Astronomy

Nothing compares to the exquisite pleasure of observing the grand universe for yourself. Whether through binoculars, telescopes, cameras or your naked eyes, the view is always breathtaking.

Cosmology

The deepest mysteries of the cosmos can be found in the further places we can see. How did the universe begin? How did it evolve? What is gravity? Cosmology answers the biggest questions.

Astrophysics

The great workings of the celestial objects are a fascination to us all. The birth and death of stars and planets present astronomers with myriad puzzles to be investigated and marvelled at.

Talk date: Saturday
Talk Time: 3:10 pm

Eduardo Ros

Whispers from the Cold, Violent Universe: Unveiling Cosmic Secrets with Radio Astronomy

Biography

Prof. Dr. Eduardo Ros is an astrophysicist at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy (MPIfR) in Bonn, Germany, where he is Scientific Coordinator of the Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) Department. He is currently on leave as Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Valencia, Spain, where he directed the Astronomical Observatory in 2013.

In the late 2000s, he was both Research Coordinator at the MPIfR and Coordinator of the International Max Planck Research School for Astronomy and Astrophysics, managing the institute’s projects, academic programmes and communications. In 2019, he led the global communications campaign for the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), which unveiled the first image of a black hole, a milestone in astrophysics.

With over three decades of experience, he has supervised more than ten PhD students and numerous Masters and Bachelor students, several of whom have won awards. Eduardo Ros has co-authored over 200 peer-reviewed papers with over 21,300 citations and an h-index of 64, demonstrating his impact and leadership in scientific collaborations.

Synopsis

This talk will explore the cold, violent universe as revealed by the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy (MPIfR). From the first images of a black hole’s shadow to groundbreaking discoveries about our galaxy and beyond, radio astronomy provides unique insights into the cosmos.

Eduardo will present the power of the MPIfR’s radio telescopes, including the 100-metre Effelsberg radio telescope in the German Eifel. He will explore how this giant, together with contributions to international collaborations such as APEX and IRAM, are key instruments in the Event Horizon Telescope collaboration, enabling cutting-edge research.

These tools are being used to probe extreme astrophysical phenomena, from the precise timing of pulsars and high-resolution imaging of quasars using Very Long Baseline Interferometry, to mapping the rotation of our Milky Way galaxy and studying the processes of star formation.

Join Eduardo as he unlocks the hidden depths of the Universe, revealing its cold and violent nature through the lens of radio astronomy.