New Zealand astronomer coming to Whanganui to give lecture on extreme cosmic objects

Astronomer Dr Ryan Ridden will give a talk at the Davis Lecture Theatre in Whanganui on July 22.

Astronomer Dr Ryan Ridden will visit Whanganui this week to give a lecture on extreme cosmic objects.

Ridden’s talk titled, Cosmic Cataclysms: A Dynamic and Changing Universe, will be at the Davis Lecture Theatre, Whanganui Regional Museum, on Saturday, July 22, at 7pm.

He is an astrophysicist at the University of Canterbury, devoted to studying some of the largest explosions in the universe caused by exploding stars, colliding stars, and hungry black holes.

To study these extreme cosmic objects he uses space telescopes like the Transitioning Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and Hubble Space Telescope as well as some of the largest telescopes on Earth.

Having grown up in Christchurch, he completed an Honours degree in mathematical physics at the University of Canterbury in 2015 and obtained a PhD in astronomy and astrophysics at Australian National University.

While working on his PhD, he discovered several new cataclysmic variable stars.

In 2021 Ridden returned to the University of Canterbury and now leads a research group with the support of a Marsden Fast Start Grant and a Rutherford Postdoctoral Fellowship.

Alongside his research work, he has given numerous public talks, helped build the Young Stars outreach programme and produced educational videos on YouTube.

He is coming to Whanganui as part of an annual lecture series sponsored by the Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand (RSANZ) to celebrate the work of one of New Zealand’s greatest astronomers, Beatrice Hill Tinsley.

Known as “The Queen of the Cosmos”, Tinsley grew up in New Zealand before becoming the first female professor of astronomy at Yale University in 1978.

During her studies, she completed theoretical studies on how populations of stars age and affect the observable qualities of galaxies.

She died of melanoma in 1981, aged 40, having published more than 100 scientific papers in her 14-year academic career.

The RSANZ Lecture Trust said Ridden’s talk would no doubt be entertaining and educational to all ages and backgrounds.

All are welcome to attend the talk. Entry is by koha.