University of Cambridge Research Scientist to Present How to Build a Supernova March 25

MELBOURNE, FLA.—Ben Davies, Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, will present “How to Build a Supernova” on March 25. Part of the Astronomy and Astrophysics Public Lecture Series, the free presentation will be held on campus from 8 to 9 p.m. in the F.W. Olin Engineering Complex, Room EC118. Weather permitting, rooftop public star viewing will follow.

A star, which has a mass greater than 10 times that of the sun, will produce a supernova explosion when it reaches the end of its life. In his presentation, Davies will describe all stages in the lives of these stars: their birth in dense interstellar clouds, their lives in stellar clusters, the violent death throes that characterize the last few years of their lives and the final catastrophic explosion as the star runs out of fuel.

Davies received his bachelor’s and doctorate degrees from the University of Leeds before becoming a post-doctoral researcher at Rochester Institute of Technology. He currently holds a Royal Astronomical Society Fellowship at the Institute of Astronomy. He is also working on a novel method for mapping the star-forming history of galaxies.

The F.W. Olin Engineering Complex is located on West University Boulevard. For more information, call (321) 674-7207or visitwww.fit.edu/aapls.