Mapping the universe with variable stars

Since the discovery of the Leavitt law over 100 years ago, astronomers have used the unique properties of variable stars to map out the universe. In this talk, Victoria will discuss how observations of Cepheid and RR Lyrae variable stars are used to study the structure and evolution of the Milky Way galaxy and its neighbours. Victoria will discuss how variable stars are used as the base of the “distance ladder”, and how they fit into the current debate around the “Hubble Tension” – the disagreement between different measurements of the Universe’s expansion rate – and the implications of the tension for cosmology and beyond.

Dr Victoria Scowcroft is a senior lecturer at the Department of Physics at the University of Bath.

Image: Cepheid Variable Star RS Puppis, NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)-Hubble/Europe Collaboration; Acknowledgment: H. Bond (STScI and Pennsylvania State University)

This is a Bath Astronomers talk – please go this link for more details and tickets.