Public Astronomy Talk by Professor Mike Bode talk

 

A visiting lecture from University of Liverpool in United Kingdom Professor Mike Bode gave an insightful presentation on the topic ‘Stars that Go Bang in the Night’ at University of Botswana Health Science Auditorium on February 22, 2018.

His talk captured among others scale and content of the universe such as observing new stars, Novae, Super Novae and Gamma Ray Bursts, future prospects in Botswana. He also touched on sophisticated observatory projects which will be part of major International projects to be placed in Botswana (Square Kilometer Array) and the newly formation of the Botswana Astronomy Society.

He set us off on a journey to the expanding universe. He described the main types of exploding stars and looked at some of the history of their observation, stretching back to over 2000 years. He also touched on an overview of the Solar system and the relative size, distance and volume of the Earth, Moon, the sun, Jupiter and the Pleiades (seven sisters) cluster of stars.

He further talked on the scale of our Milky Way, it being dwarf compared to other systems. He then took us to explore how such stars are thought to explode and why their study is so important. He explained what happens when stars explode, most energetic examples being the most titanic explosions since the Big Bang.

 He talked on Modern-ground based observatories to observe events in space, Supernovae which are much rarer than classical novae. He also talked about How Gamma Ray Bursters (GRB’s) were discovered in 1960 but kept a secret until 1973 – were shown they were outside the solar system.

 During the question time he answered questions from the wide audience, mostly youthful minds and gave details on how useful astronomy is to our day to day life and the powerful black holes that could transport us to a whole different world.

Discussing on the future prospects in Botswana, he shared about the Square Kilometre Array -  the world’s largest ever ground-based astronomy project, and one in which Botswana is destined to make valuable contribution. He also mentioned that amateur astronomers using their telescopes in their backyards still make a valuable contribution to our understanding of astronomy.

In closing he made an announcement for the newly formed Botswana Astronomy Society meeting to be held at Maru-a-pula school, AV Centre, Thursday 1 March.