The atmosphere of stars
Channel: ANU TV
Date: 2015-05-25

Professor Martin Asplund's work in solar and stellar physics has changed the way in which we approach atomic and nuclear physics and a wide range of astrophysics, from planetary science and stellar physics through to Galactic archaeology and cosmology.

Martin Asplund from the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics at ANU is distinguished for his research on solar and stellar physics, planets outside the Milky Way, the evolution of the Milky Way and the first stars to form in the Universe. His innovative work on the atmospheres of stars provides a new level of precision in understanding the stars’ elements, because of the realistic way in which it treats convection in their atmospheres. Martin’s revisions to the solar element abundances, based on these new models, have impacted research in atomic and nuclear physics and in a wide range of astrophysics, from planetary science and stellar physics through to Galactic archaeology and cosmology.