The Births of Star Clusters and Interstellar Interlopers

Stars are born in chaotic nurseries: extremely cold, collapsing turbulent magnetized supersonic clouds which also generate comets and asteroids. Join UC astrophysicist John Forbes as he unpacks these incredible cosmic processes in ways everyone can understand.

John Forbes is a theoretical astrophysicist from the University of Canterbury who is studying the asteroids and comets that have been kicked out of their home star systems and are traveling the Milky Way. He has a diverse range of astronomical interests and is best known among astronomers for his work on the origins of supersonic turbulence in galaxies. Dr. Forbes is originally from the United States, where he earned a bachelor's degree in physics from Caltech, a PhD in Astronomy and Astrophysics from the University of California Santa Cruz. He has spent time as an Institute for Theory and Computation Fellow at Harvard University and a Flatiron Research Fellow at the Simons Foundation in New York City.

This event is part of Matariki 2024, where we're celebrating Matariki with talented artists from Ōtautahi and beyond. Bring your friends and whānau to Te Matatiki Toi Ora The Arts Centre (17 - 30 Pipiri June) for music, exhibitions, kapa haka, wānanga (workshops), kai, light installations, special mākete and much more.