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News Release

ESCC Campus

CCCC ESCC to Co-Host Astronomy Speakers on Interstellar Dust

Septmber 27, 2007

Karin Sandstrom from the University of California, Berkeley along with a representative from the Combined Array for Research in Millimeter-Wave Astronomy (CARMA) located near Big Pine will be giving talks at the Cerro Coso Community College, Eastern Sierra College Center, Bishop Campus, on Thursday, October 4. The College is co-hosting the speaker series in the field of Astronomy. The Astronomy guest speakers will begin at 4 p.m. in room 176 on Thursday, Oct. 4. The talk is entitled “Our Dusty Universe”.

The talks will explore interstellar dust. Out there in the Milky Way, between the stars, lie vast amounts of gas and dust. This material is called the interstellar medium (ISM) and it is the raw material out of which stars form. If we are to understand the formation of stars, we must first understand the behavior of the ISM, of which dust is a crucial component. Interstellar dust, however, is very different from dust we are use to on Earth. What is it made of? How much of it is there? Where does it come from? The mysteries of interstellar dust abound. Sandstrom will discuss what we know about interstellar dust and, more importantly, what we do not know. She will also discuss some of her own research on interstellar dust in a galaxy called the Small Magellanic Cloud which gives us a glimpse of dust in a place very different from the Milky Way.
Karin Sandstrom grew up in Washington State and attended college at Harvard University. She is now a graduate student at U.C. Berkeley studying the properties of interstellar dust in a nearby galaxy called the Small Magellanic Cloud. Over her years as a graduate student, Sandstrom has explored the State of California quite thoroughly and she especially loves visiting the Eastern Sierras.

The talk is for a general audience and all students and community members are invited to attend. The Bishop campus is located at 4090 West Line Street.


 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Joann Handeland, Director of Public Information (760) 384-6230

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Last updated September 27, 2007