Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation and its Role in Cosmology
In the first half of the 20th century other galaxies were recognized, their red shift measured and theories of the whole universe were developed. They included Big Bang and Steady State. Arno Penzias and I found the Cosmic Microwave Radiation (CMB) i....
More details | Watch nowElectronic Spectroscopy and Franck Condon Factors
Electronic spectroscopy and Franck Condon factors. The discovery of the spectrum of H3+ in the laboratory and in the atmosphere of Jupiter. Interstellar chemistry: Ion molecule reactions in space, grain surface catalysed processes and reactions in ci....
More details | Watch nowGamma Ray Bursts: Windows on the Universe
Gamma-Ray Bursts are the most powerful explosions in the universe. They happen about once per day in the visible universe. Their fantastic engines pump out as much energy in a matter of seconds as all the stars in a galaxy do in a billion years. This....
More details | Watch nowOptical (Electronic) Spectra From Space
Optical (electronic) spectra from space: comets. The detection of the pulsar in the Crab Nebula. The Three Degree Background. The detection by spectroscopy of the birth of stars.
More details | Watch nowRadio Astronomy – Resolution Issues
Radio astronomy - resolution issues. The detection of long carbon chain molecules by radio astronomy. The conjectures on the origin of the chains in space and their possible relationship with the Diffuse Interstellar Bands that initiated the experime....
More details | Watch nowSeeing the invisible: observing the dark side of the universe
It seems that most of the universe is made up of mysterious ingredients which we cannot see directly. Dr Bridle describes in pictures 'gravitational lensing', the bending of light by gravity, which is predicted by Einstein's General Relativity. Dr Br....
More details | Watch nowStones from the sky: A heaven-sent opportunity to talk about science
Meteorites provide us with laboratory samples from distant bodies including asteroids, comets, the moon, Mars and even ancient stars. Witnesses to the extraordinary event when one is seen to fall from the sky, or anyone finding a sample on the ground....
More details | Watch nowThe Beginning and Development of the Universe
By careful investigation of relic left on the cosmic scene we have very good evidence and constraints on what has occurred since the beginning of the Universe. This talk reviews the evidence including images and information from the very first light....
More details | Watch nowThe dark side of the universe
The emergence of cosmic structure is an outcome that has been studied by peering back through the mists of time to the remote depths of the universe as well as by deciphering the fossil structure of nearby galaxies. One of the greatest mysteries in t....
More details | Watch nowThe Development of Molecular Radio Astronomy and IR Techniques
The development of molecular radio astronomy and infra red techniques and the information they yield on the composition of the interstellar medium: interstellar clouds, stellar envelopes etc.
More details | Watch nowThe Impact of Big Science on Astrophysics
The Chandra and Hubble Telescopes are in space and each costs (through operations) several billion dollars. VLT is on the ground but over 20 years of operations will also cost in excess of a billion. They all fall therefore in the category of what ....
More details | Watch nowThe Large Hadron Collider and the Super World
In the period 1990 to 2001 many powerful new astronomical observational facilities have become operational. Hubble Space telescope was launched in 1990; it was followed by the construction of Keck I in 1992 and Keck II in 1996, by the completion of....
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