What do we really see in a pretty image of the universe? The colorful images of nebulas that we see on social media, such as those taken by the James Webb or Hubble space telescopes, give us a lot of information about what happens in those regions of space, in addition to being aesthetically beautiful.
The “Astronomy Fridays” of the Institute of Radio Astronomy and Astrophysics (IRyA) of the UNAM, Campus Morelia, turns 15 years old this 2025, and we celebrate it with three talks in which we will explore how much we have learned about the universe in this time.
We begin this celebration with the talk “Interstellar landscaping: beauty in evolution”, this February 28. Adriana Gazol, researcher at IRyA, will tell us how much more we know about the interstellar medium thanks to the images obtained by the new observatories, and what happens in these regions where stars are born, live and die.
The talks will be held in Spanish at the UNAM Centro Cultural Morelia (Av. Acueducto no. 19, Centro, Morelia) at 7:30 pm. Everyone can attend and admission is free. No prior registration is required.
On March 28, Javier Ballesteros will share with us the talk “Common, but rare: water in the universe,” about this essential compound for life in the universe, and Jacopo Fritz will tell us about the most distant galaxies discovered so far in the talk “These galaxies shouldn’t exist… or should they?”, on April 25.
Live talk on Youtube: Here, or copy-and-paste this link: https://www.youtube.com/live/Mz9P2uG-pT4?si=n4tvt4KkzThwDAsh
Image: Detail of the Eagle Nebula (M16), a region known as the “Pillars of Creation,” as imaged by the James Webb Space Telescope. Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI; Joseph DePasquale (STScI), Alyssa Pagan (STScI), Anton M. Koekemoer (STScI)
About IRyA, UNAM
The Instituto de Radioastronomía y Astrofísica (IRyA), or Institute for Radioastronomy and Astrophysics is an academic unit at UNAM, Campus Morelia, Mexico. The Institute’s personnel perform high-level and high-impact research in the areas of interstellar medium, star formation, evolved stars, high energy astrophysics, Galactic dynamics and structure, extragalactic astronomy and cosmology. They also contribute to educate high-level human resources through a postgraduate program, and maintain a close relationship with society through diverse outreach and science communication programs.
If you are interested in our Institute, visit the English version of our webpage, www.irya.unam.mx/web/en
Media contact:
Dr. René A. Ortega Minakata
Outreach and Science Communication
IRyA UNAM Campus Morelia
Text: IRyA UNAM
