RASCTO Speaker's Night: Stellar Siblings: Binary Stars and Star Clusters in the Milky Way and Beyond [Online Only]
Speaker: Claude Cournoyer-Cloutier, PhD Candidate in Astrophysics, McMaster University
Abstract: Most stars are born alongside other stars. More than half of all stars in the Milky Way form as part of a binary star system, which means that they are bound by gravity to another star, and orbit a shared centre of mass. Most stars also form in close proximity to hundreds to millions of other stars, in structures called star clusters. The formation of a binary star in a star cluster is therefore the most common result of the star formation process. In this talk, I present an overview of binary stars and star clusters observed in our Galaxy, based on recent observations and computer simulations. I will highlight how binaries influence the star clusters in which they are formed, and how those star clusters influence the binaries that reside within them.
Who can attend: Everyone
Fee: Free
Registration: Not required
Organized by: RASC, Toronto Centre and York University