WHAT: The UNLV Astronomy Lecture Series welcomes acclaimed astrophysicist Roger Blandford for "Black Holes: End of Time or New Beginning"

WHEN: Thursday, Oct. 22, 2009 at 7:30 p.m.

WHERE: Robert L. Bigelow Physics Building Auditorium at UNLV

DETAILS: Black holes are popularly associated with death, but astrophysicists see them in terms of a new beginning. Blandford will summarize the claims of scientists for the existence of black holes and discuss some of their stranger properties and their environmental impact on the universe.

Blandford is an astrophysicist and director of the Kavli Institute for Particle Physics and Cosmology at Stanford University. In addition to research on neutron stars, gravitational lensing and white dwarfs, Blandford's work includes the development of the Blandford-Znajek Process - the leading model that explains how energy can be extracted from a black hole.

The lecture series is a celebration of the International Year of Astronomy and is sponsored by the UNLV Department of Physics and Astronomy. For information on upcoming lectures, please click here.