From Astronomy to Astrophysics

Our guest speaker this month will be Dr. Christian Hummel. A staff astronomer with the European Southern Observatory since 2003, he spent four years in Santiago, Chile, before moving to Garching, Germany, in May 2007. In his talk he will demonstrate how astronomy, the science of the phenomena and motions of heavenly bodies, has become astrophysics, the science of the nature and interaction between everything which makes up our universe.

The recognition that the fundamental laws of physics apply everywhere in the universe is the basis for our ability to learn about how galaxies, the stars and their planets formed, and what more exotic objects lurk in the depths of the distant universe.

Before taking up his appointment at ESO, Dr. Hummel was an astronomer with the United States Naval Observatory. He took part in the  Optical Interferometer Project in 1991, as a research associate and conducted extensive observations using the Mark III Stellar Interferometer on Mt. Wilson (CA) and the Navy Prototype Optical Interferometer at Lowell Observatory on Anderson Mesa (AZ). For more information about Dr Hummel and his work please refer to his bio: http://www.eso.org/~chummel/vita/vitae.html