Uploaded November 2023 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
RAS April Public Talk - Prof Haley Gomez
Ashes to Ashes, dust to dust: a search for the stolen starlight
1pm
Cosmic dust grains are usually a nuisance to astronomers because they block out star light, but dust is also the raw material out of which new stars and planets are born, and ultimately life itself. It is an important part of the Universe but astronomers are still not sure where all this dust is created. Using telescopes in space and on Earth in the last few years, we investigated whether titanic stellar explosions could be responsible for all the dusty mess in galaxies. It turns out that exploding stars can be efficient dust factories and could even be responsible for the very first cosmic dust in the universe. In this talk, I will show how the latest space technology is revealing a whole new dusty world.
About our speaker
Haley Gomez (née Morgan) MBE, FRAS, FLSW is a Professor of Astrophysics at Cardiff University. She studies the formation and evolution of cosmic dust using space telescopes including the Herschel Space Observatory and James Webb Space Telescope. She has recently been appointed as the Head of the School of Physics and Astronomy in Cardiff. She was awarded an Order of the British Empire in the 2018 Queen’s Birthday Honour’s. She gives regular public lectures and has been featured at the Royal Albert Hall and National Museum of Wales, as well as in the Sky at Night Magazine and Astronomy Now. She has worked with charities, the media and appeared on science podcasts including BBC's The Life Scientific with Jim Al-Khalili. She was a speaker at the 2015 TEDxCardiff, where she discussed the origins of life.
RAS April Public Talk - Prof Haley Gomez
Ashes to Ashes, dust to dust: a search for the stolen starlight
1pm
Cosmic dust grains are usually a nuisance to astronomers because they block out star light, but dust is also the raw material out of which new stars and planets are born, and ultimately life itself. It is an important part of the Universe but astronomers are still not sure where all this dust is created. Using telescopes in space and on Earth in the last few years, we investigated whether titanic stellar explosions could be responsible for all the dusty mess in galaxies. It turns out that exploding stars can be efficient dust factories and could even be responsible for the very first cosmic dust in the universe. In this talk, I will show how the latest space technology is revealing a whole new dusty world.
About our speaker
Haley Gomez (née Morgan) MBE, FRAS, FLSW is a Professor of Astrophysics at Cardiff University. She studies the formation and evolution of cosmic dust using space telescopes including the Herschel Space Observatory and James Webb Space Telescope. She has recently been appointed as the Head of the School of Physics and Astronomy in Cardiff. She was awarded an Order of the British Empire in the 2018 Queen’s Birthday Honour’s. She gives regular public lectures and has been featured at the Royal Albert Hall and National Museum of Wales, as well as in the Sky at Night Magazine and Astronomy Now. She has worked with charities, the media and appeared on science podcasts including BBC's The Life Scientific with Jim Al-Khalili. She was a speaker at the 2015 TEDxCardiff, where she discussed the origins of life.
