Next Florida Tech Astronomy Lecture Looks at Galactic Neighborhoods
MELBOURNE, FLA. — Florida Tech’s Astronomy and Astrophysics Public Lecture Series will present “Galactic Neighborhoods: Clusters and Groups” on Oct. 24 at 8
p.m. The free presentation, in the F.W. Olin Engineering Complex auditorium, Room EC118, will be by Eric Perlman, Ph.D., Florida Tech associate professor
of physics and space sciences.
Most galaxies such as our own Milky Way, are in either groups or clusters, consisting of tens of thousands of members. These clusters are virtual cities of
galaxies, forming the largest aggregations of matter in the universe. Because galaxies in clusters are constantly interacting with each other we see many
that have tidal tails or multiple nuclei. This interaction strips large amounts of material from the galaxies and, in fact, the intergalactic gas in
clusters actually contains up to five times more mass than the galaxies themselves. The gas is at temperatures of millions of degrees and glows in the
X-rays.
Perlman will discuss these constituents and phenomena in clusters as well as the environment around our own Milky Way, and also tie their formation into
the cosmological framework.
There will be stargazing afterward, on the rooftop of the Olin Physical Sciences Building, weather-permitting, including through the university’s new 0.8-m
Ortega Telescope. The F.W. Olin Engineering Complex is located on University Boulevard. For more information, call (321) 674-7717, or visit
www.fit.edu/aapls online.