Episode 27: The Birth and Death of Stars: Clusters, Supernovae and Gamma-Ray Bursts, with Chris Matzner

Chris Matzner joins Justin Trottier at The Star Spot for a wide ranging conversation focused on the dynamical periods of a star’s life. He shares insights into the fascinating activities occurring in stellar nurseries, based on a major discovery by his research group of a region of our galaxy, dubbed Dragonfish, that hosts the most numerous cluster of young, supermassive stars yet found in the Milky Way. Then jumping ahead Matzner discusses gamma ray bursts, a mysterious phenomena tied to the death of some high mass stars, finally weighing in on an age old question: which should our species fear more - supernovae or gamma ray burst. Current in Space In Current in Space, Mallory Warren and Jessica Campbell report good news and bad news from Mars. Plus, could the private sector compete with government in the provision of earth observation satellites? About Chris Matzner Chris Matzner is Assistant Professor of Astronomy at the University of Toronto, and Canada Research Chair in Stellar and Interstellar Astrophysics. He received his PhD from the University of California at Berkeley based on research into the birth and death of stars. He is a recipient of a National Science Foundation Fellowship, a Ford Foundation Fellowship, and the National Merit Scholarship, among other distinctions. Matzner is a member of the Canadian Astronomical Society and the American Physical Society.