8.00 pm Tuesday 29 July 2003
Physics Lecture Theatre 1
University of Tasmania, Sandy Bay
ABSTRACT:
Everyone remembers from school chemistry that the formula for water is H2O,
signifying that it is made of the atoms hydrogen and oxygen. It is important to us because it
sustains life. But where does
water come from? There is a
sociological answer to do with establishing water distribution companies and
networks of pipes that get water into the kitchen tap. There is a geological answer about the
way that water is evaporated from the sea, falls as rain and returns to the
sea. But back beyond these answers
there is an astronomical answer that goes to the origins of life itself. The hydrogen was made in the Big Bang
and the oxygen was made in stars, both of them very early on in the life of the
universe. The two kinds of atoms
got together in interstellar space to make water and were brought to the solar
system as ice in the solar nebula, from which the sun and planets formed. The ice fell to the Earth in a titanic
hail of asteroids and comets called the great bombardment.
The speaker will gaze into a glass of water as if it
was a crystal ball, and will show us these past marvels, a chain of cosmic
history that makes life possible on Earth.
SPEAKER PROFILE:
Prof. Paul Murdin is a fellow at the Institute of
Astronomy at Cambridge University.
He was formerly the Director of Science at the British National Space
Centre for ten years, where he played a key role in setting up British space
and astronomy projects. As a
research astronomer he was one of the first members of the scientific staff of
the Anglo Australian Observatory and has also lived and worked in the USA and
in the Canary Islands, Spain, where he helped set up the UK-Netherlands
observatory on La Palma.
Paul Murdin is a well-known populariser of astronomy, writing and broadcasting about it. He is currently working on setting up the Faulkes Telescope in Australia, a giant telescope for use by school children in Australia and the UK.
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This is a lecture in this year's
Winter Public Lecture Series in Physics. The series started last year and
is held in honour of Alexander and Leicester McAulay, two renowned
Physics professors, who were inspiring teachers
and did significant research at the University of Tasmania during the early
years.
Further information is available from:
Prof. Bob Delbourgo, ph. (03) 6226 2403,
e-mail: Bob.Delbourgo@utas.edu.au or
Dr Elizabeth Chelkowska, ph. (03) 6226 2725, e-mail: Elizabeth.Chelkowska@utas.edu.au.
Return to AIP (Tas) Home page.