Astronomy on Tap Atlanta: Final Destination: The Epic Ends of Stellar Lives Viewed by Next Generation Telescopes

Speaker: GSU Astrophysics PhD Student Akshat Chaturvedi

Abstract: Stars are the building blocks of the observable universe and provide the light that shines through the cosmos. Nevertheless, their contributions to our universe aren’t limited to their early or middle-aged years. They do their most expansive, world-building work at the end of their lives. At the end of its life, a star gives back to its community, producing the stuff of baby stars and infant solar systems. Depending on its mass, it can do this in a wide range of vibrant — often violent — ways, and the newest generation of telescopes reveals these processes in a mesmerizing new light.