Our next event will take place on Monday 26 July at 20:00 CEST on ZOOM! That's right, you will have the opportunity to join us directly on the Zoom call and participate in the discussions and games. The Zoom link will be distributed before the event to registered participants (see important information below). This month, Frits Sweijen and Wendy Williams will tell us all about active galaxies in the radio sky.

Frits Sweijen: "Radio skies through prying eyes - low frequencies reaching new highs with the International LOFAR Telescope"

Radio telescopes have played a big role in the history of Dutch astronomy. With the construction of the International LOFAR Telescope it does once more, this time with an international flavour. It is one of the biggest telescopes on the planet and is key in helping us understand the low-frequency radio universe. In this talk, Frits will talk about the power of this pan-European telescope in chasing Hubble-like resolution at some of the lowest frequency radiation to still reach the Earth's surface.

Frits Sweijen is a graduate student at Leiden observatory with a passion for coffee and sound design. Frits did his undergraduate studies at the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, where building a telescope with the help of 3 fellow students sparked his interest in radio astronomy. Now he follows a similar route in Leiden where he is part of an international collaboration trying to work out how to best exploit the International LOFAR Telescope to its full potential.

Wendy Williams : “Supermassive black holes and where to find them”

New radio telescopes, including the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR), that operate at MHz frequencies (similar to FM radio) are uniquely powerful in surveying the sky and revealing millions of new radio sources. Such radio sources are predominantly other galaxies and the massive jets produced by supermassive black holes. This talk will shed light on what these surveys can tell us about supermassive black holes and how they are connected to the galaxies in which they live.

Originally from South Africa, Wendy is now a postdoctoral researcher at Leiden Observatory. Since her PhD she has worked on making images of the sky at low radio frequencies and using these images to study the emission from galaxies and black holes. Wendy loves rambling in the countryside and long distance walking but one of the craziest things she once did was an all night charity marathon walk through London.

Important information: Entry is free but registration is required! Once registered, we will send you the Zoom link where you can join us directly in the call. You do not need a Zoom account to join. Participants will be muted and their cameras will be turned off upon arrival on Zoom. During the question & answer period, you will have the opportunity to turn on your microphone (and camera if you'd like) to ask your question directly to the speakers and join the discussion and games. Alternatively, you will also have the option to put your question in the chat and we can ask them on your behalf. The event will also be streaming on YouTube, but we strongly encourage you to join us on Zoom for a more lively discussion and to participate in the games. All ages and backgrounds welcome!

We start at 20:00 sharp, so grab a drink, get comfortable, and join us for an evening of astronomy and fun games where you could win cool science prizes!

More info: www.astronomyontap.nl!