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Grubb Parsons Lecture archive

2009

 Title of the talk

 


   

Hot Results on Cool Galaxies: The Hidden Universe Revealed'

Speaker
Prof. Rob Kennicutt
Description

Half of the starlight in the Universe is hidden from visible telescopes, having been quenched by fine clouds of dust particles in interstellar space. This missing energy reappears in the infrared and terahertz regions of the spectrum, and can only be studied fully from spaceborne observatories. Now thanks to a series of international space observatories this hidden Universe has been fully revealed. The data from these telescopes reveal new classes of objects and phenomena, including the discovery of the most luminous and active star-forming galaxies in the Universe. These objects provide glimpses into the early history of galaxies like our own, and new insights into the star and galaxy formation processes that shaped the Hubble sequence.

The lecture highlighted what has been learned from the infrared observations, and previewed anticipated results from the Herschel Space Observatory, which was scheduled for launch in April 2009.

About the Speaker
Prof. Rob Kennicutt is the Plumian Professor for the Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge

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2007/8

 Title of the talk

Building Planets and the Ingredients of Life between the Stars

Speaker
Professor Ewine F. van Dishoeck
Description
One of the most exciting developments in astronomy is the discovery of planets around stars other than our Sun. More than 200 exo-planets have now been detected. But how do these planets form, and why are they so different from our own solar system? Which ingredients are available to build them? Thanks to powerful new telescopes, astronomers are now starting to address these age-old questions. In this talk, an overview will be given of how stars and planets are born in the extremely cold and tenuous clouds between the stars in the Milky Way. These clouds also contain a surprisingly rich variety of organic material. Which chemical compounds do we find in space? Can they end up on new planets and form the basis for pre-biotic material?
About the Speaker
Professor Ewine F. van Dishoeck of the Leiden Observatory, Leiden University

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2006/7

 Title of the talk

 

Touchdown on Titan

Speaker
Professor John Zarnecki
Description
This lecture dealt with the voyage of the European Space Agency's Huygens probe which landed on Saturn's largest moon, Titan, following its seven year journey from Earth. Professor Zarnecki was the principal investigator of the Huygens probe to Titan. 
About the Speaker

At the time of the lecture, Prof. John Zarnecki was a Professor of Space Science (now Emeritus) at the Open University, having previously been a professor and researcher at the University of Kent.He is now Director of the International Space Science Institute in Berne, Switzerland.

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2005/6

 Title of the talk

Massive Black Holes

Speaker
Professor Reinhard Genzel
Description
not available
About the Speaker

Professor Genzel is the Director of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching and a Professor of Physics at the University of California, Berkeley. His research career includes world-leading discoveries spanning the physics of star formation, active galactic nuclei, black holes and galaxy dynamics. He is also an acknowledged expert in the development of innovative astronomical instrumentation for the world's largest telescopes.

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2004/5

 Title of the talk

 

The Fate of the Universe

Speaker
Professor George Efstathiou FRS
Description

The lecture covered recent advances in our understanding of the geometry of the Universe and their implications for the eventual fate of the Universe. The observational foundations of this work comes from new, high-quality maps of the Cosmic Microwave Background, large-scale redshift surveys of the local Universe and studies of Supernovae at high redshifts. Prof. Efstathiou discussed the theoretical implications of these new discoveries on models of the growth of structure in the Universe and the properties and nature of Dark Matter and Dark Energy. 

About the Speaker

Prof. Efstathiou is a world expert in theoretical and observational cosmology. His research career includes the development of the Cold Dark Matter model of the growth of structure in the Universe and his recent work deals with the measurements of the fundamental structure and evolution of the Universe from large scale galaxy surveys and the Cosmic Microwave Background. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1994 and currently holds the Chair of Astrophysics and the Directorship of the Institute of Astronomy at Cambridge University.

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