Secret Lives of Middle-Aged Stars Topic for Hybrid Oxford Science Cafe

By Edwin B. Smith

University of Mississippi

The life cycles and magnetism of stars is the topic for a hybrid Oxford Science Cafe scheduled for Feb. 15 and organized by University of Mississippi physics and astronomy faculty researchers.

The program will be held in-person at Heartbreak (formerly Uptown) Coffee, 265 North Lamar Ave., Suite G, and hosted on Zoom beginning at 6 p.m. Maria Weber, a professor in the Department of Mathematics and Science and director of the Wiley Planetarium at Delta State University, will discuss “Magnetic Furnaces: The Secret Lives of Middle-Aged Stars.”

“Stars have a secret life beyond what we can see with the naked eye,” Weber said. “Some slowly fizzle out over billions of years, and some go out with a bang.”

Questions to be addressed during the 45-minute talk include the life cycle and magnetism of stars as they progress between birth and death, how these stars are building intense magnetism in their deep interiors and how their magnetism may affect their orbiting worlds.

“Find out how well we can predict the sun’s magnetic behavior, if we should be concerned and how our work to understand the sun helps us better understand habitable worlds throughout the galaxy,” she said.

To view the Science Cafe online, go to https://olemiss.zoom.us/j/99989536748. Afterward, a link to the recorded talk will be posted at https://www.phy.olemiss.edu/oxfordsciencecafe/.

For more information about the Department of Physics and Astronomy, visit https://physics.olemiss.edu/.