Free Astronomy Lecture: Black Widow Pulsars & Black Holes | SF

Submitted by the Event Organizer

CANCELED: Free Astronomy Lecture | Castro

Once monthly, the SFAA hosts distinguished guest speakers who are leaders in the fields of astronomy, physics and related disciplines and they present to SFAA Members the latest developments from cutting-edge scientific programs.

Held in the Randall Museum Theater on the third Wednesday of every month, come early for coffee and a light snack at 7:30 PM followed by the general meeting at 7:45 PM. The lecture begins at 8:00 PM.

– Updated 6/26/19 – Event info last checked via website

Wednesday, September 17, 2014
CANCELED: Free Astronomy Lecture | Castro

Black Widow Pulsars: Vengeful Star Corpses by Dr. Roger Romani, Stanford University

NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has revealed a violent high-energy universe full of stellar explosions, black hole jets, and pulsing stars. These cosmic objects are often faint when observed with visible light, but glow bright with gamma rays. Dr. Romani will describe the quest to discover the true nature of the most puzzling of these gamma-ray sources. Several turn out to be a kind of star corpse called a ‘black widow’ pulsar. When a massive star dies, it leaves a collapsed remnant called a neutron star. When such a star corpse has a companion star, it can be reanimated by material from the companion. Ironically, the revived corpse then begins to vaporize its mate. Dr. Romani will discuss his group’s discovery that these black widows may be the heaviest neutron stars known, on the edge of final collapse to black holes.

Roger Romani is professor of physics and member of the Kavli Institute at Stanford University. His research focuses on neutron stars and black holes. He enjoys finding new, strange phenomena in the sky and then building theoretical models to explain them. Past recognition for his work include Sloan Foundation and Cottrell Scholars fellowships and the Rossi Prize of the American Astronomical Society.

Please note, this talk starts at 7:30 pm, not 7 pm as originally published.

Disclaimer: Please double check event information with the event organizer as events can be canceled, details can change after they are added to our calendar, and errors do occur.