Bath Astronomers’ monthly talk, Wed 25th Jan, is kindly given by Dr David Tsang of the Astrophysics department of the University of Bath. The talk is entitled “Astra in Extremis: The fascinating afterlives of undead stars“.
Stars are the ultimate source of the energy that fuels the life cycles on the planets that orbit them, but when certain stars themselves reach the end of their lives and collapse, they can become the stellar zombies known as Neutron Stars. These undead stars are the locations of the most extreme physics in the universe: the densest matter, the strongest magnetic fields, and the most extreme gravity short of black holes. I will talk about how we study these incredible objects, and what we can learn about the foundations of physics from the afterlives of these undead stars.
Talks are held in the Gallery of the Herschel Museum of Astronomy each month for members and those interested in astronomy/stargazing. There is a £5 fee for non-members (refundable if you become a member).
Doors open at 7:15pm. The event commences at 7:30pm with an introduction and update of what is going on in the society and the night sky before handing over to the speaker. Last entry at 7:40pm for running late.
Bio:
Dr David Tsang gained his Engineering Physics degree at the University of British Columbia and went on to be awarded Doctor of Philosophy at Cornell University. He has held positions as a Fellow at California Institute of Technology, McGill University, University of Maryland, University of Southampton. He is now part of the Astrophysics team at the University of Bath. His latest contribution to the paper “Constraining Nuclear Symmetry Energy with Multi-messenger Resonant Shattering Flares” may seem highbrow but David has also regularly contributed to the Pint of Science series of talks bringing the amazing science of neutron stars to everyone.
Image Credit:
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics