Li Hua-bai (Chinese University of Hong Kong) Since 1980’s, astronomers realized that gravity, turbulence and magnetic fields may all take part in the process of star formation. But how exactly these three forces interact with each other and result in the observed, e.g., star formation rate, efficiency, and stellar mass distribution remains as one of […]
Category archives: Events
RADIOSKY2020 Italy-South Africa Research Programme (ISARP) Virtual Workshop (18 June 2020)
The University of the Western Cape (UWC)/Inter-University Institute for Data Intensive Astronomy (IDIA), Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF-IRA), and the Italian Embassy hosted the RADIOSKY2020 Workshop virtually on 18 June 2020. Find here a summary about the event https://www.idia.ac.za/radiosky2020-italy-south-africa-research-programme-isarp-virtual-workshop and here most presentations https://www.idia.ac.za/radiosky-2020-workshop/ Image Credit: Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, generated by […]
The Physics and Astronomy department welcomes Dr. Lerothodi Leeuw as a Professor
Congratulations to Lerothodi Leeuw! From the 1st of July, we are thrilled to be welcoming him at the department. He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston, a Master of Fine Arts Degree in Creative Writing from Columbia University in New York City, a Master of […]
The Physics and Astronomy department welcomes Dr. Michelle Lochner as a Senior Lecturer
Congratulations to Michelle Lochner! From the 14th of April, we are thrilled to be welcoming her at the department. She did her undergraduate in physics and maths at Rhodes University and moved on to do her honours with NASSP at UCT in 2010. She stayed at UCT for a masters in cosmology, later upgrading to […]
Importance of WN stars on the ionisation and chemical evolution of galaxies (Webinar, Friday 22nd May @ 11:30)
Arpita Roy (Australian National University) Massive stars are primary sources of chemical yields and mechanical and ionization luminosity budgets. Therefore, understanding massive stars’ evolution is crucial to have a complete understanding of the chemical and ionization evolution of galaxies. Moreover, with the advent of instruments like MUSE, JWST (upcoming), HST, etc., we have (/are going […]
Receiving Credit for Research Software (Webinar, Friday 15th of May @11:30)
Alice Allen (Editor of the Astrophysics Source Code Library – ASCL ascl.net) Journal articles detail the general logic behind new results and ideas, but often the source codes that enable these results remain hidden from public view and those who author these computational methods have not always received credit for their work. This presentation will […]
On the origin of Lithium
Paolo Molaro (Astronomical Observatory of Trieste) Abstract: Li is the element with the largest number of astrophysical nucleosynthetic processes. Although a primordial element, it is also produced by spallation processes in the interstellar medium, in a slow process lasting billions of years. The Li abundance in the old halo population of the Galaxy, however, is […]
Tensions in cosmological data: impact of non standard models and systematic effects
Matteo Martinelli (Instituto de Fisica Teorica UAM/CSIC) Abstract: In recent years, measurements of cosmological parameters coming from different observables have shown tensions between each other, the most striking the approximately 4.5 sigma tension on the Hubble constant between CMB and local measurements. In this talk I will briefly review the status of these tensions and […]
Building stars, planets and the ingredients for life in space
“The cosmos is within us. We are made of star-stuff. We are a way for the universe to know itself.”― Carl Sagan On January 29th, the UWC Astro group was delighted to host Prof. Ewine F. van Dishoeck from the Leiden Observatory. Prof van Dishoeck is a world-leading expert in the realm of molecular astrophysics, […]
Visitors from Missouri (USA)
The UWC Astrophysics group is playing host to two visitors from the Missouri University of Science and Technology; Prof. Shun Saito and Dr Sid Gurung Lopez. With over 30 years of partnership between the two universities, strengthening the ties between the two astrophysics groups would aide in improving international collaboration. Our guests also presented their […]