Members Only Event
Introduction to the Universe - a monthly astronomy talk.

An additional night for members, second Wednesday of each month.
For Hamilton Astronomical Society members only.

Tonight’s Topic: Revealing the Youngest Stars in the Galaxy
Speaker: Chris Benton (Auckland Astronomical Society)
The youngest, or infant, stars in the Galaxy, residing in regions of star formation, are typically enshrouded in thick dust and unable to be observed by conventional telescopes at visual wavelengths. Modern space telescopes penetrate this dust, particularly the James Webb Space Telescope’s recent high-resolution images in near- and mid-infrared wavelengths, revealing unprecedented details of these young short-lived stellar objects. These observations provide new insights into how stars are born and evolve into stable, long-lived main sequence stars burning hydrogen at their core.

Tonight we review standard features of star formation regions, including dark nebulae and bok globules, before discussing protostars, pre-main sequence stars and associated protoplanetary disks, bipolar outflow Jets and Herbig-Haro objects. Discover how these structures contribute to the formation of stars and groups of planets, such as our Solar System. This evening you will also learn the difference between T-Tauri and Herbig Ae/Be stars and how they evolve to the main sequence.

**Masks are no longer required, however you may wear a mask if you would like to. We respect anyone’s right to wear a mask if they wish to.