Special Astronomy & Astrophysics Seminar: Chasing Explosive Transients

Abstract:

The recent discovery of gravitational waves by Advanced LIGO and Virgo has vindicated a century-old prediction of general relativity and opened a new window into the Universe.  My group is actively involved in the ground-based followup of Gamma-ray bursts and a variety of other transients as well.  I'll discuss our efforts underway in Arizona to chase these explosions using various small, robotic telescopes that are able to coordinate to enable larger aperture (narrow field) followup.  I'll present some recent results and discuss the range of facilities we have access to.

Seminar Organizer: Prof. Sara Beck