Speaker's Night: New eyes on our origins: the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array

With 66 radio dishes operating as a single telescope located 5 km above sea level on the Chajnantor plateau in northern Chile, the ALMA observatory was designed to probe fundamental questions about our universe, from the formation of galaxies to planets. Dr. Friesen will talk about why we built ALMA, how it works, and describe some of ALMA's exciting new discoveries.

Rachel Friesen studies the earliest stages of star formation by observing the cold, dense molecular clouds from which stars arise. She examines the light emitted by molecules within these regions to gain an understanding of the composition, structure, temperature and internal motions of these stellar nurseries—and thus gain a better understanding of the birth of stars and planetary systems.

Because this light is found at radio wavelengths, Friesen makes her observations using radio telescopes facilities like the Very Large Array, the Australia Telescope Compact Array, and the Atacama Large Millimeter Array. She also makes use of observations from space telescopes such as the Spitzer Space Telescope and the Herschel Space Observatory.

Friesen received her PhD from the University of Victoria, and joined the Dunlap Institute in August, 2012, from the North American ALMA Science Center at the NRAO in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Talk starts at 7:30pm, socializing starts at 7:00pm.

Who can attend: Everyone including non-members
Fee: Free
Reservation not needed
Location: Ontario Science Centre (follow the signs to the RASC meeting)