Helmut Jerjen: Tales of stars and stellar systems - part one
Channel: ANU TV
Date: 2011-09-09

In the first of this two-part video Dr Helmut Jerjen tells 'Tales of stars and stellar systems' . The event is part of Mount Stromlo's Centenary Celebrations.

Astronomy has arguably had the single largest impact on the development of science, human society and culture over the past 10,000 years. On our journey through space and time we will explore the glorious life of our sun, learn how astrophysical knowledge acquired 100 years ago can help to solve the energy crisis on Earth today, and find out why we should rightfully call ourselves the children of the stars. The discovery of exoplanets is a regular topic in the international news.

Dr Jerjen explains how astronomers measure the faint signal from these distant island worlds, show where our place in the Milky Way is, and disclose how the Universe grew a million times bigger on the night of October 6, 1923.

Dr Jerjen is a member of academic staff at the Research School of Astronomy & Astrophysics (RSAA) at ANU. As a genuine multi-wavelength astrophysicist he has published over 100 articles in international journals covering topics in the areas of near-field cosmology, stellar populations, galaxy evolution and dark matter. He is the head of the Stromlo Milky Way Satellite Survey team that will make use of the new ANU SkyMapper Telescope to study dark-matter dominated dwarf galaxies in the halo of our Milky Way. Dr Jerjen is passionate about educating future generations of astrophysicists.