Ordinary Meeting [Hybrid Meeting] with Anita Hafner, University of Sydney

Guest Speaker:  Anita Hafner, University of Sydney 

Title: Radio Astronomy and the Formation of Stars from the Interstellar Medium

Abstract: As a radio astronomer I use instruments such as Murriyang, the 64m Parkes radio telescope, to study the gas between the stars in our Milky Way galaxy. This ‘interstellar medium’ is the raw material for the production of stars, and I currently study the gas that is in the process of forming the most massive stars. I do this by monitoring the varying brightness of natural lasers known as ‘masers’. These masers are located in the gas surrounding infant stars, and their brightness is very sensitive to changes in their local environment. The changes in brightness I observe can often be attributed to the violent explosions that occur when gaseous material crashes onto the surface of the still-forming stars. My work helps us to understand how these stars are able to get so very big.

Biography: Originally from the US, Anita received her Bachelor of Science degree from Monash University in 2005. After an 8-year career as a high school teacher, Anita returned to university, getting her Masters and then PhD from Macquarie University in 2021. Dr Hafner was then a postdoctoral researcher at CSIRO where she worked to commission a new receiver for Murriyang, the 64m Parkes radio telescope. In July of this year Anita was appointed to a permanent position at the University of Sydney as a Teaching-focused lecturer.