PUBLIC LECTURE: An explosion of cosmic explosions

Many of us think that the heavens are serene and calm. However, most of the interesting things in the universe starting from the birth of the Universe happen during explosions. The most notable cosmic explosions are supernovae which mark the death of massive stars. During the explosion heavy elements (critical for our existence) are created. Cosmic explosions, thanks to their brilliance, allow astronomers to probe the young Universe and even infer the existence of dark energy. Over the past decade astronomers have uncovered new types of cosmic explosions. Professor Kulkarni will summarize these new developments in the field of cosmic explosions (namely gamma-ray bursts) and proceed to speculate on yet new classes of cosmic explosions. Such a discussion is timely given the imminent commissioning of wide angle optical and radio surveys of the Sky. Western Australia is poised to become the new astronomical Mecca and Chile the new Medina.

Professor Kulkarni is an astronomer who uses telescopes and builds instruments to study the death of stars, pulsars and neutron stars. He has great interest in interferometric search for planets and is the Chairman of NASA's Space Interferometer Mission PlanetQuest (SIM-PQ). Kulkarni is a Fellow of the Royal Society (London), a member of the National Academy of Sciences (USA) Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences (Boston).

Professor Kulkarni’s public lecture is supported by the Deep Surveys of the Radio Universe with SKA Pathfinders Conference 2008 being held at The University of Western Australia.

All welcome, no rsvp required