The emissions of extragalactic superluminal radio jets through the eyes of the telescope at the Peach Mountain Observatory near Dexter will be the topic of the Ralph Baldwin Professorship in Astronomy Inaugural Lecture.
The talk will be given by Hugh Aller, professor of astronomy, at 4:10 p.m. May 1 in the Founders Room of the Alumni Center.
Aller, who assumed leadership of the observatory in the Stinchfield Woods more than two decades ago, will discuss how the telescope has become a major player in the study of the radio jets and the cooperative work done on this phenomenon with other observatories around the world.
Aller joined the faculty in 1968 and served as chair of the Department of Astronomy from 1990-2000. He is the first Ralph B. Baldwin Professor of Astronomy.
The professorship was endowed by a $2 million gift from Baldwin and the Baldwin family. Baldwin received his bachelor’s degree in astronomy from U-M in 1934 and his doctorate in 1937. He co-pioneered the theory that lunar craters were primarily the result of meteor impacts, instead of volcanic activity, a theory later confirmed by eyewitness accounts of the Apollo astronauts.
In 1947 he returned to the family business, Oliver Machine Company in Grand Rapids, where he rose to chairman before retiring in 1987. Five generations of his family have attended U-M.
“The University has been great to me,” Baldwin says. “I wanted to give something back.”
The lecture and reception are open to the public. For information call 615-6653.
