ASTRONOMY IRELAND PUBLIC LECTURE "Cannibals in Space" By Dr. Simon Jeffery Date: 8pm Monday May 12 Venue: Dublin City University, Glasnevin, Dublin 9 (Main Lecture Hall, Henry Grattan Building) SUMMARY: The distances between stars and galaxies are vast, but they are always on the move. Its not exactly Shepherd's Bush roundabout in the rush hour; collisions in space are extremely rare. But when they happen, they happen big time. What happens when two galaxies collide? What happens when one star engulfs its companion? Where are the biggest star guzzlers to be found? This talk will explore the pathological situations that occur when stars and galaxies cannabalize one another. Deep space images and theoretical simulations will show what happens in stellar traffic accidents and cosmic pile-ups. BACKGROUND: Simon Jeffery was educated in Edinburgh and London, receiving his PhD in Stellar Evolution from St Andrews where he worked on extreme helium stars for 15 years. After spending one year (1986/7) at Kiel University, Germany he moved to Armagh Observatory in 1996 where he is currently a senior research astronomer. He has used many satellites and telescopes around the world including IUE and the Hubble Space Telescope. His main research interest is what happens to stars as they approach the end of their lives? Admission: 5 Euro (Concessions 3 Euro) Bookings: (01) 847 0777 ===== David Moore BSc FRAS, Chairman, Astronomy Ireland, P.O.Box 2888, Dublin 5. Editor, "Astronomy & Space" magazine. ASTRONOMY SHOP: open Mon.-Fri. 9:30am-5:30pm and Sat. noon-6pm. Tel (01) 847 0777. Fax (01) 847 0771. WWW: http://www.astronomy.ie (Subscribe FREE to AI's Events emailing list) Email: info@astronomy.ie