public. From 2010 to 2015, he was on the board of the Zurich Astronomy Association (AGUZ) with link to the Swiss Astronomy Association (SAG), primarily leading and organizing various outreach events. After moving to California, he became part of the Caltech public lectures and stargazing team and is involved in the Astronomy on Tap Los Angeles as well as Astronomy on Tap Baltimore. Next to his academic career, Andreas Faisst is a semi-professional web-designer, a pianist and passionate volleyball player, mountain biker and swimmer, as well as a pool billiards player on national competition level in Switzerland.
 
Parking: Please park in the Public Parking lot. 
 
If you are a new member who has not attended a general meetings before, after parking your car, please use the sidewalk on the west side (the right side) of the lawn to approach the observatory. Go down the stairs to the cafe and gift shop and enter through the large glass doors found near the gift shop. Once inside, you should find LAAS members present. The LNEH Theater is at the end of the  hallway.  http://griffithobservatory.org/exhibits/LNEH.html
 
As the observatory is closed to all public traffic before, during, and after the meeting, no one is permitted to wander through the observatory unescorted by a staff member at any time. Please discuss this with your guests before you join the meeting.