[AstroNet] Planetary nebulae talk

[Thembela Mantungwa]

Public Lecture 

Dr. Brent Miszalski, a SALT Research Fellow will give a free public lecture at S.A. Astronomical Observatory in Cape Town on Saturday, June 9 at 20h00. He will talk about "Planetary nebulae". If the weather is good, there will be stargazing through the historical McClean telescope and small telescopes. 

Abstract: 

At the end of their lives, stars like the sun will eject most of their atmosphere to create spectacular cosmic butterflies called planetary nebulae. At their heart lies a very hot star that ionises leftover gas to reveal an amazing variety of shapes. These shapes range from perfectly spherical bubbles, to butterfly-like shapes with multiple ejected lobes, and double-lobed nebulae with highly collimated jet-like outflows. Exactly how these shapes are formed is the subject of an intense scientific debate spanning thirty years. Recently, it has become increasingly clear that binary stars are the preferred explanation to this vexing problem. During his talk, Dr. Miszalski will give an overview of planetary nebulae and recent work aimed towards finding their binary central stars. 


-- 
Regards 

Thembela Mantungwa 
S.A. Astronomical Observatory 
Tel: 021 460 9319 
Fax: 086 612 7502 
Email: tm at saao.ac.za 
Website: www.saao.ac.za / www.salt.ac.za 


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