Spring Break
Astronomer to explain 'stars that go bump in the night'
Mathieu will introduce stellar dynamics, evolution during lecture
Staff Report
Issue date: 4/22/09 Section: News
A visiting astronomer will explain what happens when stars collide as part of Eastern's celebration of the International Year of Astronomy.
Robert Mathieu, professor and chair of the department of astronomy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, will speak about "Stars That Go Bump in the Night!" at 7 p.m. today in the Phipps Lecture Hall of the Physical Science Building.
"We are fortunate, indeed, to have a scientist of Dr. Mathieu's stature speaking at EIU," said James Conwell, an Eastern physics professor who is organizing campus events for the International Year of Astronomy. "The topic of colliding and merging stars and the exotic objects that come forth should fascinate people of all ages."
The lecture is free and open to the public.
"The distances between the stars are vast, and until recently, collisions between stars seemed highly unlikely," Mathieu said. "Now, we think they happen quite frequently, particularly when binary stars encounter each other within clusters of stars, and create stars that as yet are unexplained by standard stellar physics.
"These events bring together two classical fields of astronomy, stellar dynamics and stellar evolution. I will introduce the audience to the basics of both, and then embark on a journey into the wonderful worlds of star clusters and stellar collisions."
The event is the latest in the yearlong celebration of the International Year of Astronomy, a worldwide commemoration of many historic astronomical achievements, including the 400th anniversary of Galileo's first look through a telescope and the 40th anniversary of man's first steps on the moon.
Mathieu has served as president of the Board of Directors of the WIYN Observatory, and now chairs the University Committee of UW-Madison.
His research involves the formation and evolution of binary stars and the dynamics of star clusters.
He is also the principal investigator of an National Science Foundation project to upgrade the Student Assessment of Learning Gains instrument into a robust online tool suitable for evaluation use by individual instructors, entire departments, and developers of new teaching and learning approaches.
Robert Mathieu, professor and chair of the department of astronomy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, will speak about "Stars That Go Bump in the Night!" at 7 p.m. today in the Phipps Lecture Hall of the Physical Science Building.
"We are fortunate, indeed, to have a scientist of Dr. Mathieu's stature speaking at EIU," said James Conwell, an Eastern physics professor who is organizing campus events for the International Year of Astronomy. "The topic of colliding and merging stars and the exotic objects that come forth should fascinate people of all ages."
The lecture is free and open to the public.
"The distances between the stars are vast, and until recently, collisions between stars seemed highly unlikely," Mathieu said. "Now, we think they happen quite frequently, particularly when binary stars encounter each other within clusters of stars, and create stars that as yet are unexplained by standard stellar physics.
"These events bring together two classical fields of astronomy, stellar dynamics and stellar evolution. I will introduce the audience to the basics of both, and then embark on a journey into the wonderful worlds of star clusters and stellar collisions."
The event is the latest in the yearlong celebration of the International Year of Astronomy, a worldwide commemoration of many historic astronomical achievements, including the 400th anniversary of Galileo's first look through a telescope and the 40th anniversary of man's first steps on the moon.
Mathieu has served as president of the Board of Directors of the WIYN Observatory, and now chairs the University Committee of UW-Madison.
His research involves the formation and evolution of binary stars and the dynamics of star clusters.
He is also the principal investigator of an National Science Foundation project to upgrade the Student Assessment of Learning Gains instrument into a robust online tool suitable for evaluation use by individual instructors, entire departments, and developers of new teaching and learning approaches.
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