Black Holes, Gravitational Waves and Gamma-Ray Bursts: Cosmic Catastrophes

This is the eleventh lecture series of my complete online introductory undergraduate college course. This video series was used at William Paterson University and CUNY Hunter in online classes as well as to supplement in-person course material. Notes and links are present in the videos at the start of each lecture. Black Holes are the ultimate triumph of gravity over matter. The most mysterious objects in the cosmos, as they do not reveal their innards to any probe. Black holes fascinate people who just start learning about astronomy. This is my overview of the premiere Gee-Whiz-Bang-Pow of outreach. Gamma-ray bursts are the sources of kilonovae, which are among the most interesting of the Big-Bada-Booms. This even leads to the most important discovery of the 21st century! Gamma Ray Bursts are a major mystery that arose from the verification of the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty of 1963 and led to major discoveries about where most of the heavy elements of the universe come from. Without exception, Gravitational Wave discoveries are one of the most important developments in all of science. Predicted by Einstein in 1911, they were finally observed in 2016. In August of 2017, their counterparts in visible light were finally seen with telescopes.