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Galactic Archaeology: the history of our home in the cosmos
February 23, 2023 @ 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm
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The history of our universe spans 13 billion years, 99.998% of which humanity did not yet exist. Our own galaxy, the Milky Way, is at least ten billion years old, having survived what we believe is a violent history including several galactic collisions. While it is difficult to comprehend how ancient the majority of the night sky is, the physical scale of the Universe is also staggering. Despite being responsible for all life on Earth, the Sun is an average star – dwarfed by true stellar giants hundreds of times its size. And the Milky Way? Miniature compared to the ancient “red dead” galaxies littering the night sky. Join me as Galactic Archaeologists for the evening as we tour the cosmos, spanning both space and time. Together we’ll navigate the smallest atomic scales, through to the Solar System, into the Milky Way and beyond. We will explore questions like when and how did the hydrogen, oxygen and iron in our bodies form, what are the physical processes that govern the Earth, how does the history of our Galaxy compare to others and how will the Universe end?
About our speaker: Dr. Stephanie Monty is an astronomer primarily working in the fields of Galactic Archaeology and astronomical instrumentation. The aim of her research is to understand the history of the Milky Way and how both the light and dark components came to be. Stephanie is currently employed as a post-doctoral researcher at the Institute of Astronomy within the University of Cambridge. Prior to that, she completed my PhD in Astrophysics at the Australian National University and her BSc in Physics & Astronomy at the University of Victoria, Canada. For more info visit Dr. Monty’s website.
‘In her heart I’ll always be a West Coast Canadian, happiest when on rainy forest walks surrounded by cedars and firs.’