Free and open to everyone - no knowledge of Astronomy expected. The lecture begins at 7:00pm sharp in the Frank Dawson Adams Auditorium
A public talk by Dr. Adrian Liu.
Abstract:How did the first generation of stars and galaxies form in our Universe? Astronomers don’t know. We have ideas, to be sure, but they’re hard to confirm with observations because prior to the formation of the first stars and galaxies, it’s not clear what we can look at! In the last few years, much progress has been made in trying to detect radio waves from hydrogen atoms that existed in the early Universe. The existence of hydrogen precedes the formation of the first stars and galaxies, and therefore allows direct observations of the formation process. This new technique (known as “21cm cosmology”) has yet to become a standard tool in the astronomical community. In this talk, I provide a “sneak preview” of what will come in the next few years, as 21cm cosmology revolutionizes our understanding of how our present Universe—with its majestic astronomical patterns consisting of mature stars, galaxies, and even larger objects—came to be.
AstroMcGill serves as the education and public outreach branch of the McGill Space Institute. To find more science outreach activities at McGill, visit the Faculty of Science's outreach webpage.