Lecture 1 of 5 in our Physics Gymnasium Series for 2024 sees our speaker, Stephanie Bernard, shining a brilliant light on the darkest depths of our Universe:

Astronomy and physics regularly examine the very largest and very smallest things in the Cosmos. By looking at the , different sorts of light or energy transformations that characterise objects in our Universe, we can work out what they are made of, what temperatures they are, and even how far away the most distant stars and galaxies are. In this lecture, we will use concepts from Unit 1 and Unit 4 physics to discover what different colours of light mean, and how astronomers use this light to work out the properties of almost everything in the Universe.

Come along to the Hercus Theatre (near the corner of Swanston and Elgin Streets/Tin Alley) at 5:45 pm for light refreshments, for a 6 pm start. The lecture will be 40-50 minutes with time for some questions at the end.

Whilst this is an in-person event, a Zoom link will be sent out to all participants in the hour before the lecture to ensure that our far-flung friends can still come along virtually.

See you there!

Our speaker:

Our speaker, Stephanie Bernard, is an astronomy and space science educator in Melbourne, Australia. She teaches observational astrophysics and cultural astronomy to undergraduates at the University of Melbourne, and also works as a presenter and educator at Scienceworks, the Melbourne Planetarium, and the Victorian Space Science Education Centre. Her research interests in astronomy are in stars and galaxies in the early Universe with space telescopes, which she studied for a Master of Science in Physics and an MPhil in astrophysics, and she is especially interested in the next generation of both space- and ground-based telescopes. She also loves talking to astrophysicists and other astronomy enthusiasts on her podcast Spaghettification. Aside from astronomy, her main loves are her six cats and knitting a million jumpers in bright colours.

Physics Gymnasium 2024, Lecture 1: Spectroscopy in Astrophysics

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