Hubble’s free public lectures

The Space Telescope Public Lecture Series goes online

The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), the science operations centre for the Hubble and James Webb Space Telescopes, has been serving up free public lectures from its HQ at Johns Hopkins University since 2002. That sadly came to a halt when COVID-19 struck, but they’re now back in an online-only format for the rest of the year.

Each event features a noted scientist discussing a different cosmic topic, usually taking Hubble’s observations as a jumpingoff point. Streamed live on YouTube, there’s the chance to ask your own questions via the live chat feature. If you don’t catch the broadcast at the time, you can find a host of archived talks on their YouTube channel. Find one on Rubin’s Galaxy, hosted by Dr Benne Holwerda who observed the massive spiral galaxy with Hubble earlier this year, and a talk by Dr Amaya MoroMartin on ’Oumuamua, the cigar-shaped object that visited our Solar System in 2017. There’s also talks on topics from black holes to gravitational waves, the key inventions behind the modern telescope, exoplanets, comets and much more.