NSAS Seminar Series - our speaker is Arihani Raidani

On the 3rd Tuesday of the month (February to November) at 7:30pm, we meet on zoom or at Regis Hall in the grounds of St Ignatius’ College, Riverview Street, Riverview (Lane Cove) which features a presentation from a Guest Lecturer. These presentations generally focus on the theoretical aspects of Cosmology, Astrophysics and Astrophotography and can include some of the most up-to-date research and scientific findings. We are fortunate to be able to obtain speakers from Australia’s top universities and scientific community – our past Guest Lecturers have included the likes of Dr Fred Watson and Nobel Prize winner Prof. Brian Schmidt.

This month's speaker is Arihani Raidani from Macquarie University, who will talk about 'Illuminating Cosmic Dust with Gamma-ray Burst Afterglows'
Abstract:

Gamma-ray bursts are the most powerful explosions in the Universe, releasing more energy in a few seconds than our Sun will produce in its entire lifetime. Even though they are incredibly bright, their light does not travel to us unaltered.

As this light moves across space, it passes through vast clouds of tiny cosmic dust particles. These dust grains are the building blocks of stars, planets, and even life—but they are extremely difficult to study directly because they are so faint and spread out.

In this talk, we will explore how the afterglow of gamma-ray bursts acts like a cosmic flashlight. By studying how this light changes as it travels through space, astronomers can uncover the hidden properties of cosmic dust in distant galaxies.

This allows us to use some of the most extreme events in the Universe to better understand some of its most delicate and invisible ingredients.

The format of the evening consists of a welcome to Members, Guests and Visitors, a quick discussion on general business of NSAS, the presentation from our Guest Speaker and then members usually stay for pizza and have a chat with a cup of tea or coffee.

These meetings are an excellent opportunity to get to know fellow members.

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