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Gresham College
Astronomy Lectures by Professor Carolin Crawford
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1
Saturn, its Rings and Moons - Professor Carolin Crawford
by GreshamCollege 6,089 views
Saturn is the most beautiful planet in our Solar System. Famous for its bright yet ethereal rings, the gas giant has over sixty natural satellites in orbit around it -- and one artificial satellite: NASA's Cassini spacecraft, which provides many of the results and images that will be showcased in this talk. We shall explore the weather observed in the atmosphere of Saturn, the curious structures that develop within the rings, and its wide variety of moons -- from smog-shrouded Titan, two-sided Iapetus, to busy Prometheus, and the icy plumes erupting from frozen Enceladus.
The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/a-voyage-round-saturn-its-rings-and-moons
Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk -
2
The Sounds of the Universe - Professor Carolin Crawford
by GreshamCollege 13,242 views
In space no-one can hear you scream... but it is still a noisy Universe. We are familiar with the many stunning images of space, but these are only part of the whole human experience. This lecture takes a new approach to appreciating the Universe, through the vehicle of sound. Once we understand how sound is propagated, we can look at the how and where it can exist in space. We examine how sound can be a diagnostic of cosmic phenomena (such as the song of the Sun and distant stars), the way it can carry energy across vast volumes of space (away from a black hole humming in B♭), how it can be a useful way to illustrate processes in astronomy (such as the rapid spin of pulsars, and other more local radio emissions) and how it is ultimately responsible for the growth of all structure we see today in the cosmos.
The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/the-sounds-of-the-universe
Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk -
3
Rotation in Space - Professor Carolin Crawford
by GreshamCollege 28,892 views
Rotation is a fundamental physical process throughout the Universe. So much is spinning, from planets and stars revolving on their axes, to whole spiral galaxies rotating around their centre. We shall start by looking at the fundamentals of rotational motion, including the concept of angular momentum. This then will be extended to show what observations of rotation can tell us about how planetary systems form and develop, how neutron stars evolve with time, and how rotational motion provides crucial evidence for the presence and distribution of the elusive dark matter.
The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/rotation-in-space
Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk -
4
Clusters Of Galaxies - Professor Caroline Crawford
by GreshamCollege 11,766 views
Clusters of galaxies are the largest organised structures in the Universe that appear gravitationally bound, containing thousands of galaxies all confined to a volume of space only tens of millions of light years across. They are laboratories for extreme galaxy evolution, as many of the processes that can change the structure of galaxies are accelerated in such a crowded environment. Clusters of galaxies also provide important constraints for cosmology: from both the way they are grouped into superclusters that trace the 'large scale structure' of Universe; and the fact that their internal properties lead to powerful confirmation for the need for dark energy.
The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/clusters-of-galaxies
Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk -
5
Large Telescopes And Why We Need Them - Professor Carolin Crawford
by GreshamCollege 7,595 views
Beyond the Solar System, all astronomers have to work with is the light that falls to the Earth from distant cosmic objects. Newer, larger telescopes are always needed to boost scientific progress, and the next generation of facilities - whether the 42m diameter optical-infrared Extremely Large Telescope, or the Square Kilometre Array of radio dishes - will represent a huge advance. We shall look at the science driving the need for such large telescopes, through history and to the present-day and beyond. Many scientific and engineering challenges are involved in the design and construction of the largest telescopes and their mirrors, and technological developments will be essential to their success.
The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/large-telescopes-and-why-we-need-them
Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk -
6
Star Dust - Professor Carolin Crawford
by GreshamCollege 2,856 views
Interstellar space is not truly a vacuum devoid of matter. Mixed into vast diffuse clouds of atomic gas are minute grains of silicate and carbonate materials known as 'dust', alongside complex molecules deep in the cold hearts of nebulae. We shall look at how we can detect and observe this tenuous material, through the processes by which dust scatters and absorbs visible light, and emits its own infrared glow. This interstellar matter is of fundamental importance to us all, as it is the reservoir from which all planets form... and any lifeforms living on those planets.
The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/star-dust
Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk -
7
Our nearest neighbour, the Moon - Professor Carolin Crawford
by GreshamCollege 1,551 views
Our only natural satellite has been an object of fascination for humankind since prehistory. Despite being the only other place in the Solar System we have visited in person, we are still making startling discoveries about the Moon - and what it reveals about our planet.
The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/our-nearest-neighbour-the-moon
Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There is currently nearly 1,500 lectures free to access or download from the website.
Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gresham-College/14011689941 -
8
X-ray Astrophysics: The High Energy Cosmos - Professor Carolin Crawford
by GreshamCollege 5,438 views
X-radiation is only emitted by the hottest and most energetic parts of the Universe - sites of gigantic explosions, plasma heated to millions of degrees, and where there are intense magnetic or gravitational fields.
The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/x-ray-astrophysics-the-high-energy-cosmos
Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There is currently nearly 1,500 lectures free to access or download from the website.
Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gresham-College/14011689941 -
9
Atmospheric Phenomena - Professor Carolin Crawford
by GreshamCollege 1,787 views
When light from the Sun and the Moon enters our atmosphere, it is sometimes reflected, refracted and dispersed by tiny ice crystals, water droplets and dust to produce a whole host of fantastic atmospheric visions. Some are even more common than you realise...
The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/atmospheric-phenomena
Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently nearly 1,500 lectures free to access or download from the website.
Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gresham-College/14011689941 -
10
The Age of the Universe - Professor Carolin Crawford
by GreshamCollege 3,835 views
Detailed observations of galaxies, clusters, and the fine structures in the cosmic microwave background have refined the age of the Universe to 13.75 billion years. But they have also revealed the unexpected presence of dark energy, causing a huge paradigm shift in modern cosmology.
The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/the-age-of-the-universe
Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently nearly 1,500 lectures free to access or download from the website.
Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gresham-College/14011689941 -
11
Exoplanets and how to find them - Professor Carolin Crawford
by GreshamCollege 2,426 views
Each week new observations add to the tally of 'hot-Jupiters' and 'super-Earths' found in orbit around nearby stars. Other planetary systems appear commonplace in our Milky Way, but how closely do they resemble our own Solar System, and what are the implications for life elsewhere?
The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/exoplanets-and-how-to-find-them
Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently nearly 1,500 lectures free to access or download from the website.
Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gresham-College/14011689941 -
12
When Galaxies Collide... - Professor Carolin Crawford
by GreshamCollege 1,842 views
There is a whole Universe of different shapes, sizes and colours of galaxies. We shall look at some of the 'ordinary' galaxies and then move on to consider the more peculiar systems, discussing quite how and why they came to morph into such strange shapes.
The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/when-galaxies-collide
Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently nearly 1,500 lectures free to access or download from the website.
Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gresham-College/14011689941
