10 November 2005

Speaker: Rosanne Di Stefano (CfA/Tufts)

Title: Mesolensing: Discovering Nearby Stellar Remnants and Low-Mass Dwarfs

Abstract: Although they exist in large numbers, we know of only a few individual isolated neutron stars, and no isolated black holes. The known white dwarfs and low-mass dwarfs constitute only a small fraction of the nearby population. Fortunately, nearby planetary and stellar-mass objects have a high probability of producing detectable lensing signatures as they travel across distant dense stellar fields. In this talk I will describe the signatures of these "mesolenses" and explore the ways lensing can be used to study nearby dark and dim populations.

Video of the Presentation (Talks can be viewed with RealPlayer. Free download is available from www.real.com )