AstroEvent with lecture by Prof. Dr. Michael Kramer: A Hum of Spacetime

Description

Lecture and sky observation in Engadin, where the Milky Way is still visible to the naked eye. Pulsars are the natural beacons of the universe. They are rapidly rotating neutron stars that regularly emit radio waves. This extraordinary precision makes them ideal test objects for Albert Einstein's General Theory of Relativity. Every mass distorts spacetime around it due to its gravity. If it moves uniformly, this distortion remains largely stable. Only when masses accelerate, for example when two black holes orbit each other and eventually merge, does spacetime itself come into motion. This creates gravitational waves that spread through the cosmos as gentle stretching and squeezing. But how can such extremely weak waves be detected? This is exactly where pulsars come into play, serving as natural detectors in space. Their observation leads to a surprising result, a hum of spacetime created by countless merging black holes in the early universe. How exactly this works and what this hum tells us about our universe is explained in the lecture. Dive into Einstein's universe and the fascinating world of pulsars. About Prof. Dr. Michael Kramer
Michael Kramer was born in Cologne and studied physics in Cologne and Bonn, where he earned his doctorate in 1995. He was an astronomer at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy and an Otto Hahn fellow at the University of California, Berkeley. He then became a professor at the University of Manchester. Since 2009, he has been director at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn. He was president of the Astronomical Society and has been awarded multiple times for his research on neutron stars, black holes, and gravitational waves.

Highlights

• Lecture by Prof. Dr. Michael Kramer
• Topic: Pulsars and the Hum of Spacetime
• Sky observations under a clear starry sky

General Information

The AstroEvent takes place at Academia Engiadina in Samedan and offers an exciting lecture about pulsars and their significance for the General Theory of Relativity. Participants have the opportunity to observe the clear starry sky and learn more about the fascinating phenomena of the universe.

Location

Quadratscha 18, 7503 Samedan, Switzerland

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