Cosmic Chaos: Exploding Stars, Invisible Particles & the Most Powerful Light in the Universe

Talks on Tuesdays: Real lectures in your favourite venues. 45-mins + Q&A with Dr Edmund Adelaide Talks on Tuesdays is a live event series bringing big ideas, real experts, and curious minds together - at your favourite local venues. Think thought-provoking lectures, audience questions, and post-talk mingling over drinks and dinner. This isn’t a uni lecture. It’s a social, intelligent night out.Come alone or with friends, leave with something to talk about. Event Schedule: 6.30pm Arrival & Doors Open 7pm Lecture Starts 7.45pm Q&A 8pm Talk Concludes 8.30pm Event Closes. *Please arrive close to 6.30pm A La Carte menu and full bar available throughout the night - pay as you go. Your Topic: Cosmic Chaos: Exploding Stars, Invisible Particles & the Most Powerful Light in the Universe What happens when the tiniest particles in the universe are unleashed with unimaginable amounts of energy? Every second, invisible particles are hurtling through space at extraordinary speeds, travelling across the galaxy before eventually reaching Earth. But where do they come from? What gives them so much energy? And how on Earth do scientists detect something they can't even see? From exploding stars to the mysterious remains of dead suns, our universe is home to some of the most powerful natural particle accelerators imaginable. Join us as we journey into the extraordinary world of cosmic rays, uncovering how violent stellar explosions launch particles across the galaxy, what happens to them along the way, and how they produce some of the most energetic light in the universe. Discover how scientists are using this light to unravel the mysteries of the cosmos and reveal a universe far more energetic, chaotic and fascinating than it appears from Earth. These invisible particles that make up everything around us have an incredible life of their own in space before they ever reach earth. In this public lecture we’ll explore how cosmic-ray particles are accelerated by explosive stellar events such as Supernova Remnants and Pulsar Wind Nebulae, and how they interact with the space around them (which is anything but a vacuum). We then cover how they produce the most energetic form of light and how we detect this when it reaches Earth. Your Speaker: Dr Edmund Edmund is a PhD researcher at Adelaide University in the field of high-energy astrophysics. His area of interest spans the minutia of particle physics to the immensity of our galaxy. His research focuses on some of the highest-energy accelerators in our galaxy – the fallout of stellar objects such as Supernova remnants and Pulsar Wind Nebulae. He investigates the effect of acceleration from these energetic objects on cosmic rays and their interactions with the environment to produce gamma rays that we observe with next-generation telescopes. He has a background in science communication and education, with a passion for ensuring that science is accessible to everybody. He has worked with organisations such as the Australian Space Discovery Centre, SciWorld and STEM Academy to bring science out of academia and into the broader sphere, as well as teaching undergraduate physics at Adelaide University.