June 23rd, 2023 8:30pm
Astronomy Speaker: Dr. Jessica Sutter
Lecture Information
Dr. Jessica Sutter (UC San Diego)
The Interstellar Medium in the Infrared: Using JWST, Herschel, and SOFIA to study the gas and dust in nearby galaxies
Dr. Jessica Sutter is a postdoctoral researcher in the astronomy and astrophysics department at the University of California San Diego. Her research is focused on using infrared observations of nearby galaxies to study gas and dust between the stars, referred to as the interstellar medium. By studying the interstellar medium in the infrared, environments otherwise hidden by cosmic dust can be revealed. Jessica received her PhD from the University of Wyoming, where her thesis was focused on the application of ionized carbon emission as a tracer of star formation. After completing her PhD, she worked at NASA Ames, in the Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) Science Center. SOFIA was a telescope that flew in an airplane to reach above most of the water in Earth’s atmosphere, providing infrared data that would otherwise be inaccessible to ground-based observatories. While working there, she studied nearby galaxies, including the iconic Sombrero Galaxy. She currently works with the Physics at High Angular resolution in Nearby GalaxieS (PHANGS) team, studying the distribution and properties of dust in local universe galaxies using new JWST data. She has been part of many outreach groups, including the Wyoming Science Roadshow and Wyoming Women in STEM day, and loves getting to share her excitement about space with others! In her spare time, Jessica loves to explore the outdoors, whether that is open water swimming, backpacking, or lounging in the sun with her cat.
Ticket Information
Tickets can be purchased at Eventbrite starting May 8th, 2023 at Noon.
Join Friends of Lick Observatory (FoLO) and Get Tickets Early
If you’d like to purchase tickets as early as noon on April 27th, 2023, join our Friends of Lick Observatory (FoLO) program by March 1st, 2023. As a thank you for supporting the observatory, you’ll get special access to purchase tickets before they go on sale for the general public.
More information about tickets and pricing is available here.
Program Information
| 7:30 pm | Doors Open | Brief Telescope Visits |
| 8:30 pm | Science Talk, Lecture Hall | History Talk, Great Refractor Telescope Dome |
| 9:30 pm | Science Talk (repeated), Lecture Hall | Telescope Viewings |
| 10:30 pm | History Talk (repeated), Lecture Hall | Telescope Viewings |
| 1:00 am | Doors Close |
Gift shop is open from 7:30pm until 11:30pm.
More general information about the event is available at Evening with the Stars.