Dr. Maria Drout, University of Toronto
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Abstract: An improved understanding of the lifecycle of massive stars benefits every subfield in astrophysics. Through their ionizing radiation, powerful stellar winds, nucleosynthesis, and deaths as supernova (SN) explosions, massive stars give birth to black holes and neutron stars, while stoking the dynamical and chemical evolution of the universe. Although the study of massive stars is one of the oldest subfields in astronomy, the recent advent of wide-field timedomain surveys has launched an upheaval in field of stellar evolution. In this talk I will highlight on-going efforts to constrain the evolution, influence, and ultimate fate of massive stars, using observations of both transient phenomena and resolved massive star populations in local group galaxies. Within this context I will also briefly discuss several implications for the prospects of additional electromagnetic counterparts to neutron star mergers during the on-going LIGO/Virgo Observing Run 3.
If you would like to meet with Maria, please email me directly. She has available times on Thursday, October 31st at 10:30-11:00AM and 1:30-3:00 PM and on Friday, November 1st at 11:00 AM-12:00 PM and 1:00-4:00 PM. Graduate students will meet with the colloquium speaker for lunch at 12:00 PM in room 450. If you wish to join the speaker for dinner, please contact: Nathan Smith at (nathansmith@email.arizona.edu or nathans@as.arizona.edu). Colloquium dinner will take place on Friday, November 1st, instead of October 31st.