Astrophysics Colloquium schedule
Wednesdays, 3:30-4:30 pm
The Astronomy Colloquia Meetings are held in the P&A building, room 1-434. Zoom information sent in email.
The UCLA Department of Physics & Astronomy Astrophysics group established the Astrophysics Colloquium speaking series 20+ year ago. Throughout the academic year, distinguished speakers travel to UCLA to share their latest research. The department sponsors and organizes these events to encourage collaboration within the field. This exposure is critical for our graduate students particular. The content shared in these events broaden their academic horizons. Additionally, the colloquium provide opportunities for our students to network with other specialists and peers.
Can’t make these times? Watch the Astrophysics Colloquium recordings on our newly minted YouTube channel here! Big thanks to our to our donor and program alumnus, Robert J. Altizer '70 BA Astronomy & Astrophysics, for making this repository possible.
Help us continue this enriching speaking series by making a donation online here. Gifts to the Astronomy and Colloquium Fund offset event costs including those related to speaker travel. Support from our event attendees and donors is greatly appreciated. For check instructions or other giving related questions, please contact Madeleine Martin at mmartin@support.ucla.edu or (310) 882-3633.
Spring 2026
April 1, 2026
Ethan Nadler (UCSD)
Revealing Dark Matter and Galaxy Formation with Small-Scale Structure
Abstract: Over the next decade, facilities including the Vera C. Rubin Observatory and Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will discover hundreds of ultra-faint dwarf galaxies and thousands of strong gravitational lenses. I will describe a research program that uses these observations to probe the threshold of galaxy formation and fundamental dark matter properties. Critically, I will show that combining upcoming Rubin and Roman dwarf galaxy surveys with JWST strong-lensing data may reveal completely dark halos for the first time. I will also present new cosmological simulation suites beyond the cold dark matter paradigm, including self-interacting dark matter simulations that address current small-scale structure anomalies, to facilitate this effort.
April 15, 2026
Carlos Frenk (Durham University)
April 22, 2026
Claudia Scarlata (University of Minnesota)
April 29, 2026
Anna de Graaff (MPIA/Harvard)
The red and distant Universe revealed by JWST/NIRSpec
Abstract: In its few years of science operations, the James Webb Space Telescope has revolutionized our understanding of the early Universe. The NIRSpec instrument in particular has provided a remarkably detailed view of the physical processes – star formation, feedback, and the growth of massive black holes – that shaped the faintest, reddest, and most distant galaxies. Among a wealth of discoveries, one overarching surprise has emerged: galaxies in the early Universe formed and matured extremely fast. Massive galaxies with old stellar populations exist already in the first billion years of the Universe, with some showing morphologies reminiscent of our own Milky Way. Other galaxies appear to host unexpectedly massive black holes, possibly revealing a mysterious new mode of black hole accretion. The potential implications on galaxy formation models are profound, as current models struggle to reproduce such rapid galaxy assembly. I will present a brief overview of key extragalactic surveys from JWST/NIRSpec, focusing on the major discoveries that they have enabled and the challenges that remain.
May 6, 2026
Vicky Kalogera (Northwestern)
May 13, 2026
Arianna Long (U. Washington)
May 20, 2026
Kishalay De (Columbia University)
May 27, 2026
TBD
June 3, 2026
Erin Kara (YMIT)