Astronomy on Tap, Davis

Past & Upcoming Science Cafes

2023

  • August 16: PhD student Yize Dong will discuss how we search for supernovae and other transient phenomena in the Universe, while PhD student Sunny Rhoades will talks about what the life cycle of a galaxy looks like. (Poster)
  • June 21: PhD student Nathalie Niepagen will talk about how noble gases can help us learn about the early history of Earth’s formation, while PhD student Megan Harwell will discuss using shock physics to understand impact craters on the Moon. (Poster)
  • May 24: PhD student Rodrigo Stancioli will speak about merging galaxy clusters and the nature of dark matter, and Researcher Dr. Sam Schmidt will present on how the Distance Ladder enables us to measure cosmic distances. (Poster)
  • March 16:  Jean Donet and Prayaag Katta will speak about lensing and black holes. (Poster)

2022

  • November 17:  UC Davis Postdoc Sam Schmidt will talk about the “distance ladder” or how we measure distances of astronomical objects, and PhD student Preet Patel will present on the history of CCDs, the detectors we use for gathering telescope data. (Poster)
  • October 20: UC Davis PhD students Priti Staab and Pratik Gandhi present on the foramtion of the early universe and and how we can simulate galaxy formation on computers. (Poster)
  • September 29: UC Davis PhD students Megan Barry and Karthik Prabhu discuss “The Milky Way’s Invisible Neighbours” and “A Polarised View of the Early Universe.” (Poster)
  • August 22: Postdoc Dr. Yuguang Chen presenting on ground-based observatories and postdoc Dr. Adam Snyder discusses JWST. (Poster)
  • May 26: UC Davis Physics and Astronomy postdoc Dr. Ekta Shah will present on galaxy interactions. UC Davis graduate student Victoria Norman will discuss quantum key distribution from space. (Poster)
  • April 21: UC Davis undergrad and PhD student Chloe Nuefeld and Daniel Polin will present on the formation of galaxies and satellite constellations. (Poster)
  • March 18: UC Davis PhD students Fiona McCluskey and Jake Cohen will discuss “Revealing the past, present, and future of the Milky Way using the Gaia Mission” and “Missing matter: let’s call it Dark”. (Poster)

2021

  • November 18: PhD candidate Keerthi Vasan GC will be talking about how we image galaxies both near and far using the largest telescopes in the world. PhD student Patrick Wells will discuss the infamous “Hubble Tension” and how astronomers are trying to find ways to solve the mystery of cosmic expansion. (Poster)
  • March 3: (Online event) Lizvette Villafaña and Dakotah Tyler will discuss the discovery, history, and populations of exoplanets outside our solar system. Katy Rodriguez Wimberly will talk about their work on the smallest satellite galaxies of the Milky Way. (Poster)

2020

  • February 20: PhD student Victoria Strait will be talking about the Spitzer Space Telescope. Dr. Sam Benincasa will discuss the use of high-tech computer simulations and its importantance in the study of the the universe.(Poster)
  • Jaunary 16: A presentation by two of UC Davis’ astrophysicists. (Poster)

2019

  • October 25: (At Tower Brewing)  Dr. Desiré Whitmore and Dr. Sydney Chamberlain,  will present on Dead Stars and how to catch their gravitational waves with LIGO. There will also be a plantery show and Sacramento State. (Poster)
  • October 17: (At Sudwerk Brewing) Grad students Patty Bolan and Pratik Gandhi will discuss their Astronimical interest. (Poster)
  • August 15: Anastasiya Salova will discuss “Chaos in the Solar System” and Geoff Chen will talk about the “Expansion of the Universe.” (Poster)
  • July 18: Dr. Michael Gregg and Professor Tucker Jones will educate us on Spectroscopy and and Lasers in astronomy. (Poster)
  • June 20: Professor Dawn Sumner joins us to discuss “Exploring Mars with Curiosity while David Takemoto-Weerts, tell us about Apollo 12. (Poster)
  • May 16: UC Davis Professor’s Veronkia Hubeny will present a talk on “Black Holes in our Cosmos and Beyond” and Markus Luty will discuss “The Higgs Boson and the Fundamental Laws of Physics.“ (Poster)
  • April 18: Professor John Conway will discuss high energy particles while PhD student Will Turner talks about climate science. (Poster)
  • March 21: Grad students Azalee Bostroem and Jessie Hirtenstein will tell us all about the Hubble Telescope and the work of Tycho Brahe. (Poster)
  • February 21: This month AoT will highlight Black astronomers and physicist contributions to the field of astronomy. (Poster)
  • January 17: UC Davis post-doc Craig Lee and grad student Morgane Koning discuss the Solar System’s Moons and Inflation. (Poster)

2018

  • November 15: Professor Veronika Hubini will discuss black holes and David Takemoto-Weerts will educate us on everything about Apollo 12. (Poster)
  • October 18: Dr. Marusa Bradac and Dr. Sam Schmidt will discuss gravitational lensing and how they work in giant telescopes. (Poster)
  • September 20:  UC Davis grad student Imran Hasan talks about the search for life beyond Earth, and Professor Chris Fassnacht talks about Dark Matter. (Poster)
  • July 19: Learn about how many stars are in the galaxy with UC Davis postdoc Dr. Adam Tomzcak and galaxy exploration from Dr. Rachael Livermore a postdoc from the University of Melbourne, Australia. (Poster)
  • June 21: “Astronomy from a Boeing 747” with Dr. Matt Ritcher and “Simulating the Universe, One Galaxy at a Time” with Dr. Andrew Wetzel. (Poster)
  • May 31: Dr. Sarah Loebman will discuss Moon Exploration and Dr. Jeffrey Silverman will talk about exploding stars, dark energy, and the runaway universe. (Poster)