Searching for Cosmic Dawn: the First Stars and Galaxies in the Universe

(October 25, 2006) Dr. Richard Ellis, Steele Professor of Astronomy at the California Institute of Technology, discusses the evidence that suggests the Universe began in a hot Big Bang nearly 14 billion years ago. Some 500,000 years after this event, astronomers believe dark clouds of hydrogen began collapsing to form the very first stars and galaxies. Observing the moment when the universe emerged from darkness is one of the frontiers in cosmology. Dr. Ellis describes the exciting hunt for this most prized goal – witnessing the dawn of stars and galaxies in the early Universe.

Science Standards: Universe; Forces of the Universe; Scientific Views of the Universe; How Information is Collected and Analyzed; How a Telescope Works.