We are delighted to have Dr Jorick Vink back to talk to us again. He describes his lecture here in his own words…..
"I will start with a discussion about the role of the Maunder Minumum, a period 300 years ago when the Sun underwent a phase during which Sunspots were hardly seen at all.
This observation is of great importance for understanding not only the Sun and the Stars, but also the climate on Earth.
I will subsequently discuss the role of stellar variability for the determination of distances to far-away galaxies. Here I will discuss the
important role played by Henrietta Leavitt. Thanks to her work, and subsequent studies by Hubble & others on galaxy redshifts, we now know we
live in a huge, expanding Universe that started 13.7 Billion years ago with a Big Bang. I will discuss the Genesis of the First Massive Stars in
this Exciting Cosmos."
Dr Jorick Vink completed his PhD in Astrophysics at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands and is now based at Armagh Observatory and Planetearium where he conducts Research, Outreach, and has been responsible for running the Planetarium. He also spent a number of years engaged in Post-Doctoral Reasearch at Imperial College, London.
Doors open about 7.15pm. There is free parking available on the campus in the evenings. Admission Free, including light refreshments. We are located in the Bell Theatre, Department of Mathematics and Physics, QUB – details here……
With thanks to the Astrophysics Research Centre, QUB, for assistance with this event.
Bell Lecture Theatre, Physics Building , QUB, 7.30pm
All welcome. Free admission, including light refreshments.