Supernovae and the accelerating universe
Professor Bob Nichol
Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation
University of Portsmouth
Professor Bob Nichol will be speaking at the regular Society for Popular Astronomy meeting in London.
Over the past decade, there has been a revolution in cosmology. Astronomers observing distant supernovae – stars that have undergone annihilation that can be seen half-way across the Universe – found to their shock that the expansion of the Universe was not slowing down as gravity dictated, but was speeding up!
This discovery resulted in the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2011 and began a new era of cosmological research. The elusive ‘dark energy’ has been suggested to power this accelerating universe. In his talk, Prof. Nichol will review this amazing discovery and the subsequent research on this accelerating universe including extensive new surveys of supernovae to measure this phenomenon more accurately.
Date: Saturday 25th October 2014
Time: 14:00
Venue: School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG
