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The Life of Stars



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The End of the World?

Professor Paul Callanan, Physics Department, University College Cork says: "Many believe that the Mayan calendar predicts that the world will end on December 21 (the Winter Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere): despite the somewhat implausible nature of this event, it does appear to be gathering quite a bit of media attention. However, from scientific point of view, we do have an understanding of how the world is likely to end (aside from issues concerning how humanity will take care of the planet in the future)." Watch the film to see how astrophysicists think the world might end.

The European Southern Observatory and why do stars twinkle?

Finding Meteorites in Antarctica

University College Cork physics graduate Michael Coughlan describes his work from his M.Sc. at the University of Manchester, recently published in Nature Communications. Supervised by Dr. Geoffrey Evatt in the School of Mathematics, and with help from academics in the Schools of Mathematics, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Manchester, Michael may have solved a mystery that has puzzled planetary scientists and Antarctic explorers for decades. The group’s findings may eventually further our understanding of the early solar system and of our own planet.

Birr Castle Telescope - Department of Physics, UCC

UCC' s Professor Paul Callanan ( Dept of Physics) explains the significance to the 'Leviathan' telescope at Birr Castle and its connections to UCC. • In the early 1840's, the Third Earl of Rosse designed and built the largest telescope in the world. With this telescope, he discovered the spiral nature of some of the galaxies, and from 1845-1914, anyone wishing to witness this phenomenon had to come to Birr. And they came, in their hundreds, from across Europe and beyond, to observe the stars with Lord Rosse or simply to marvel at this feat of engineering in the middle of Ireland. • This Reflecting telescope remained the largest in the world for over 70 years and is arguably the largest historic scientific instrument still working today. This 'leviathan' as it is named, remains in the centre of the Demesne as Ireland's greatest scientific wonder and represents a masterpiece of human creative genius. Contact details: Birr Castle Demesne, Birr, Co. Offaly,Ireland

Tyndall National Institute at UCC

Tyndall National Institute, University College Cork is one of Europe's leading research centres, specialising in Information Communications Technology research, with ca 450 staff, students and academic & industrial visiting researchers. Tyndall undertakes internationally-leading research addressing key challenges in the areas of Communications, Energy, Health and the Environment. Its technologies photonics, microsystems and micro-nanoelectronics, backed by strong expertise in theory, modelling and design and a highly flexible wafer fabrication capability in Si CMOS, III-V's and MEMS. The Institute's researchers include 119PhD and 15 Masters students, and 38 nationalities are represented within the institute. Tyndall uses its facilities and expertise to support industry and academia nationally and provides large numbers of highly qualified graduate students, key to the development of Ireland's national economy. Tyndall has over 200 industry partnerships and customers worldwide. Several start -up companies in Ireland have been based on technology originating at Tyndall. Additional Information is available about us on www.tyndall.ie or follow us on twitter @TyndallInstitut

UCC Students Hunt for a Black Hole at Observatorio del Teide, Tenerife

Undergraduate field trip to Observatorio del Teide on Tenerife, 2012: UCC Astrophysics students hunt the black hole SWIFT J1910.2-0546

School of Physics

Scoil na Fisice

Room 213 (Physics Office), 2nd floor, Kane Science Building, University College Cork, Ireland.,

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