Dark Energy, Explosions, and Zombie Stars

Location:
Student Activity Center Auditorium (map)

Schedule:
Pre-lecture activities start at 5:45 p.m. Lecture followed by questions & answers from 7-8:15 p.m.

Web Broadcast:
The Live Webcast will start at 7pm. Please log on at least 15 minutes before start time to download the necessary plug-ins to ensure proper viewing.

Directions:
The event will take place on the campus of The University of Texas at Austin in the Student Activity Center Auditorium. Click here for a map to the SAC.

by Dr. Andrew Howell 
Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network
Friday, January 13, 2012 - 7 PM CT

What is the Lecture About?

Lecture title: Dark Energy, Explosions, and Zombie Stars:  The Past and Future of Our Universe

What do you see when you look at the night sky? If you are Dr. Howell and his team, you discover a supernova within hours of its explosion (a rare feat) and use it to help measure the history of the expansion of the universe and the dark energy causing it to accelerate.  His team showed that these supernovae are from white dwarf "zombie" stars that were once dead, but came back to life by sucking matter from a companion star before exploding.   Explore supernovas, dark energy, and zombie stars with Dr. Howell, and hear how learning more about these phenomena helps us understand our universe.

Presenter's Biosketch

Dr. Andrew Howell

Dr. Andrew Howell is a staff scientist at the Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network, Adjunct Professor in the Department of Physics at the University of California Santa Barbara, and was a host of the third season of the National Geographic Channel series "Known Universe." He is a member of the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF), the Supernova Legacy Survey, and Pan-STARRS1, three teams which have found and followed thousands of explosive and transient events in the universe, providing our best measurement of the mysterious dark energy.  This followed his work with the Supernova Cosmology Project, whose leader, Saul Perlmutter, was awarded the 2011 Nobel Prize in physics, along with Brian Schmidt and Adam Riess,  for the discovery of the acceleration of the universe.  Dr. Howell recently published some of his research on Type Ia Supernovae as Stellar Endpoints and Cosmological Tools in Nature Communications, and the PTF team's recent discovery of the supernova in M101 was reported worldwide in the summer of 2011.

Websites of Interest:

The McDonald Observatory: operated by the Astronomy Program at The University of Texas at Austin, the Observatory operatesw four resarch telescopes from a site in West Texas.

The Universities Space Research Association: an independent research corporation that facilitates cooperation among universities, government entites, and other research organizations and suppors education and outreach programs for students, educators, and the public.

The Austin Planetarium: dedicated to creating a planetarium for the City of Austin, currently the largest city in the United States without this scientific and educational resource.

Teacher Workshop Information:

Dr. Howell will be personally leading a K-12 teacher workshop at the event beginning at 5:45 p.m. Teachers who attend the workshop and/or the evening's lecture can receive professional development credit. To RSVP and join the workshop please visit our Teacher Opportunities Page.