Seminars at FGG
How the Kepler Spacecraft has changed Asteroseismology
Speaker: Michael Reed (Missouri State University)
Date and time: 2013-03-15 11:00
Asteroseismology is the process in which stellar pulsations are used to discern the physical conditions of stars. All stars besides our Sun are points rather than disks of light and the starlight we observe is emitted from only the outer 1%. To learn the physical properties of stars, particularly their inner conditions, requires indirect methods. Fortunately, many stars vary in a periodic way; they pulsate. In this talk I will describe the tools of asteroseismology and how they are used to reveal the properties of stars. I will concentrate on late-evolution stars, where asteroseismology has been an effective tool for discerning bulk properties as well as detailed interior conditions. I will also describe Kepler spacecraft observations which have greatly advanced the study of pulsating stars as well as planets.