September 27, 2005 Source: University of Toronto:
http://www.news.utoronto.ca/bin6/050927-1664.asp Exploding stars shine light on structure of matter: lecture Renowned astronomist David Helfand explains what neutron stars tell us about the nature of matter
Sep 27/05
by Karen Kelly (about) (email) Renowned astronomy professor David Helfand will explain how the strange corpses of exploded massive stars could shed light on the tiniest particles of matter during the public lecture series Cosmic Frontiers: Celebrating a Century of Astronomy at the University of Toronto on Friday, Sept. 30 at 7 p.m. in Convocation Hall, 31 King's College Circle.
Helfand's lecture, Way Too Cool: Tales of Stellar Corpses, begins with the events of one night in 1181 when Chinese astrologers witnessed a shockingly brilliant new star and recorded it as an "ill-omen." Modern astronomers say it was a star in its death throes - 10,000 light years away - and the leftover stellar cinder could hold the key to understanding matter at its smallest scale. Helfand, cited as one of Columbia University's great teachers, has been the university's chair of astronomy and astrophysics for 12 years. He has worked in a variety of topics from radio surveys of the universe to X-ray observations of everything from nearby stars to distant quasars. This lecture series is presented by the University of Toronto Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics in partnership with the Ontario Science Centre and the Astronomy and Space Exploration Society. For more information, please visit www.astro.utoronto.ca. A limited number of free tickets will be available at the door.
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