Thirteen and a half billion years ago, four hundred thousand years after the Big Bang, the universe had expanded and cooled enough for hydrogen atoms to form. All was darkness. It took another few hundred million years before stars and galaxies lit up the universe, ending the cosmic "dark age."

Professor Haynes will talk about what we know about the first stars, galaxies, and supermassive black holes. She will also show how new and future telescopes will enable us to witness the epoch of "cosmic dawn."

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Martha Haynes is the Goldwin Smith Professor of Astronomy at Cornell University. Her research interests include galaxy formation, cosmology, and radio astronomy. She is the vice-president of the International Astronomical Union, a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and of the National Academy of Sciences.