Dusty Cool Cosmos

This talk will take you for a quick walk through the Universe. Todays universe as we know it, is indeed dusty. More than 30% of the UV and optical light from stars in the Universe may be absorbed and re-radiated thermally at infrared and millimeter wavelengths by the obscuring dust. The cool and dusty sites in the Universe provide seeds for the formation of molecules and organic compounds. These molecular clouds are actually stellar nurseries which give rise to star formation and its evolution. To study dust extinction and its properties, Gamma-ray burst after-glows are excellent probes. This topic will cover that what we know about dust and how do we study it.