Monthly Meeting July
2022-07-11 18:00 - 19:00 (Pacific/Auckland) | AUT WG403, 55 Wellesley Street East, Auckland, 1010, New Zealand
Dr Steve Goldman
Observatory Scientist, SOFIA/USRA
Monday 11 July, 6.00 pm
WG403, Sir Paul Reeves Building, AUT City Campus
Abstract
Where did the material that makes us up come from? It boils down to understanding how stars affect their surroundings, and vice-versa. We think that a lot of Earth’s Carbon and Oxygen originally formed during the final stages of ancient sun-sized stars called Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars, but exactly how much remains unclear. These stars pass this material on to the Universe in the form of dust. The dust in the interstellar medium is then pulled together by its own gravity to create stars and planets like the Sun and Earth. Understanding the origin of dust may allow us to better-understand the formation of our Solar System, and how Earth-like planets may form across the Universe. During this talk, I will discuss recent results targeting dusty evolved stars in nearby galaxies with the Spitzer and Hubble Space Telescopes, as well as the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA). I will also discuss the status and recent achievements of SOFIA, currently on deployment in New Zealand.
Bio
Dr Steve Goldman did his PhD at Keele University (Staffordshire UK), followed by a Postdoc position at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STSI, Baltimore, MD USA). Currently, Steve works as a SOFIA Observatory Scientist at the NASA Universities Space Research Association (USRA, Mountain View, CA US).
