Weekly Space Hangout: March 9, 2022 — HR 6819: Black Hole? Vampire 2-Star System? Dr. Abigail Frost Explains

On March 2, 2022, the European Southern Observatory (ESO) reported (refer to Press Release: https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2204/?lang) that the HR 6819 system, believed to be the home of the closest black hole to earth, is, in fact, "a 'vampire' two-star system in a rare and short-lived stage of its evolution." HR 6819, just 1000 light-years from earth, does not include a black hole. The study was led by Dr. Abigail Frost from KY Leuven, and we are extremely please to welcome Dr. Frost to the Weekly Space Hangout tonight.

Dr. Abigail Frost is a postdoctoral research associate at KU Leuven, a research university in Belgium. Born and raised in the UK, her journey into astrophysics started with her master's studies at the University of Exeter (UK). She then did her PhD at the University of Leeds before moving to Belgium to start her academic career. Her research focuses on studying the most influential stars in our Universe - massive stars. Using multiple observing techniques and modelling, she investigates how these stars form and how stars that exist in pairs (or even greater groups) evolve and how their companion stars can affect that evolution.

You can learn more about Abigail by visiting her website: https://sites.google.com/view/abigail-frost-astro/home. You can also follow her on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/abigail-frost-astro/) as well as on Twitter (@AstroDrFrost) https://twitter.com/AstroDrFrost

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