Martin Wood Complex, Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3PU
Dimitra Rigopoulou
Department of Physics, University of Oxford
(POSTPONED)
This event is in person.
The night sky, full of wonder and mystery, has always enticed the human mind. From ancient times to today, it has been at the heart of human's quest for understanding our Cosmos.
The light we receive from celestial bodies, like our Sun, stars in our own Galaxy and, galaxies near and far, contains significant information about the way in which these structures were formed and the way they have evolved.
Using powerful telescopes on Earth and in space, astronomers are eagerly looking for hints of how the Universe came into existence. By studying the light from stars and galaxies, astronomers can piece together the giant puzzle of the evolution of our Universe over cosmic time.
In this talk we will embark on a fantastic journey through space. Using images from big telescopes and remote satellites we will follow humankind's quest to understand the history and structure of the Cosmos, looking at some of the greatest successes and highlighting the exciting discoveries that lie ahead: this is a story told through photons, travelling in space....
Dimitra Rigopoulou is Professor of Astrophysics at Oxford, Senior Nicholas Kurti Fellow at Brasenose College and Hasselblad Professor at Chalmers Institute of Technology in Sweden. Prior to her arrival at Oxford she was at the Max-Planck Institute for Extraterrestial Physics in Garching, Germany, in the group of Nobel Laureate Prof. Reinhard Genzel.
Her research activity focuses on understanding the co-evolution of stars and black holes in galaxies. She has a long- term interest in the study of Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxies which are amongst the most luminous objects in our Universe and serve as a testbed for understanding galaxy formation and evolution.
Professor Rigopoulou has a keen interest in astronomical instrumentation and has been involved in the design of many ESA and NASA past and upcoming space missions. She is also involved in the development of HARMONI, one of the first light instruments for the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) in Chile.