Events

Illuminating the Origins of the Universe’s Fastest Explosions

Tuesday September 29, 2020
05:00 pm - 06:30 pm

GUEST SPEAKER: Wen-fai Fong, Assistant Professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy at Northwestern University

VIRTUAL ASTRONOMY TALK: Join us as Wen-fai Fong describes the universe’s fastest explosions. When we look at the night sky, we see a static universe. However, astronomical observational surveys have revealed that our universe is, in fact, ever-changing. This “transient” sky is owed to a myriad of cosmic events. While many sources of transient emission have been traced to their origins, there are a few classes of cosmic explosions which have eluded us. In this talk, Dr. Fong will discuss two classes of captivation contributors to our dynamic sky which occur in the blink of an eye: short gamma-ray bursts and fast radio bursts. She will also describe how she uses time-critical observations in the race to understand their origins. These events represent unique laboratories to study the launching of powerful jets, the production of heavy elements, the emission of gravitational wave, and most importantly, the unknown.

 


FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Tuesday, September 29, 2020

Talk starts at 5:00 p.m. Hawaii Standard Time

Join by zoom at https://bit.ly/Keck-Fong

This talk will also be streamed live on our Facebook Page