IR2022: An Infrared Bright Future for Ground-based IR Observatories in the Era of JWST

2022 February 14 - 18, Online (academic conference) 2022 February 21 - 25, Online (public talks)

IR2022 Public Talk Series (21 - 25 February 2022)

IR2022 Outreach Poster created and designed by Abi Frost (KU Leuven).

Speakers and Talk Times

The talks for this series are now all available on the conference IR2022 YouTube channel, and that of Haus der Astronomie, who is supporting these talks (see below for the direct link to each talk). Talks from the IR2020 can also be found on the Haus der Astronomie YouTube account. Our researchers presented talks in eight different languages, giving these talks live at different times to catch audiences around the globe. For any questions or inquiries, please feel free to contact the IR2022 Outreach Organizing Committee at ir2022-outreach@ml.hiroshima-u.ac.jp

Times below are shown in the timezone for ().

Summary of times

(Abstracts below)

Talk abstracts

  • Linn Boldt-Christmas (Uppsala University)

    • (Mon 21 Feb 2022 17:30 UTC)

    Climates on other planets: Rainforests, deserts, jungles, icebergs – on just a single planet, our Earth, there are already countless different types of climates and weather patterns that can exist. So what about other planets? What kind of atmospheres do they have, and how do we study them? And what about planets outside of our own Solar System – are they all toxic wastelands, or are any of them showing signs of being habitable? In this talk, you will learn about the different atmospheres of other planets, both in our neighbourhood and beyond, and how we use the very newest telescopes to explore them.


    (Mon 21 Feb 2022 19:00 UTC)

    Klimat på andra planeter (Climates on other planets): Regnskogar, öknar, djungler, isberg – på en enstaka planet, vår jord, finns det redan oändligt många olika slags klimat och vädermönster. Så vad händer på andra planeter? Vilka slags atmosfärer har de, och hur kan vi studera dem? Och planeterna utanför vårt solsystem – finns det bara giftiga ödemarker, eller finns det något bevis på beboelighet? I denna presentation får du lära dig om olika atmosfärer på andra planeter, både i vårt grannskap och bortom det, och hur vi använder de allra nyaste teleskopen för att utforska dem.

  • Yanna Martins-Franco (Valongo Observatory - UFRJ)

    • (Mon 21 Feb 2022 21:00 UTC)

    Buracos Negros: monstros gravitacionais e onde habita (Black holes: gravitational monsters and where to find them): O Sol vai virar um buraco negro? O buraco negro no centro da nossa galáxia vai engolir a Terra? Nessa palestra, conversaremos sobre a evolução e morte de estrelas, como os buracos negros são formados e como esses objetos enigmáticos nos ajudam na compreensão do Universo onde vivemos.

  • Randa Asad (American University of Sharjah)

    • (Tue 22 Feb 2022 08:00 UTC)

    Unlocking the chemical composition of the central region of our Galaxy by means of IR spectra: Recent surveys uncovered new young massive clusters that host dozens of red supergiants (RSGs) in the inner Milky Way. These clusters are ideal for studying the most recent and violent star formation events near the centerof our Galaxy. However, due to the high extinction that affects the Galactic plane, they need to be studied through infrared (IR) spectroscopy. The chemical composition of RSGs in the central region of the MW, observed with using Very Large Telescope, will be presented.

  • Valentin Ivanov (ESO Garching)

    • (Wed 23 Feb 2022 17:00 UTC)

    Инфрачервената астрономия - поглед към невидимото (Infrared astronomy - a look at the invisible): През 1800 година великият английски астроном Уйлям Хершел открил, че зад най-червената светлина, която може да видят човешките очи, има и друга, невидима за нас светлина – днес я наричаме инфрачервена. Повече от два века, с нейна помощ можем да изучаваме част от Вселената, която остава невидима за нас. В инфрачервената час от спектъра излъчват най-голямата част от енергията си множество интересни обекти, като се започне от планетите (в нашата Слънчева система и около други звезди) и се стигне до далечните загадъчни галактики, където са се образували голяма част от химичните елементи, от които сме направени самите ние. В тази лекция ще ви разкажа за тези загадъчни обекти, а също и за огромния напредък в инфрачервената астрономия от последните няколко десетилетия, голяма заслуга за който има Европейската Южна Обсерватория (ЕСО).

  • Anna Ciurlo (UCLA)

    • (Wed 23 Feb 2022 19:00 UTC)

    Stelle in maschera al centro della nostra galassia (Stars in disguised at the center of our Galaxy): Il centro della nostra Galassia, a 26 anni luce da noi, è un’ambiente estremo: un buco nero supermassiccio risiede al centro, circondato da milioni di stelle e nubi di gas di svariate dimensioni. In quest’area affollata alcuni oggetti (chiamati oggetti G) hanno attirato la nostra attenzione perché appaio come piccole nubi di gas ma orbitano il buco nero come fossero stelle. Esploreremo insieme il cuore della nostra Galassia e vedremo cosa si nasconde dentro gli oggetti G.

  • Abigail Frost (KU Leuven)

    • (Thu 24 Feb 2022 00:00 UTC)

    How do giants form? Our Sun is a star and while it is huge compared to our home planet of Earth, compared to all the other stars in the Universe it is pretty small! Stars ranging from eight to hundreds of times as heavy as our Sun are dubbed massive stars and live very different lives to low-mass stars like the Sun. Creating huge amounts of energy, they can cause gigantic explosions which outshine galaxies, create black holes and more. In this talk I’ll discuss how these giant stars come in to being, how they behave and how they laid the groundwork for the formation of our Solar System.

  • Hanae Inami (Hiroshima University)

    • (Fri 25 Feb 2022 09:00 UTC)

    目に見えない光で宇宙を見る: 赤外線で輝く銀河 (Seeing the universe with invisible light: Galaxies shine in the infrared): 私たちの目で見る宇宙はとても美しく魅了されます。ただ、それは宇宙の姿の一面でしかありません。宇宙で輝く天体は人間の目には見えない光も放っており、その光を捉えることで宇宙の新たな一面を見ることができます。その中でも特に「赤外線」で銀河をみると、私たちの目では暗く見える部分が明るく輝いていたりします。また、赤外線を使うことでより、遠くの宇宙にある銀河を捉えることもできます。今回のお話では、赤外線を使うことで明かされる銀河の姿をご紹介します。

  • Javier Peralta (Universidad de Sevilla)

    • (Fri 25 Feb 2022 17:30 UTC)

    Las ventajas de observar el planeta Venus en infrarrojo (The advantages of observing the planet Venus in infrared): Si bien Venus y la Tierra son planetas gemelos en muchos aspectos, su evolución ha sido radicalmente diferente. A diferencia de la Tierra, Venus es un infierno tanto para la vida (tal y como la conocemos) como para la exploración espacial. Con una atmósfera 90 veces más densa que la Tierra, temperaturas superficiales por encima de los 450ºC, y una gruesa capa permanente de nubes de ácido sulfúrico, pocas sondas han logrado sobrevivir en su viaje hasta una superficie que no hemos explorado in situ por casi 40 años. Las observaciones en infrarrojo comenzadas en los años 1980 supusieron una revolución en nuestro conocimiento sobre Venus que han tenido su culmen en las misiones Venus Express (ESA) y Akatsuki (JAXA), abriendo la exploración a múltiples niveles del lado nocturno de Venus y los fascinantes secretos que ocultaba.

  • Isabelle Vauglin (Université de Lyon)

    • (Fri 25 Feb 2022 19:00 UTC)

    L'astronomie infrarouge: dévoiler les régions obscures et l'Univers froid (Infrared astronomy: revealing the dusty regions and the cold universe): L'astronomie infrarouge est un moyen unique et irremplaçablepoursonder les zones denses et obscures et pour étudier les astres froids de l'Univers. Si la lumière visible est bloquée par les poussières, le rayonnement infrarouge lui est capable de percer les voiles de poussières qui s’étendent, par exemple, dans les zones de formation stellaire ou autour des étoiles en fin de vie ou encore dans les bras des galaxies masquant les régions lointaines. L'infrarouge couvre un très vaste domaine de longueurs d'onde dévoilant un univers complètement différent de celui de la lumière visible. Après une présentation des techniques de détection et d'observation propres à l'infrarouge, je présenterai quelques les découvertes réalisées dans ce domaine et montrerai la richesse de l'infrarouge et la complémentarité qu'il apporte pour l'étude de l'Univers.

IR2022 Outreach Organizing Committee:

  • Elizabeth Tasker (ISAS/JAXA, JP)
  • Carolin Liefke (Haus der Astronomie, DE)
  • Leonard Burtscher (Leiden University, NL)
  • Izumi Endo (University of Tokyo, JP)
  • Abigail Frost (KU Leuven, BE)
  • Hanae Inami (Hiroshima University, JP)
  • Ryan Lau (ISAS/JAXA, JP)
  • Toshihisa Nikaido (JAXA, JP)
  • Markus Pössel, (Haus der Astronomie, DE)