“The Nitrogen Crisis in the Early Universe” by Dr Jorick Vink, Senior Research Astronomer at Armagh Observatory & Planetarium,

Synopsis
Nitrogen is one of the key elements for life, yet its origins in the early Universe remain surprisingly uncertain. Recent observations of very distant galaxies with the James Webb Space Telescope have revealed unexpectedly high levels of nitrogen — levels that are difficult to explain with our standard ideas about how stars form and evolve. In this talk, I will explain where nitrogen is thought to come from, why these new discoveries pose a serious challenge to our current understanding, and how new insights into the lives of massive and very massive stars may help to solve this cosmic puzzle.

Brief biography
Jorick Vink is an Astrophysicist at Armagh Observatory & Planetarium, where he studies some of the most massive stars in the Universe and their role in shaping galaxies over cosmic time. He is Principal Investigator of the ESO Large Programme X-Shooting Ulysses: Massive Stars at Low Metallicity, and combines observations from major telescopes with theoretical models to understand how massive stars evolve and how they produce heavy elements and black holes.