Prof. Michael Burton will be presenting a special lecture at Dunsink Observatory, Dublin on
Friday 17th September 2010 @ 8pm. Michael is a lecturer in astronomy and physics in the Department of Astrophysics at the Univesity of New South Wales (UNSW). His research revolves around applying the techniques of observational infrared astronomy to the understanding of our Galaxy. He is also heavily involved with the development of Antarctic astronomy. More information on Michael can be found here:
www.phys.unsw.edu.au/~mgb/mgb.html
Talk Title:
The Formation of Molecular Clouds in our Galaxy
Molecular clouds beget stars, almost as soon as molecular clouds are formed. But what begets molecular clouds? This remains an unobserved phenomenon, for the newly formed hydrogen molecules do not display any observational tracer which might indicate where and how this occurs. Yet it is a critical process that determines the rate of star formation in the Galaxy. The process of molecular cloud formation needs to inferred through trace species in the interstellar medium, largely involving the element carbon. This emits in molecular, atomic
and ionized forms, through spectral lines produced in the millimetre, sub-millimetre and THz wavebands. These, in turn, need to be mapped at high resolution across a spiral arm of the Galaxy in order to discern where cloud formation is occurring. Such an ambitious undertaking is now possible, using the 22-m Mopra telescope mm-wave telescope at Coonabarabran in Australia, the 4-m NANTEN2 sub-mm telescope on the 5,000m Atacama plateau in Chile, and the 0.8-m Stratospheric Terahertz Observatory (STO) - a THz telescope to be launched on a long duration balloon from McMurdo in Antarctica. We describe this unique combination of facilities and the progress towards bringing them together, for a launch of the STO in 2012.
A question and answer session will follow the talk with Michael, who likes to engage and interact with the audience.
Afterwards, a tour of the South Dome will take place including observing through the 12" Grubb refractor.
If you are interested in attending this special FREE lecture, please send an e-mail to Hilary O'Donnell (DIAS) hod@cp.dias.ie with your request for ticket(s). Please mark the subject of the e-mail as "Prof. Michal Burton Lecture" so that it gets her full attention.
Regards,
Michael.
  