McMaster: New eyes on the cold universe: the Atacama Large Millimeter Array
Prof. Christine Wilson, Department of Physics and Astronomy, McMaster University
The Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) is a new and powerful radio telescope that has recently completed construction on a high plateau in northern Chile.
The first science results from ALMA include a stunning array of images of astronomical sources ranging from very young stars that are still in the process of forming to galaxies at the limits of the visible universe.
Professor Christine Wilson has been involved with ALMA in a variety of roles throughout its design and construction and will give an overview of the telescope itself as well as some of its most exciting science.
Christine Wilson is a Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at McMaster University and the Canadian Project Scientist for the Atacama Large Millimeter Array. The discoverer of Comet Wilson while still a graduate student, she is best known internationally for her work on star formation in nearby galaxies. She received her PhD from Caltech in 1990, a Women's Faculty Award from the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council in 1992, and a Premier's Research Excellence Award from the Ontario government in 1999. She has spent a sabbatical year based in Hilo, Hawaii, at the Smithsonian Observatory, where she led a major research project on the fuel for star formation in galaxies undergoing intense bursts of star formation. From 1999-2014 she was the Canadian Project Scientist for the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA), which was recommended as the highest priority for Canadian participation in a major, new, ground-based observatory in the report of the Long Range Planning Panel, "The Origins of Structure in the Universe." ALMA began Early Science observations in September 2011.Wilson is also an Associate Scientist with the SPIRE instrument for the Herschel Space Observatory, which operated from 2009 to 2013. In 2013 Professor Wilson was inducted into the Royal Society of Canada as a Fellow of the Academy of Science. In 2015, Professor Wilson was named a McMaster Distinguished University Professor. She is currently the President of the Canadian Astronomical Society.
Doors open at 6:30 pm
Who can attend: Everyone
Fee: Free
Reservations: Send an email to researchcity@mcmaster.ca or phone 905-525-9140 ext. 24934
Organized by: Research @ McMaster
Location: McMaster Innovation Park, 175 Longwood Road South in the Atrium@MIP (First Floor Conference Room)