Sigma Xi Lecturer Dr. Robert Mathieu

Sigma Xi Distinguished Lecturer

Dr. Robert Mathieu, Professor of Astronomy, U of Wisconsin–Madison

Stars That Go Bump in the Night

Description: The distances between the stars are vast, and until recently collisions between stars seemed highly unlikely. Now we think they happen quite frequently, particularly when binary stars encounter each other within clusters of stars, and create stars that as yet are unexplained by standard stellar physics.

These events bring together two classical fields of astronomy, stellar dynamics and stellar evolution.

Mathieu will introduce the audience to the basics of both, and then embark on a journey into the strange world of stellar collisions.

Professor Mathieu has been on the faculty of the Department of Astronomy of the University of Wisconsin-Madison since 1987. He was educated at Princeton University and the University of California at Berkeley, after which he became a fellow of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. He has served as president of the Board of Directors of the WIYN Observatory, and now chairs the University Committee of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

His research involves the formation and evolution of binary stars and the dynamics of star clusters. He also directs the NSF Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL; http://www.cirtl.net), whose mission is to prepare STEM graduate students to be both forefront researchers and excellent teachers. He also is the principal investigator of an NSF project to upgrade the Student Assessment of Learning Gains (SALG) instrument.

This lecture is presented in cooperation with the Institute of Astronomy Colloquium. Reception and light refreshments afterwards.

Event Sponsor
Zoology, Institute for Astronomy, and Hawaii Sigma Xi, Manoa Campus

More Information
Lea Hollingsworth, 808-236-7439, leav@hawaii.edu, Sigma Xi Distinguished Lecturer Flyer (PDF)

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