Feb 7, 2023: Guest Speaker - Dr. Rana Ezzeddine
On February 7, 2023, we were joined by Dr. Rana Ezzeddine, who is an astrophysicist at the University of Florida, and whose primary interest is in stars and uncovering the mysteries behind the first stars and galaxies. She talked about her research in stellar astrophysics, galactic archaeology and formation of heavy metals in early universe . Galactic archaeology is a field of astronomy that studies the formation and evolution of the Milky Way galaxy by analyzing its oldest stars and their chemical composition. The goal of galactic archaeology is to reconstruct the history of our galaxy, including its formation and early stages of development, and the way stars and elements were created and distributed throughout the galaxy . During the lifetime of a star, lighter elements such as hydrogen and helium are fused together to form heavier elements like carbon and oxygen. If a star is massive enough, it can continue to fuse elements up to iron. However, elements heavier than iron can o...