The public is invited to a free talk called “The Science of Interstellar” with Dr. Jeremy Schnittman in the Pickford Theater, third floor, Madison Building, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, May 3, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. EDT.

Jeremy Schnittman is a research astrophysicist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. His research interests include theoretical and computational modeling of black hole accretion flows, X-ray polarimetry, black hole binaries, gravitational wave sources, gravitational microlensing, planetary dynamics, resonance dynamics, and exoplanet atmospheres.

“One of the great things about studying black holes is that you are constantly pushing your imagination and intuition to the limit,” Schnittman said. “The same is true about good science fiction movies like Interstellar: by stretching our imaginations, we can better understand how black holes behave in the real world.”

The presentation will address the “habitability zone” around supermassive black holes and will discuss the Hollywood movie in light of the physics governing accretion, relativity, and astrobiology.

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For inquiries about this or upcoming talks at the Library of Congress, the public can contact the LOC Science, Technology and Business Division at 202-707-5664. ADA accommodations should be requested five business days in advance at 202-707-6382 (voice/tty) or ada@loc.gov.

The lecture will be later broadcast on the library’s webcast page and YouTube channel “Topics in Science” playlist.

For more information visit: http://blogs.loc.gov/inside_adams/

For directions, visit: http://www.loc.gov/visit/maps-and-floor-plans/