An Astronomical Perspective on Globular Clusters, Planet Earth, and the Climate Crisis

Presenter Full Name
Adrienne Cool
Institution
San Francisco State University
Year & Semester
2022-Fall
Presentation Date
November 14, 2022

Globular clusters are beautiful and ancient structures that have been providing insight into the structure of our galaxy and the evolution of stars for more than 100 years. I will describe the role that binary stars play in their fascinating internal dynamics and examples of how binaries are revealed in clusters using space-based observatories. Spending time focused on things that are impossibly distant and vast gives astronomers and astronomy enthusiasts an unusual perspective on our own small planet.  Astronomers for Planet Earth (A4E) was founded in 2019 to harness this perspective to  mobilize the global astronomical community to take action on the climate crisis.  A4E now  comprises more than 1600 astronomy educators, students, amateurs, and researchers from  74 countries.  I will describe our goals, some current activities--including plans for an upcoming  A4E symposium--and invite you to share your thoughts on how physicists and astronomers can do our part to respond to the climate emergency.