In the past decade, astronomers have made some spectacular discoveries. For the first time, planets beyond our own Solar System have been detected. The census of such planets is growing rapidly and is now approaching 150. The universe has been discovered to be expanding at an ever-accelerating pace, a result of a mysterious new "dark energy," which is repulsive in nature, and pushing the universe apart. Astronomers have exciting and bold plans to build a next generation of giant telescopes, both on the ground and in space, to explore these new frontiers. Dr. Freedman will describe the plans to build the Giant Magellan Telescope, a 24-meter telescope, made of seven 8.4 meter segments (pictured above). This project is a collaboration of seven universities, most recently among them the University of Texas at Austin, and Texas A&M University.


Dr. Wendy L. Freedman is a faculty member and astronomer at the Carnegie Observatories in Pasadena, California. A native of Toronto, Canada, she received a Ph.D. in astronomy and astrophysics from the University of Toronto in 1984. She received a Carnegie Fellowship at the Observatories in 1984, and in 1987 became the first woman to join Carnegie's permanent scientific staff, where she remains to this day. Dr. Freedman received the 1994 Marc Aaronson Lectureship and prize in recognition of a decade of fundamental contributions to the areas of the extra galactic distance scale and the stellar populations of galaxies. In 2000, Dr. Freedman received the John P. McGovern Award, and was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

The Great Lectures in Astronomy series features distinguished speakers presenting a topic in modern astronomy for interested non-astronomers. The lectures are sponsored by the Department of Astronomy and McDonald Observatory Board of Visitors.