In his lecture Dr. Espey will talk about the effects that the strong winds within our Universe have on our planets. Stars with
masses similar to our own Sun pass through an evolutionary red giant stage towards the end of their lives releasing a
significant quantity of processed gas in the form of a stellar wind.
Despite the importance of this process in the evolution of stars, and the next generations of stars, planets, and life, very
little is known of the details of this cosmic wind. Within the talk Dr. Espey will present results of his extensive research
detailing the process he uses - a combination of space and ground based data - as well as theoretical modelling.
Information and images from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) where also
studied in Dr. Espey's quest to learn more about the process of these fascinating stellar winds.
The Speaker - Dr. Brian Espey
Dr. Brian Espey is a physics and astrophysics lecturer in Trinity College Dublin (TCD), as well as a research associate with the
School of Cosmic Physics, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS).
Before obtaining his degree in physics at TCD, Dr. Espey worked at the renowned Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire.
After a two year spell there, he then went on to receive a PhD in Astronomy from the Cambridge University, and obtained a Royal
Society European Science Exchange position for postdoctoral work at Leiden University, The Netherlands.
Soon after leaving The Netherlands Dr. Espey moved to the US. There he worked on a HST project, and the Hopkins Ultraviolet
Telescope (HUT) project at The Johns Hopkins University.
Before returning to Ireland, Brian worked as an Assistant Astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute, in a role as
Instrument Scientist with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS).
Fascinating Facts about Red Giants
A Red Giant is a low to medium mass star which is close to the end of its life.
When a star ages to become a Red Giant it can expand to over 200 times it's previous size.
Throughout most of its life a star will have fused hydrogen to make helium deep within its core. As a Red Giant it has used
most of its hydrogen and is now fusing the helium to make heavier elements like carbon.
In about five billion years our Sun will become a Red Giant.
When this happens it will expand out to Earth's orbit, engulfing out planet.
The Sun will be 10 billion years old before it becomes a Red Giant, yet it will only spend a few million years in this stage.
Almost all of the elements in the universe heavier than helium were made in Red Giant stars, including the elements that make up Earth and everyone on it.
At the end of its life a Red Giant will shed most of its outer atmosphere creating a Planetary Nebula.
Booking Information
Date
Monday 10th May
Time
8pm
Venue
Basement, SNIAM Building, Trinity College Dublin.
Access can be gained via the Westland Row or Lincoln Place entrances.
Click HERE for a building map of Trinity College campus
Click HERE for Directions. Click HERE for Map of area
Admission
€7 (€5 Astronomy Ireland members and concessions)
Places MUST be booked in advance
After the lecture there will be a social reception in The Lombard
and we encourage all of you to come along and have a chat with Dr. Espey.
All are welcome to attend and food will be kindly provided by The Lombard.
Acknowledgment:
Astronomy Ireland would like to thank the TCD
Astrophysics Research Group for hosting AI public lectures in Trinity
College Dublin.
