Join us for an exhilarating journey through the cosmos as we present "Spooktacular Space: Things That Go Bump in the Dark," a Public Lecture co-organised by the ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery (OzGrav), ARC Centre of Excellence for Dark Matter Particle Physics, and the Centre of Astrophysics and Supercomputing at Swinburne University.

📅 Date: October 31, 2023

⏰ Time: 5:30 PM - 8:00 PM

📍 Venue: AMDC 301 | AMDC Sky Lounge, Swinburne University

Event Highlights:

• Panel Discussion on mysterious cosmic phenomena

• Delectable themed canapés, grazing platters and drinks

• Dress Up for Halloween (Costumes Optional - but we would love to see them!)

• Giveaways and a costume contest

• Stargazing with telescopes on the terrace (if the weather permits)

• Networking in the Sky Lounge *sort of under the stars

*This is a FREE event, registration is required for catering purposes

Open to all ages - Families are welcome!

🎙️ Meet Our MC, Sara Webb:

Dr. Webb is an Astronomer and Science communicator dedicated to exploring and sharing the cosmos. She is a cosmic detective looking for exploding stars and other mysterious events in the night sky. When she isn't researching, she is either leading the Swinburne payloads for the International Space Station or talking/writing all things space news! 

🌠 Our Panel Speakers:

Professor Matthew Bailes: Professor Matthew Bailes is the co-discoverer of Fast Radio Bursts and the founder of the Swinburne Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing. He has been working on relativistic astrophysics for almost four decades and has a passion for public outreach and building radio astronomy instrumentation.

Yuanming Wang: Yuanming Wang is a PhD graduate of the University of Sydney and a current postdoc researcher at Swinburne University. She is working on finding rapidly changing radio signals in the sky with ASKAP telescope located in Western Australia. Her recent achievements include discovering the most luminous pulsar in the Large Magellanic Cloud. 

Renee Key: Renee Key spends her time looking for minuscule black holes born in the very first second of the universe. Her PhD research is to detect the fastest and faintest bumps in the brightness of millions of stars; some of which may be caused by an intervening black hole bending spacetime and stellar light. If many of these mini black holes are found in the outer Milky Way, they may account for Dark Matter.

Secure your spot today and be part of an unforgettable evening of Spooktacular Space exploration! See you under the Halloween skies! 🎃

Acknowledgement & Understanding

*By registering to this event, you acknowledge and give consent that your email address will be added to the OzGrav database. In addition, you acknowledge and consent that photos will be taken on the day and your image may be used in future promotion of OzGrav events. If you do not consent, please let the photographer and event organiser know.

Code of Conduct can be found here: https://www.ozgrav.org/code-of-conduct.html

If you have any questions, please email ozgrav@swin.edu.au