The stars we see in the beautiful night sky of Aotearoa hold the secrets to the origins of the Milky Way galaxy, according to Senior Lecturer in Astroinformatics & Data Science, Dr C Clare Worley.

In her upcoming Tauhere Connect public lecture at Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury (UC), she will describe the endeavours of Galactic Archaeology in which stars are used to trace out the evolutionary history of our galaxy.

“From their light we can tell not only where stars are and where they are going, but what happened to make them what they are,” Dr Worley says. “In particular, we are looking in fine detail at the closest stars to Earth, using the high-resolution spectrograph, HERCULES, at UC’s Ōtehīwai Mt John Observatory.”

Dr Worley will present her research team’s investigations so far in tracing out the evolutionary history of our solar neighbourhood, and answer audience questions, at her free public talk on Wednesday evening, 24 July.

About the speaker

Dr C Clare Worley is a Senior Lecturer in Astroinformatics & Data Science in UC’s School of Physical and Chemical Sciences. Recently returned to Aotearoa New Zealand, Dr Worley, a UC graduate, has had a successful astronomy career first as a Research Fellow at the Observatoire de la Cote D’Azur in Nice, France, and then as a Senior Research Associate at the Institute of Astronomy at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. Dr Worley is an expert in stellar spectroscopy of the stellar populations of the Milky Way, and a team member for two upcoming large-scale spectroscopic surveys, WEAVE and 4MOST, which are at the forefront of astronomical technology and will map the Milky Way as never before. Dr Worley is an accomplished public speaker, speaking last year at Matariki 2023 at Te Matatiki Toi Ora Arts Centre, Christchurch.

UC Tauhere Connect public talk: Galactic Archaeology in Aotearoa’s Night Sky, presented by Senior Lecturer Dr C Clare Worley, School of Physical and Chemical Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Canterbury, 7pm – 8pm, Wednesday 24 July 2024, in Central Lecture Theatre, Ilam campus, University of Canterbury, Christchurch. Register to attend free at: www.canterbury.ac.nz/ucconnect.
It’s free to register to attend in person, to watch via Facebook livestream or later on YouTube. Videos of UC Tauhere Connect public talks are available a week after the live event. Watch previous Tauhere Connect talks here.