Australian Institute of Physics

South Australian Branch

Women in Physics: Free Public Lecture

7.30pm 15th August 1997

by Dr Rachel Webster,

School of Physics, University of Melbourne

in the FLENTJE Lecture Theatre,

Plaza Building of the University of Adelaide

(Go down the steps at the northeast corner of Hughes Plaza,

or enter from the Horace Lamb building.)

Abstract:

How can large concentrations of matter act like a lens? The phenomenon of gravitational lensing will be demonstrated and the latest astronomical observations of gravitational lensing from telescopes both in Australia and overseas will be shown. Gravitational lensing is providing us with a new tool for doing astronomy, in particular cosmology. The exciting possibility of using lensing as a "natural telescope" to find dark matter will be explored.

Brief Biography:

Rachel Webster was educated in Melbourne, and was an undergraduate at Monash University. She completed her graduate degrees at Sussex and Cambridge Universities, and then worked as a research astronomer in Toronto, Canada for about 7 years. She now heads a new astrophysics group at the University of Melbourne and is an active member of the Australian astronomical community.