The History and Mystery Series - 2026
Location
Online event access details will be provided by the event organiser
About
We, the ASA ECR Chapter (https://asa-ecr.org), are excited to launch a new online talk series called 'The History and Mystery Series.' This series aims to explore aspects of astronomy that are often overlooked in conventional scientific talks, such as social, political, geographical, and historical perspectives.
These talks are open to everyone!
For this year, we have three talks scheduled:
* Speaker: Andrew Hopkins (Macquarie University)
Date and time: 10th Sept 2026, 1 PM AEST / 11 AM AWST
The History and Mystery of the stellar Initial Mass Function
These talks are open to everyone!
For this year, we have three talks scheduled:
* Speaker: Andrew Hopkins (Macquarie University)
Date and time: 10th Sept 2026, 1 PM AEST / 11 AM AWST
The History and Mystery of the stellar Initial Mass Function
Abstract: The birth of stars and the formation of galaxies are cornerstones of modern astrophysics. While much is known about how galaxies globally and their stars individually form and evolve, one fundamental property that affects both remains elusive. This is problematic because this key property, the birth mass distribution of stars, referred to as the stellar initial mass function (IMF), is a key tracer of the physics of star formation that underpins almost all of the unknowns in galaxy and stellar evolution. It is perhaps the greatest source of systematic uncertainty in star and galaxy evolution. I will trace the history of measurements of the stellar IMF spanning the past seven decades, showing how the discussion has evolved, with a flavour for some of the personalities and conflicts along the way. I will introduce how arguments for the case that the IMF varies has slowly made an impact over the past two decades, and present some of the recent work and potential future directions for the field.
* Speaker: Nick Seymour (CIRA)
* Speaker: Nick Seymour (CIRA)
Date and time: 5th Nov 2026, 1 PM AEDT / 10 AM AWST
What Powers Active Galactic Nuclei (Wrong Answers Only)?
Abstract: Over the decades active galactic nuclei (AGN) have moved from being esoteric objects to being a fundamental part of galaxy evolution via feedback processes. There is now (almost) universal consensus that AGN are powered by accretion onto supermassive black holes. However, this was not the first explanation and even after it was first proposed in the mid-1960's, the idea took decades to become firmly accepted. In this talk I will review some of the early ideas put forth to explain the origin of the power produced by quasi-stellar objects. These include exotic supernovae, stellar collisions, massive super-stars as well as stranger ideas. I will then look to see if we can learn anything from these ideas.
* Speaker: Michelle Cluver (Swinburne University)
Date and time: 19th Nov 2025, 1 PM AEDT / 10 AM AWST / 02:00 UTC
What Powers Active Galactic Nuclei (Wrong Answers Only)?
Abstract: Over the decades active galactic nuclei (AGN) have moved from being esoteric objects to being a fundamental part of galaxy evolution via feedback processes. There is now (almost) universal consensus that AGN are powered by accretion onto supermassive black holes. However, this was not the first explanation and even after it was first proposed in the mid-1960's, the idea took decades to become firmly accepted. In this talk I will review some of the early ideas put forth to explain the origin of the power produced by quasi-stellar objects. These include exotic supernovae, stellar collisions, massive super-stars as well as stranger ideas. I will then look to see if we can learn anything from these ideas.
* Speaker: Michelle Cluver (Swinburne University)
Date and time: 19th Nov 2025, 1 PM AEDT / 10 AM AWST / 02:00 UTC
The History and Mystery of Dust: Half the Light, None of the Credit
Abstract: Dust makes up only about one percent of the interstellar medium by mass, yet it has absorbed and re-radiated roughly half of all the starlight ever emitted. It plays a central role in ISM physics: it catalyses the formation of molecular hydrogen, depletes metals from the gas phase, and regulates the heating and cooling of astrophysical gas. But for all its importance, we remain in the dark about much of it, from where the earliest dust came from to what produces some of its strongest spectral fingerprints.
From the dark constellations of Aboriginal Australian astronomy and Herschel’s “holes in the heavens”, to the infrared revolution of IRAS, Spitzer and JWST, this talk tours the Universe that dust both hides and reveals — from buried starbursts to complex carbon grains in the first billion years. Along the way we’ll take a few detours, including dust as an impostor and as the subject of a rock star’s PhD. We’ll also meet the unsolved problems waiting for the next generation of astronomers.
The event will be over Zoom and details will be mailed to your email upon registration.
Abstract: Dust makes up only about one percent of the interstellar medium by mass, yet it has absorbed and re-radiated roughly half of all the starlight ever emitted. It plays a central role in ISM physics: it catalyses the formation of molecular hydrogen, depletes metals from the gas phase, and regulates the heating and cooling of astrophysical gas. But for all its importance, we remain in the dark about much of it, from where the earliest dust came from to what produces some of its strongest spectral fingerprints.
From the dark constellations of Aboriginal Australian astronomy and Herschel’s “holes in the heavens”, to the infrared revolution of IRAS, Spitzer and JWST, this talk tours the Universe that dust both hides and reveals — from buried starbursts to complex carbon grains in the first billion years. Along the way we’ll take a few detours, including dust as an impostor and as the subject of a rock star’s PhD. We’ll also meet the unsolved problems waiting for the next generation of astronomers.
The event will be over Zoom and details will be mailed to your email upon registration.