From Mumbai to Grinnell to NASA HQ - Adventures in Time and Space

Apr 27, 2017

How did you become an astrophysicist? Why? And are we (really) alone?

Astrophysicist Kartik Sheth ’93 will try to answer these questions as he describes his journey from Mumbai, India, through Grinnell, Iowa, to a career as an astrophysicist now working at NASA Headquarters.

Speaking at 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 2, in Alumni Recitation Hall, Room 203, Sheth will share scientific highlights in his field and describe some of the incredible discoveries and opportunities that await the world.

Sheth is a deputy program scientist for NASA's Cosmic Origins Program, which is concerned with cosmological and early universe questions such as the formation of the first stars and galaxies, the role of dark matter, and the impact of supermassive black holes. This program utilizes state-of-the-art NASA facilities, such as the Hubble Space Telescope, the Spitzer Space Telescope, the Herschel Space Observatory, and soon the James Webb Space Telescope.

Prior to his work at NASA, Sheth was as associate astronomer at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory where he worked with the Atacama Large Millimeter-Submillimeter Array (ALMA). Sheth's field of research is galaxy evolution. In particular, he analyzes the mass assembly and development of galactic structures by studying the detailed stellar and gas mass distribution and kinematics.

Sheth is the 2017 Harold W. '38 and Jean Ryan '38 Squire Lecturer. His visit is sponsored by the Department of Physics.