|
SLAS Regular Meeting
Friday, June 15, 2012
7:30pm
McDonnell Hall
Washington University
From Dusty Darkness to Brilliant Light:
The Birth of Stars
by
Ms. Kristen Erickson
Department of Physics and Astronomy
University of Missouri - St. Louis
The stars seem to be eternal as well as distant. Their constellation patterns do not change
noticeably over many centuries. But the stars do have life cycles, even though they are very
long compared to those of humans. They eventually die, whether in a colossal explosion or in a
quieter outflow of dust and gas. And new stars are born, from immense clouds of dust and gas
scattered about the night sky. Ms. Erickson will talk about the process of star formation - how
and where it occurs and how astronomers are able to study the birth of stars.
Kristen Erickson is a Doctoral candidate in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the
University of Missouri, St. Louis. She began her collegiate studies at the University of Arizona
in Tucson. Nearby was the mountaintop cluster of large telescopes operated by the Kitt Peak
National Observatory. Her research interests center on star formation, particularly on the stellar
nurseries in the constellation of Serpens and near the star Rho Ophiuchi.
Astro 101 - Our Magnetic Sun - Jim Small
We'll take a look at some of the activities offered up by the latest ToolKit from Night Sky Network
|
|
