MAS November Monthly Meeting

Tales and Tails of Star Clusters – Kyle Cudworth

Kyle Cudworth

Star clusters have been critical to our studies of stars and of our galaxy, as well as other areas of astrophysics. Besides their scientific importance, many are also beautiful to look at through a telescope of any size. I will discuss various topics involving star clusters, with a number of examples from my research through the past 45 years

I will make some remarks on the current status of Yerkes Observatory, but the majority of my time will be spent discussing my research on star clusters.

About the Speaker:
Kyle Cudworth, former director of Yerkes Observatory in Williams Bay, WI, and Prof. Emeritus, The University of Chicago.

Cudworth’s interest in astronomy dates to learning a bit about constellations as a Boy Scout, and then enjoying using the small telescope his parents gave him when he was in junior high school. He got a bachelor’s degree in physics at the University of Minnesota and then went to grad school at the University of California Santa Cruz, the headquarters for Lick Observatory. Cudworth received his PhD there in 1974 (having spent close to 100 nights observing planetary nebulae with the 36-inch refractor) and immediately came on the University of Chicago faculty at Yerkes Observatory. He became director of Yerkes in 2001 and served as director through the time of transition for Yerkes from over a century of being primarily a research facility to becoming primarily an education and outreach facility. After officially retiring in 2012, He has continued some research and considerable involvement in education and outreach activities there.