Title: Gravitational Waves and Neutron Star Mergers with Dr. Rosalba Perna

Please join us on Wednesday, October 14th, 2026, for a fascinating in-person presentation by an internationally recognized theoretical astrophysicist. We are honored to welcome Dr. Rosalba Perna, Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Stony Brook University, who will speak to us about gravitational waves and binary neutron star mergers.

About Our Speaker:

Dr. Rosalba Perna is a theoretical astrophysicist and Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Stony Brook University. Her research spans a remarkably broad range of high-energy and cosmic phenomena, including:

• High Energy Astrophysics: Gamma-ray bursts, neutron stars and magnetars, accretion disks, X-ray binaries, ultra-luminous X-ray sources, binary compact object mergers, gravitational waves and electromagnetic counterparts, and tidal disruption events.

• Cosmology: Gravitational lensing, interstellar medium and dust in high-redshift galaxies, foregrounds for CMB and 21 cm measurements, growth of supermassive black holes, and axions.

• Exoplanets: Magnetohydrodynamics and turbulence in the atmospheres of hot Jupiters, and dynamical effects from stellar encounters on planetary systems.

• N-Body Dynamics: Scattering in the small-N regime, supermassive black hole dynamics in galactic centers, hypervelocity star production, binary compact object formation, and exoplanetary architectures in dense star clusters.

About the Talk:
In this presentation, Dr. Perna will guide us through the physics of binary neutron star mergers and the gravitational waves they produce. She will explain what neutron stars are, how their collisions generate ripples in spacetime, and what these events reveal about the universe—from the production of gamma-ray bursts to the synthesis of heavy elements.

Dr. Perna has a gift for making complex astrophysics accessible and engaging. This is a rare opportunity to hear from a leading scientist who is at the forefront of theoretical astrophysics.

We look forward to seeing you for what promises to be an enlightening and thought-provoking evening. Please note that this will be an in-person talk with a zoom broadcast – we hope to see many of you there!

Clear skies!