Dr. David Williamson - SIMULATIONS OF DWARF GALAXIES

The universe is full of tiny galaxies known as “dwarfs”. These galaxies have less “metals” - that is, heavy elements - than big galaxies like our Milky Way. I’ve been using supercomputers to run high resolution simulations to help explain this difference.

In this presentation, I will give an introduction to “metals” and why they’re so important, and also talk about how and why we run computer simulations.

Dr. David Williamson is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Southampton with expertise in hydrodynamic simulations in astrophysics. After completing a MSc on simulations of condensed matter physics at Victoria University in his home country of New Zealand, he moved to Canada where he defended a PhD thesis on galaxy simulations at St Mary’s University in Halifax. After a one-year break to teach English in South Korea, he undertook a postdoctoral research position at Université Laval in Québec City, before finally taking up his current position at Southampton to work on simulations of Active Galactic Nuclei. He also enjoys Marvel comics and Yorkshire terriers.

The Vectis Astronomical Society meets on the 4th Friday of every month, except for December. This event is open for non-members to attend. The speakers come from all over the country and give a presentation for around 45 mins. We then stop for a break with tea and biscuits, which gives an opportunity to mingle and chat.

The second half of the evening sees a presentation by one of our regular members showing us what to we could see in the sky over the coming month. This always involves some great pictures projected onto the large screen.

Entry to the event is free of charge, although as we run as a charity, donations are always welcome.

Newsletters are available at the entrance for a suggested donation of £2.50

Please see our website for contact and membership details.