NRF|SAAO Cape Town Open Night
July 25 @ 8:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Join us for Open Nights at the South African Astronomical Observatory (NRF/SAAO) in Cape Town, held on the second and fourth Saturday of every month.
Each evening begins with an engaging presentation on astronomy or a related field of science, followed by a guided tour of the Observatory’s rich history—including our library, museum, and the historic 120-year-old McClean Telescope.
Weather permitting, guests will have the opportunity to enjoy stargazing through the McClean and additional smaller telescopes.
-
- Gates open at 7:30 PM.
- Free entry for children aged 6 and under.
Please email cptbookings@saao.ac.za or call +27 21 447 0025 if you have any queries regarding bookings.
Speaker: Colton Feathers
Bio: Colton Feathers is an American theoretical cosmologist whose research focuses on simulations of the first stars and galaxies. Currently a post-doctoral fellow at Stellenbosch University, he develops simulations of the early universe to predict observable results for both current and future missions such as those scheduled for South Africa’s SKA and HERA observatories. His work largely aims to constrain the rate and intensity with which the first stars and galaxies formed by simulating their impact on the large-scale universe, with hopes of bettering our understanding of early structure formation as well as pushing the theoretical limits of our current cosmological model.
Abstract: “How Did We Get Here? From the Big Bang to the First Stars”
We find ourselves residing on a planet that is one of many orbiting an average star within a galaxy that is just one of trillions scattered throughout the cosmos. However, we simultaneously know that our universe is expanding as a result of its explosive formation nearly 14 billion years ago, during an event known as the Big Bang. This then begs the question — how did the universe evolve from an incredibly hot, dense early state into the awe-inspiring galaxies, clusters, and voids we see now? In this talk, I will cover the first billion years of the universe’s history to illustrate how this transition came to be, why it is important for our understanding of cosmology, as well as the techniques astronomers are currently using to research this epoch of cosmic history