Professor Belinda Wilkes - Tour the X-Ray Universe

Discover the extraordinary universe revealed by X-ray astronomy in this fascinating illustrated talk with Professor Belinda Wilkes. Explore the high-energy cosmos and see how X-ray observations reveal celestial wonders invisible to the naked eye. You will see slides and movies of:The launch of the Chandra X-ray Observatory
Supernova remnants (SNR)
Clusters of galaxies
X-ray and radio jets
Black holes
And even planets!Join us for a spectacular journey through the X-ray Universe and discover a new perspective on the cosmos.Professor Belinda Wilkes is an internationally renowned astrophysicist specialising in active galaxies powered by supermassive black holes. Originally from Shropshire, she studied Physics and Astronomy at the University of St Andrews before completing her PhD at the University of Cambridge.
She spent almost four decades at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Massachusetts, becoming a Senior Astrophysicist and serving as Director of NASA's Chandra X-ray Center from 2014 to 2020. She led the team responsible for operating the Chandra X-ray Observatory, one of the world's leading space-based X-ray telescopes.
Her research has contributed to our understanding of the high-energy universe, and she has authored or co-authored more than 500 scientific publications.
Her distinguished career has been recognised with NASA's Outstanding Public Leadership Medal (2022) and the Institute of Physics' Gold Medal for Leadership (2023). She is a Fellow of several leading scientific societies, including the Royal Astronomical Society and the American Astronomical Society.
Now an Honorary Professor at the University of Bristol, she continues to share her expertise in astrophysics.This is an in-person event at Tintern Village Hall. Refreshments will be available. There is disabled access, loos and limited free parking within the grounds, but parking along the main road (A466) is unrestricted after 6pm.This talk is run by the Lower Wye Valley Building Preservation Trust, a volunteer charity which is purchasing St Mary's Church a seriously at risk listed building and scheduled monument on the hillside above Tintern Abbey. Consolidating this ruin is our current priority (for safety reasons this site is currently closed and unauthorised entry is prohibited), but LWVBPT are also lobbying Welsh Water and the Wye Valley Community Council to restore the Fryer's Wharf Slipway, an ancient crossing and landing point connecting England and Wales, to public use.Annual membership costs 10 a year per person, and other than the satisfaction of directly helping to conserve our heritage, gives a discount to our events as well as other offers. See www.lwvbpt.org for more details.