Lecturer: Prof. Tim Bedding (Sydney)
Abstract:
Asteroseismology uses the natural oscillation modes of a star to study its internal structure. The wonderfully precise measurements by NASA's Kepler and TESS missions are ideal data sources for the technique. These space telescopes have been monitoring the brightness of hundreds of thousands of stars, with the main goal of discovering extra-solar planets as they transit their parent stars. At the same time, observations of stellar oscillations have led to a revolution in asteroseismology. I will discuss some of the key results, including the use of gravity modes to probe the cores of red giant stars, the characterization of stars found to host exoplanets, and the measurement of ages for young stellar associations.