Galaxies are where most of astrophysics takes place. In this talk, I will provide a brief summary of what we know about galaxies and how we came to know this. Starting with the first records of galaxies made nearly 2,000 years ago, I will describe how we learned of the existence of galaxies, how we realized that they are objects separate and far away from our own galaxy, and how we figured out that there are many different types of galaxies. I will also touch on how galaxies were used to discover the existence of dark matter and the expansion of the Universe, and how both of these discoveries laid the foundation for our current understanding of how galaxies formed and evolved to the bejewelled island universes we see today. This 2,000-year-long odyssey will end by showing how you, too, can get involved in galaxy studies.

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About the speaker: Or Graur

Dr. Or Graur is an associate professor of astrophysics at the University of Portsmouth's Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, as well as a research associate at the American Museum of Natural History, and an honorary associate professor at University College London. He conducts observational studies of supernovae (the explosions of stars) and tidal disruption events (flares emitted by stars ripped apart by supermassive black holes). His books include Supernova (MIT Press, 2022) and Galaxies (MIT Press, 2024).