The Shaking Cosmos - A Global Star Party with the Astronomical League
Join us on December 5th starting at 2:00 p.m. Eastern for a special edition of the Global Star Party with the Astronomical League. Learn about imaging and investigate gravitational waves!
Co-hosted by the Explore Alliance and the Astronomical League, keynote speakers for the event include comet discoverer David H. Levy and Shane Larson of the Department of Physics at Northwestern University.
Larson will present “THE SHAKING COSMOS: Observing the Universe in Gravitational Waves.”
Virtually everything we know about the Universe has been discovered from the study of photons --- light in all its myriad forms from radio waves, to visible light, to x-rays and beyond. At the dawn of the 21st century, advanced technology is providing access to the Cosmos through detection of sub-atomic particles like cosmic rays and neutrinos, and through detection of ripples in the fabric of spacetime itself.
These ripples in spacetime, called gravitational waves, carry information not in the form of light or particles, but in the form of gravity itself. Gravitational waves are messengers which carry the stories of what happens when two black holes collide, of how the inner core of a star destroys itself during a supernova explosion, and of how the graveyard of the galaxy is filled with the quiet whisper of binary white dwarf stars that spiral together ever so slowly as they fade into oblivion.
This talk will explore the modern description of gravity, what gravitational waves are and how we hope to measure them, and what we hope to learn from their detection. Gravity has a story to tell, and in this talk, we'll explore some of the discoveries we hope to make by listening.
Also featured in this amazing free event will be Carroll Iorg, AL President, and Dr. Carl J. Wenning, NCRAL Chair, both giving organization updates. Terry Mann, Molly Wakeling, Scott W. Roberts, and Carroll Iorg will discuss beginning imaging, astrophotography, and imaging awards.
*Gravity wave visualization courtesy of NASA
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