Special Lectures & Events
Bringing Black Holes Into Focus: What's Next?
Presentation by Dr. Alejandro Cárdenas-Avendaño
Friday, November 21, 2025
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Koury Auditorium, Jamestown Campus
About the Talk: While black holes themselves are invisible, the superheated gas swirling nearby shines brightly. Gravity warps this light, creating a distinct "shadow" edged by a glowing ring. In this talk, Alejandro Cárdenas-Avendaño explains how we capture these images by linking radio telescopes across the globe and discusses why these pictures are so crucial for testing our theories of gravity and for learning how black holes launch powerful cosmic jets. He will also discuss what it will take to get even more explicit images and, eventually, create "movies" of black holes in action. Finally, he looks ahead at the proposed Black Hole Explorer (BHEX) mission. By putting a telescope in space, this network would let us see much finer details and watch real-time changes around the massive black holes in M87 and at the heart of our own Milky Way, giving us new clues about their properties.
About the Speaker: Alejandro is an Assistant Professor of Physics at Wake Forest University, where his group studies the effects of gravity on astrophysical systems. Before joining Wake Forest, he was a Richard P. Feynman Distinguished Fellow at Los Alamos National Laboratory and a Postdoctoral Associate at Princeton University's Gravity Initiative. Alejandro earned his PhD from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
*TRI*STAR*
The Triad Starfest, *Tri*Star* for short, is a conference of astronomers of all types, from novice to professional, for a full day of presentations, displays, and observing. The event allows astronomy enthusiasts to share ideas, learn about a range of astronomical topics, get together with old friends, and make new ones. The event draws astronomers from North Carolina and surrounding states. *Tri*Star* is free and open to anyone with an interest in astronomy.
Learn more about TriStar and past events
FALL ASTRONOMY DAY LECTURES
The Cline Observatory Jo Cline Memorial Astronomy Day Lecture is held each fall, featuring a prominent researcher in astronomy, astrophysics, or planetary science.
Learn more about the Astronomy Day Lecture and past events
STELLAR SOCIETY LECTURE – PART OF THE NC SCIENCE FESTIVAL
Each year, typically in April, GTCC’s student astronomy club, the Stellar Society, teams up with Cline Observatory and the GTCC Foundation to present the Stellar Society Lecture, featuring an astronomer from a regional institution to give a free public lecture on a Friday night before our regular public viewing. This event is usually held in conjunction with the North Carolina Science Festival.
Learn more about the Stellar Society Lecture and past events
NORTH CAROLINA ASTRONOMERS’ MEETING (NCAM)
NCAM is an annual technical meeting that seeks to bring members of the NC professional astronomy community together to network and share research. The meeting usually draws 50+ attendees from institutions around North Carolina and surrounding states.
For the past two decades, NCAM has been held annually in late September or early October and includes a plenary presentation from an invited researcher, short oral sessions scheduled throughout the day, and space for research posters. We especially encourage presentations of student research.
The meeting also usually includes two special sessions: the annual business meeting of the NC Section of the International Dark-sky Association, and a Center for Astronomy Education Regional Teaching Exchange. This event is a scientific conference that is not open to the general public.
Learn more about the NCAM and past events
PAST SPECIAL LECTURES
Nov. 20, 2024: GTCC: Emily Levesque, "The Last Stargazers" View the presentation.
Oct. 13, 2023: Anthony Love, Appalachian State University, “Minerals in Meteorites: the Elemental Encyclopedia of Early Solar System History.” View the presentation.
Nov. 17, 2021: Steven Desch, Arizona State University, 1I’Oumuamua: the Nearest Exoplanet? View the presentation.
Aug. 29, 2014: Barbara J. Becker, U. California-Irvine, "William Huggins and the Riddle of the Nebulae”
Dec. 6, 2013: Dirk Grupe, Penn State University, "Swift and the Hunt for Gamma Ray Bursts"
2009 throughout the year: International Year of Astronomy Lecture Series – presentations by Dana Hurley, Elisabeth Benchich, Jeffrey Newman, Harry Shipman, Aaron Martin, and Johannes Kepler (portrayed by John McFarland)
2004 fall semester: Mars Mania Lecture Series – presentations associated with the close opposition of Mars, by David Herrick, Jerry Watson, Prasun Desai, and Tom English