RASC Mississauga: New eyes on our origins: the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array

Speaker: Dr Rachel Friesen, David Dunlap Institute

"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. I will talk about why we built ALMA, how it works, and describe some of my own work with ALMA studying the earliest stages of star formation."

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.

The meeting is open to the public and is free.

William Davis Building, Lecture Hall SE2082
University of Toronto Mississauga
3359 Mississauga Road
Mississauga

Enter off of Mississauga Road. Park in lot 4 or the parkade, across from the fitness centre south of the Davis Building. Enter through the Fitness centre, walk up the stairs until you reach the main corridor then turn right. (If you need an elevator, follow the corridor to the right of the stairs, then go up to the main floor.) Look for the Mississauga Centre sign in front of the lecture room.

http://earthshineastronomy.ca/events/2014/10/8/rasc-mississauga-centre-meeting-november-28