Star Dust
Interstellar space is not truly a vacuum devoid of matter. Mixed into vast diffuse clouds of atomic gas are minute grains of silicate and carbonate materials known as 'dust', alongside complex molecules deep in the cold hearts of nebulae. We shall look at how we can detect and observe this tenuous material, through the processes by which dust scatters and absorbs visible light, and emits its own infrared glow.
This interstellar matter is of fundamental importance to us all, as it is the reservoir from which all planets form... and any lifeforms living on those planets.
Carolin Susan Crawford is a British communicator of science, astrophysicist researcher, lecturer and academic based at the Institute of Astronomy and Emmanuel College, Cambridge.
(from gresham.ac.uk)
| Star Dust |
| Related Links |
| Wonders of the Universe This is a BBC documentary series presented by Professor Brian Cox, revealing how the most fundamental scientific principles and laws explain not only the story of the universe, but the story of us all. |
| The Cosmos: A Beginner's Guide This is a BBC documentary series presented by Adam Hart-Davis, offering an introductory look at the world beyond us. |
| How did the First Stars and Galaxies Form? Before we get all the way back to the Big Bang, there may have been a time when stars like our Sun and galaxies like our Milky Way did not exist, because the Universe was denser than it is now. |
| The Lives of Stars (Carolin Crawford) This lecture looks at the lifecycles of different kinds of stars, and in particular, what they reveal about our own origins. |
| The Lives of Stars (Carl Sagan) The simple act of making an apple pie is extrapolated into the atoms and subatomic particles (electrons, protons, and neutrons) necessary. Many of the ingredients necessary are formed of chemical elements formed in the life and deaths of stars (such as our own Sun). |
| Cosmology During this course, you'll have the opportunity to study the cosmos from the modern perspective - what we know and what we're not sure about. |