July 12, 2019 8-10PM

Event Type: Lecture and Stargazing
Title: The Dynamic Radio Sky
Lecturer: Dillon Dong
Position: Graduate Student
Institution:Caltech
Abstract:
High in the plains of New Mexico, 27 of the world’s most accomplished radio dishes are observing day and night, working on one of their most ambitious projects yet. By the end of this July, they will have imaged the entire northern sky, detecting nearly 2 million astronomical radio sources. Many of these sources are fixtures in the sky, changing slowly over millions of years. But some of them are temporary and brilliant flashes: black holes launching new jets at close to the speed of light, supernova remnants plowing through dense shells of gas, and bursts of light only detectable as radio waves. What other explosions might be hiding out there, and how can we identify them? Let’s find out!