21/04/2023 – 7:30pm – Speaker Peter Grimley.
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The Universe evolves over very long timescales — billions of years — so it’s tempting to think that it is a rather gentle place. But it is also host to some violence goings-on, events that release vast amounts of energy over very short timescales — years, months, or even minutes. In this talk I will look at how we detect these high-energy phenomena and outline some of the Universe’s most exotic participants, from the kilonovae that made my wedding ring to the supermassive black holes that dominate entire galaxies.
Dr. Peter Grimley studied astrophysics at the University of Leicester and radio astronomy at Jodrell Bank, and completed his PhD, on elliptical galaxies, at University College, Cardiff. He held research positions at University College Dublin and the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, and taught physics and astronomy at St Patrick's College, Maynooth. There followed a longish stint as a Civil Servant, after which he returned to the world of astronomy, working in public outreach and communication. He has worked in the European Southern Observatory (ESO) and the School of Physics and Astronomy at Queen Mary University of London, and taught an introductory course in astronomy at the City of Westminster College. He is now an editorial consultant working with the communication teams at ESO, the US National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory, the International Astronomical Union, and the European Space Agency. Peter is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Sociey (RAS) and organises talks and events for the Friends of the RAS (ras.ac.uk/friends).