Astronomy on Tap: Stellar Astrophysics! (Engels, in Leiden)

We will be back at Grandcafé De Burcht (Burgsteeg 14, 2312 JS Leiden) for our next event on Monday 28 February at 20:00 CET. Join us for an evening of informal astronomy, great beer, and fun games where you could win cool science prizes! Laura Hayes and Rob Kavanagh will tell us about the Sun and the evolution of stars.

Laura Hayes: The Active Sun - Observations of our Closest Star
We live in the presence of an active star - our Sun. During times of high solar magnetic activity, large explosions called ‘solar flares’ occur on the Sun, and they can have significant space-weather impacts on the near-Earth environment. In this talk, Laura will present an introduction to our active Sun, how we observe, and how new data from ESA’s Solar Orbiter mission will provide new clues to solar flare energy release. Laura is a research fellow at the European Space Agency at ESTEC. Her research focuses on studying the Sun and its magnetic activity using space-based multi-wavelength observations, with a particular focus on solar flares - the largest explosions in the solar system. She always finds it ironic that after growing up in rainy Ireland, and now living in an equally rainy Netherlands that she managed to study the Sun - rarely actually seen in either place!

Rob Kavanagh: Tuning in to star-planet interactions at radio wavelengths
In this talk, Rob will discuss how interactions between stars and planets can produce detectable radio emission. Detection of these interactions can provide us with a new pathway to discover planets, and also tell us a lot about exoplanetary environments and habitability. Rob is originally from Ireland, and moved to Leiden in the middle of 2021 to complete the final year of his PhD. His research focuses on predicting and interpreting signatures of interactions between stars and exoplanets, particularly at radio wavelengths.

Logistical information
If the next phase of lifting Covid-19 restrictions is implemented as planned on February 25th, there will be no limit on the number of people attending and a QR code will not be required for admission. We start at 20:00 sharp, so please arrive earlier to enter the bar, save a seat, and grab a drink. We are not planning to stream the event live, but will be uploading a recording of the talks on our YouTube channel after the event.

For more information check out http://astronomyontap.nl/