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Dr Katharine Johnson – Unravelling the role of discs in star formation with the ALMA telescope
20th June 2023 @ 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm
£3
Dr Katharine Johnston from the University of Leeds uses observations taken with radio telescopes such as ALMA in Chile and e-MERLIN based in the UK to understand how massive stars form by being fed material by their surrounding accretion discs
Discs have long been theorised to exist around forming stars, but it is only in the past few decades that observations from optical to radio wavelengths have begun to reveal them and the rich treasure they contain: the building blocks for companion stars and planets, and within them, the possible ingredients for life. In this talk, I will look back to the story of their discovery and look forward to the cutting-edge research into discs around forming Sun-like stars and those around the most massive stars in our Galaxy. I will also show how giant radio interferometers like the ALMA observatory are needed to peer into the inner workings of these discs and delve a little into how radio interferometers work themselves.