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Many of us have heard of seismology, the study of earthquakes; but what about asteroseismology, focusing on vibrations in stars?
Conny Aerts is a Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Leuven in Belgium – and a champion of this information-rich field of celestial research. Her work has broken new ground in helping to improve our understanding of stars and their structures.
It hasn’t been an easy path: Conny describes herself as always being “something of an outlier” and she had to fight to follow her dream of working in astronomy.
But that determination has paid off – today, Conny is involved in numerous interstellar studies collecting data from thousands of stars, and taking asteroseismology to a whole new level.
In an epsiode recorded at the 2024 Cheltenham Science Festival, Professor Jim Al-Khalili talks to the pioneering Belgian astrophysicist about her lifelong passion for stars, supporting the next generation of scientists, and her determination to tread her own path.