Some of the dynamics of the universe will be explained tonight when renowned astronomer Alex Filippenko takes the stage at Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium to present his lecture, “Dark Energy and the Runaway Universe.”

Filippenko, a professor at the University of California, Berkley, is a well-known astronomer. He spoke with The Post’s Katherine Bercik about why he became a professor, his interest in science and his greatest achievement.

The Post: What encouraged you to become an astronomer?Alex Filippenko: I’ve always been interested in science and in understanding how things work. As an astronomer, I can study the entire universe and its contents. There are lots of really incredible objects to explore.Post: Who was your greatest influence?Filippenko: As an undergraduate at the University of California, Santa Barbara, I had a professor named Stan Peale who predicted that there were a lot of volcanoes on one of Jupiter’s moons, Io … this was confirmed with photographs from the Voyager spacecraft. This vividly showed me the power of science to make predictions and explain things.Post: You have been voted “Best Professor” at the University of California, Berkeley, five times. What’s your secret to working with students?Filippenko: It’s many things, including clarity of lectures, of course. But one of the most important factors is being passionate about the material, and presenting it in a fun and engaging manner.Post: Have you always envisioned yourself becoming a teacher? What encouraged you to enter this profession?Filippenko: Being a university professor allows me to conduct original research in my field, educate the public and train the next generation of scientists. This has been my plan since junior high or high school.Post: Lately there has been a lot of talk that not many college students are studying mathematics and science. How has this affected astronomy? Filippenko: There are still quite a few students studying advanced mathematics and science, though not as many as we would like … funding is becoming tighter and tighter, and some other countries are catching up to us in astronomy, because they have more money to spend on new equipment and other resources. The lack of funding also discourages some students from entering the field. Post: Which of your achievements are you most proud of?Filippenko: The most exciting part of my career was helping with the discovery of dark energy and the accelerating expansion of the universe, which is what I am giving a speech about (tonight). But that was a large team effort to which I contributed. Of the projects I have led, I’m probably most proud of the Lick Observatory Supernova Search with the Katzman Automatic Imaging Telescope — the world’s most successful search for relatively nearby exploding stars.Post: What exactly is “dark energy”?Filippenko: Three-quarters of the universe, as a whole, consists of dark energy, yet we don’t know what it is — that’s pretty alarming! Many claim that the nature of dark energy is the single most important unsolved problem in all of physics. An understanding of it should provide clues to the unification of quantum physics and Einstein’s general theory of relativity.