THE ROYAL IRISH ACADEMY IS IRELAND'S LEADING BODY OF EXPERTS IN THE SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES
The Royal Irish Academy/Acadamh Ríoga na hÉireann champions research. We identify and recognise Ireland’s world class researchers. We support scholarship and promote awareness of how science and the humanities enrich our lives and benefit society. We believe that good research needs to be promoted, sustained and communicated. The Academy is run by a Council of its members. Membership is by election and considered the highest academic honour in Ireland.
Read more about the RIAMcCrea Lecture
Organised and hosted by the Royal Irish Academy, the McCrea lecture series is held in honour of Sir William McCrea MRIA (1904-1999), an eminent and influential astronomer. Run every two years, the McCrea Lecture is a highlight on the astronomy enthusiasts’ calendars as it is an opportunity for people from various backgrounds, disciplines and professions to come together to discuss news and progress within space science.
Past Speakers
- McCrea Lecture 2019: The European Southern Observatory in 2019, and the evolution of galaxies as probed by ALMA delivered by Rob Ivison, the Director for Science at the European Southern Observatory (ESO)., 07 February 2019
- McCrea Lecture 2015: Rosetta Mission: Are Comets the Giver and Taker of Life? delivered by Professor Monica Grady, Professor at Open University, 25 June 2015
- McCrea Lecture 2013: Are the Laws of Physics Changing? delivered by Professor John D. Barrow, University of Cambridge, 12 November 2013
- McCrea Lecture 2011: The Hundred Year Mystery of Cosmic Rays, delivered by Professor Luke Drury, former President of the Royal Irish Academy, Director of the School of Cosmic Physics, DIAS and Andrews Professor of Astronomy at Trinity College, 9 December 2011.
2023 McCrea Lecture
'The Era of Multi-Messenger Astronomy'
Venue: Royal Irish Academy
Monday, 20 November at 18:30
More details and booking here
About the lecture
Astronomer Professor Gregg Hallinan will give a talk on ‘The Era of Multi-Messenger Astronomy’, followed by a Q&A chaired by Dr Deirdre Coffey, Assistant Professor of Astrophysics and Space Science, University College Dublin.Gregg Hallinan will introduce the topic of multi-messenger astronomy, including recent breakthroughs and future promise. He will also introduce one of the key upcoming telescopes for multi-messenger astronomy, the 2000-antenna Deep Synoptic Array (DSA-2000) radio telescope. The DSA-2000 will commence construction next year and will be the world's most powerful survey radio telescope, with a significant fraction of observing time dedicated to multi-messenger astronomy.
About the speaker
Gregg Hallinan is a Professor of Astronomy at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and Director of the Owens Valley Radio Observatory (OVRO). His group searches for new and variable sources that appear in the radio sky. These include the electromagnetic counterparts of gravitational wave events and the magnetospheres of exoplanets. He has led the development of a new generation of radio telescopes, optimized for time domain and multi-messenger science, including the upcoming 2000-antenna Deep Synoptic Array (DSA-2000), which will be the world's most powerful survey radio telescope. Gregg completed his PhD at the University of Galway and moved to the US as a Jansky Fellow at the University of California Berkeley before joining the faculty at Caltech in 2012. He is a recipient of a Sloan Fellowship and the 2022 New Horizons in Physics Breakthrough Prize.
About the Chair
Dr Deirdre Coffey is an Assistant Professor of Astrophysics and Space Science at the UCD School of Physics, as well as a member of the RIA Physical, Chemical and Mathematical Sciences committee. Her research interests are in the field of star and planet formation, using world-class telescopes of the European Space Agency and the European Southern Observatory. Dr Coffey is also an Adjunct Fellow at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS), in the School of Cosmic Physics. She completed her PhD at Trinity College Dublin.