We Are Stardust by Prof. Dr. Kathrin Altwegg

We are looking forward to welcome Prof. Dr. Kathrin Altwegg to sitem-insel for her presentation «We are stardust - a journey through astronomical dimensions».

Abstract

In the last years, we have become used to astronomical numbers and black holes. However, what are astronomical numbers and what are black holes? How does the Universe look from the outside? Where are we in the Universe and are we alone? Where did we originate and what will the future bring us– in an astronomical and not astrological sense?

Our Earth right now is full of crises and wars and our future has clearly looked brighter than today. That is the reason why it is a good point in time to analyze from a new universal perspective the processes on the Earth and to realize: all is relative! An astronomical contribution with a twinkle in the eye for the assessment of the terrestrial situation.

About

Kathrin Altwegg is a professor emer. in space research and planetology at the University of Bern. She completed her PhD in solid state physics at the University of Basel in 1980. After working as a postdoctoral scholar at the New York University, she joined the Physics institute in Bern. She got her habilitation in 1996 and became an associate professor in 2001. From 2011 till 2016 she led the Center for Space and Habitability of the University of Bern. 

Kathrin Altwegg’s research interests are focused on cometary science using mass spectrometry in situ. She was involved in the European mission Giotto to comet Halley and later as principal investigator of the ROSINA instrument on ESA’s Rosetta mission to comet 67P. She is active in science outreach in schools as well as for the public.

Info