Radio astronomy and the hunt for radio stars

Did you know that black holes can photobomb stars? Hear about how we’ve more than doubled the known number of radio stars using Australia’s ASKAP telescope. Stars might seem easy to find, but it’s a lot trickier with black holes everywhere. I'll talk about the amazing radio telescopes here in Australia and the different kinds of radio astronomy. I'll also share my latest work searching for (and finding!) radio stars and the impact radio stars have on the planets orbiting them. Video didn't kill the radio star, but the radio star might kill the habitable planet!

Dr Laura Driessen

Dr Laura Driessen is a radio astronomer and a Science and Technology Australia Superstar of STEM. She enjoys searching for hard-to-find things in the deluge of data found from amazing radio telescopes, especially those located in Australia. Dr Driessen is passionate about sharing her science and the fantastic astronomy being done in Australia. She is currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Sydney and Project Scientist of the Variables and Slow Transients (VAST) survey with ASKAP (the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder) radio telescope located at Murchison Radio Astronomy Observatory in the Midwest region of Western Australia.