Space Telescopes, Exploding Stars, and Dark Energy

Most stars end their lives in brilliant explosions known as supernova. These massive bursts briefly outshine all the light from the galaxy wherein they occur. The past 20 years have been a “boom” period for supernovae with vast amounts of time and effort being invested in these objects. Not only are they important for understanding the life of stars, but they can be used use as cosmological probes to study what the Universe is made of and how it is growing. This use has shown that the Universe is accelerating in its expansion, the subject of the 2011 Nobel Prize, and is being caused by dark energy which will cause the end of the Universe. I will show how our understanding of these objects has been revolutionized using new techniques including the Kepler Space Telescope and Hubble, and now with TESS and JWST and what this means for the Universe.

Dr. Brad Tucker

Brad Tucker is an Astrophysicist/Cosmologist at the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Mt. Stromlo Observatory and the National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science, at the Australian National University.
Brad received Bachelor’s degrees in Physics, Philosophy, and Theology from the University of Notre Dame and a PhD in Astrophysics and Cosmology from Mt. Stromlo Observatory at the ANU. He’s leading programs using the NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope and TESS to understand why and how stars blow up. He’s also building a network of ultraviolet telescopes in the upper atmosphere, and a search to find Planet 9.
Brad frequently gives talks to school groups and the public about Astronomy and has regular segments on various radio and TV stations. He has also developed a series of Astronomy coins with the Royal Australian Mint, consulted on science fiction movies, and has been featured in TV specials. He is currently in the process of writing his first popular book and has developed an online Astronomy course.