Astronomy Update, 2025
4-weeks (last 4) | Registration closed 9/10/2025
We will examine ten astronomical advances, drawn mainly from the popular press during the last 12 months. We will look at both the public presentation of each claimed advance as well as its significance in the view of the astronomical community. In the most interesting cases, astronomers are vigorously debating this significance. The final choice of 10 topics will emerge over the year, but some candidates are: "Did the Webb Telescope Break Cosmology?"; "Evidence for Planet 9 in the Solar System"; "Evidence for Biology on Exoplanet K2-18b"; "Dark Energy Doesn't Exist”; and "First Light at the Rubin Telescope."
Fred Chromey
Frederick Chromey is the Matthew Vassar Jr. Emeritus Professor of Astronomy. He taught at Vassar College from 1981 to 2016, where he also served as Director of the College Observatory. His publications mainly concerned observational investigations of the Milky Way and nearby galaxies. He is the author of the 2016 textbook, To Measure the Sky: An Introduction to Observational Astronomy.
David Bloom
David Bloom is a founding member of the Vassar LLI, interested in creating community and providing learning opportunities for our members. The Science Sampler has been a pleasure to organize and to attend over the past seven years.