THE MOST IMPORTANT PARTS OF THE GALAXY REMAIN INVISIBLE TO OUR TELESCOPES. EXPLORE THE SECRETS OF THE MILKY WAY, ITS ASTONISHING BEAUTY AND THE DARK MATTER THAT HOLDS IT ALL TOGETHER
In a highly illustrated 45-minute talk for families, Carolin Crawford (NC 1982) will introduce our turbulent and dynamic home galaxy, the Milky Way. She will look at the Solar System and how it compares to the planetary systems found around other stars. Stars are forming and dying all around us, shaping and creating the glorious multicoloured nebulae and star clusters that line the spiral arms, along with exotic objects such as white dwarfs, neutron stars and black holes. But the most important parts of the galaxy remain invisible to our telescopes: the supermassive black hole at the core, and a vast halo of dark matter that holds the whole galaxy together. Finally, she will look at the Milky Way’s relationship to its near neighbours, and its future fate.
Carolin very kindly agreed to answer the leftover questions from the Q&A – and you can read them here.
ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR
Carolin Crawford read Mathematics at Newnham, followed by a PhD at the Institute of Astronomy in Cambridge. She used observations from a wide variety of telescopes and satellites to investigate the most massive galaxies in the Universe, and this research was carried out alongside — and later eclipsed by — a growing role in the public communication of science. Her career highlights include Public Astronomer at the Institute of Astronomy, Professor of Astronomy at Gresham College and Fellow and Tutor of Emmanuel College. Although now retired, Carolin still enjoys communicating the excitement of astronomy to as wide an audience as possible, and makes regular appearances on radio programmes such as In Our Time.
(MAIN IMAGE CREDIT: NASA/ESA/Hubble)
Don’t miss our other family activities – a short story reading, children’s treasure hunt, chemistry experiments and an Indian dance workshop.
Please book using parent/guardian information only.