Associate Professor and Associate Head of the Department of Physics and Astronomy Kate Jones will present “Stardust and Atom Smashers” Saturday, April 1, in this week’s installment of Saturday Morning Physics, a lecture series sponsored by UT’s Department of Physics and Astronomy.
“The atomic nucleus is less than a thousandth of the size of an atom yet it leaves its fingerprints on the chemical composition of the solar system,” said Jones. “It is nuclear fusion that powers stars and keeps them from imploding under the gravitational forces of their colossal mass. The end of this fusion process leads to the death of a massive star in a cataclysmic explosion.”
Her talk will provide an overview of some of those cosmic connections, relating measurements we can make in the laboratory on nuclei that live fleetingly with supernova explosions and the inner workings of stars.
Jones’s talk will be held from 10 to 11:15 a.m. with questions and a discussion from 11:15 to noon in 307 Science and Engineering Research Facility (SERF), 1414 Circle Drive. Limited parking will be available in the 11th Street Garage.
For more information about these lectures or to sign up, visit the Department of Physics and Astronomy website.
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C O N T A C T:
Kranti Gunthoti (865-974-5697, kgunthot@utk.edu)