September 2024

26/09/24 (Thursday)
15:15, Auditorium Eridanus (ESO HQE, Garching) | ESO Garching
Munich Joint Astronomy Colloquium
Talk — The Far Ultraviolet diffuse background
Shri Kulkarni (California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, USA)

Abstract

Historically, the search for the inter-galactic medium (IGM) motivated the search for  the Far Ultraviolet (<0.2 micron; FUV) background which in turn led to a number of experiments and missions.  Decades later the focus shifted to FUV as the primary heating and ionizing agent of the atomic phases (warm and cold neutral medium).  On the observational side, it was realized that at high Galactic latitudes, the diffuse FUV has three components: FUV light from hot stars in the Galactic plane reflected by dust grains (diffuse galactic light or DGL), FUV from other galaxies (extra-galactic background light, EBL) and a component of unknown origin.  This view has been amply confirmed by later GALEX observations. During the eighties, there was conisderable discussion that decaying dark matter particles produced FUV radiation.  In my talk I systematically investigate production of FUV photons from all major sources capable of producing FUV emission. I conclude that two thirds to perhaps all of the third component can be explained by the sum of Galactic Hot Ionized Medium (line emission), two photon emission from the  Warm Ionized Medium, low velocity shocks in the Galaxy and Lyman fluorescence in the Solar System (the interplanetary medium and  the exosphere of Earth).

October 2024

10/10/24 (Thursday)
15:15, Auditorium Eridanus (ESO HQE, Garching) | ESO Garching
Munich Joint Astronomy Colloquium
Talk — (topic to be announced)
Irene Tamborra (Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen)

January 2025

16/01/25 (Thursday)
15:15, Auditorium Eridanus (ESO HQE, Garching) | ESO Garching
Munich Joint Astronomy Colloquium
Talk — (topic to be announced)
Laura V. Sales (University of California Riverside)