Distinguished Lecture Series

Professor Roger Chevalier

University of Virginia

will give a series of lectures on

The death and afterlife of massive stars

Topic: Astrophysics

Massive stars end their lives in spectacular explosions that drive shock waves into the surrounding medium. The early interaction is with mass lost before the explosion and analysis of the interaction gives clues on the nature of the exploding star. Most of the recently discovered superluminous supernovae may be cases with extreme mass loss. The later interaction with the interstellar medium can give rise to high energy gamma-ray emission through the acceleration of relativistic particles. Cases where dense matter is present are the most luminous. In addition to an outgoing shock wave, a massive star explosion can have an inner power source in the form of a pulsar (highly magnetized neutron star) with a relativistic, magnetized wind. Professor Chevalier is a leader in the field of high energy astrophysics, mainly supernovae. He won the Dannie Heineman Prize for Astrophysics. He is member of the US National Academy of Sciences.

Program of Lectures

Type Title Date Time Location Presentation
Colloquium Superluminous supernovae 03-Jun-2013 14:30 Lidow Rosen Auditorium (323)
Astrophysics Seminar High energy gamma-ray emission from supernova remnants 04-Jun-2013 14:30 Lewiner Seminar Room (412)
Astrophysics Seminar Pulsar wind nebulae in supernovae 05-Jun-2013 14:30 Lidow 620