Thursday, November 13th from 7-8:30 pm in McLane Hall 121 (Funded by Associated Students)

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Harlow Shapley Lecture
Dr. William C. Straka Lockheed Palo Alto Research
Lab -- Harlow Shapley Lecturer
Supernovae-Cosmic Explosions in the Human Mind
Abstract Supernovae appear in the sky as bright
"new stars that last for a short time. First
recorded in ancient times by primitive peoples,
such as the rock art of the Southwestern US, and
in the writings of ancient civilizations, their
appearance challenged the idea of the "unchanging
heavens." In more recent times, studies by
astronomers have found that the influence on our
planet and the life on it goes far beyond the
brief appearance of a bright object in the sky.
Thedeep interiors of stars generate the chemical
elements heavier than the simplest element,
hydrogen. As stars exhaust their nuclear fuels,
some of them undergo a huge explosion, seen as
the outburst of the supernova. In this explosion,
the newly generated elements from the interior of
the dying star are thrown into the gas and dust
clouds of our galaxy, along with even heavier
elements generated during the outburst itself.
Gamma rays and X-rays are produced in the
outburst, spreading through the galaxy. It is
thought that these outbursts of radiation may be
responsible for some of the extinctions of life
forms on the Earth seen in the geologic record.
The shock wave of the explosion mixes this
enriched material into the existing dust and
gasclouds, and compresses those clouds as well,
triggering the formation of the next generation
of stars and planets.
Thursday, November 13th from 7-830 pm in McLane
Hall 121 (Funded by Associated Students)