As the universe continues to expand, astronomers are working to discover how it is happening. One OU professor will explain her most up-to-date findings on the topic at a public lecture tonight.

“I work on dark energy because this problem is the biggest mystery, and I find it exciting to work on a big puzzle,” said Yun Wang, physics and astronomy professor.

Wang will give her lecture, “The Dark Side of the Universe,” at 7 tonight at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History.

“[The lecture] is really about what we don’t know about the universe,” Wang said.

Wang said she will discuss two main components, including dark energy and dark matter , which makes up most of the matter in the universe.

“What astronomers have discovered is that the expansion of the universe is accelerating,” Wang said.

She said dark energy is the opposite of gravity and it makes the universe expand faster.

The expansion rate of the universe is affected by dark energy, according to a study in Physics Today magazine titled “Supernovae, Dark Energy, and the Accelerating Universe.”

“We must hunt for the fingerprints of dark energy in the fine details of the history of cosmic expansion,” the study’s author Saul Perlmutter stated in the article.

Wang said this will be the first lecture she has given covering this combination of material.

“I would say one thing someone can get out of this lecture is what cosmology is about. The few cosmology jargon I use, I would explain,” Wang said. “This is geared toward people who don’t know much about it.”

Wang said the lecture should be informative and interesting.

“We may be insignificant, but we have the wonderful gift of perception and it’s our responsibility to use it,” astrophysics senior William Solow said.

Solow said he attends Wang’s class every Wednesday and Friday and plans to go to the lecture to find out more about dark matter.

“One thing I do know about [dark matter] is that it’s a relevant topic in astronomy,” Solow said. “So I thought I could learn a thing or two by going.”

Solow said he knows there is scientific proof that a great deal of unaccounted mass exists in the universe and most astronomers believe this to be dark matter.

“Astronomy is important, not only for the reason that science has always been important because it gives us an understanding of the universe we live in, but [because] the future of industry and life as we know it lies in space and we are laying the foundation for it right now,” Solow said.

Solow said space is the frontier of the modern era, and other resources are available for people to colonize in space.

“I think the most important thing about science is to help us understand our place and our role in the universe,” Solow said.

Solow said he is a fan of Wang as an instructor, and believes many of his classmates will also attend the lecture.

“Yun Wang is a good example for how teachers should teach,” Solow said. “She teaches with respect to the ultimate goal, which is to understand the role that the information plays as a whole.”