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The Transient Radio Sky Seminar

Add Event to your Calendar Wed., Oct. 24, 2018 1:00 p.m. - Wed., Oct. 24, 2018 2:00 p.m.

Location: LB 205

Abstract: In 2007, astronomers discovered a new mysterious cosmic phenomenon: Fast Radio Bursts. These events consist of short, intense blasts of radio waves arriving from far outside our Milky Way galaxy. Their origin is unknown, however, Fast Radio Bursts appear ubiquitous in our Universe, with roughly 1000 arriving every day over the full sky. I will describe the Fast Radio Burst mystery and what is presently known about it, and present a revolutionary new radio telescope being built in Canada that will soon enable astronomers worldwide to make major progress in our understanding of the FRB puzzle.

Speaker: Dr. Victoria Kaspi, Department of Physics and McGill Space Institute, McGill University

Bio: Professor Kaspi is a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Observational Astrophysics and is the Director of the McGill Space Institute. She has received numerous recognitions for her research on neutron stars, is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and the Royal Society of London, and a member of the U.S. Academy of Sciences. In 2017, Dr. Kaspi was named a Companion to the Order of Canada.