Speaker profile

In this talk, I describe how the planets formed from dust in the protoplanetary disc at the time the Sun formed, through rocks, planetesimals, proto-planets and finally into fully formed planets. I introduce a number of up-to-date theories to explain the formation of the system, including the Grand Tack and the Nice Model. Regular animations allow the listener to understand current concepts as to how our solar system formed

In this talk, I explain how quasars and active galactic nuclei were discovered and explained. The talk will cover the discovery of quasars by visual and radio telescopes through the realisation that they are very distant, very energetic sources and describing the unification theory of active galactic nuclei and supermassive black holes.

In this talk, I explain interstellar space. The space between stars is very rarefied but is essential for the formation of stars. I describe the different forms of interstellar space, including nebulae, and why they appear as they do. I then go on to the even more rarefied media outside the nebulae, and develop a cycle of how interstellar gas feeds into star formation and vice versa. I also look at interstellar dust, the local gas environment around the sun and other local stars, and also intergalactic gas

This is a description of how stars burn hydrogen into helium and then helium into heavier elements. It describes the formation of white dwarfs and black holes and how the elements that we are made of, and also the planet we live on, are formed.

This talk introduces the cosmic microwave background (CMB), and how the study of the CMB explains how the universe began, and developed into what we see today. Starting with the discovery of the CMB in 1964 as an irritating hiss on a radio telescope, I describe how the CMB convinced astronomers that the universe started with the 'Big Bang'. Further study of the CMB showed how the universe is composed of ordinary matter, dark matter and dark energy. The talk describes the fundamental role played by the cosmic microwave background in our understanding of the ΛCDM (Lambda Cold Dark Matter) model of the universe. Regular animations throughout the talk allow a general astronomical audience to gain an understanding of modern cosmology in this entertaining presentation.

Ancient Greek astronomers sought a naturalistic rather than a mythological explanation of how nature and the universe worked. I trace their efforts to describe the Earth, Moon, Sun, planets and stars, at first through philosophical considerations, and then through increasingly innovative measurements to determine the size and distance of the Moon, Sun and Earth. Claudius. Ptolemy's final Earth centred model of the universe was accepted as standard for 1500 years. I illustrate this extrordinary period of scientific thought and innovation with animations to explain these concepts to create an entertaining talk. I ask how Greek science compared with the moden version, and what would have changed if the Greeks had discovered the telescope. Finally, I describe how the Greek model came crashing down in the early modern period.

Starting with Newton's laws of gravity I describe how scientists and astronomers measured the mass of the Earth, planets, Sun, stars and galaxies. Firstly I describe the experiments used to measure the gravittional constant 'G' and thus the mass of the Earth. The calculation of G allowed the masses of the Sun and planets, and eventually stars to be worked out. I show how studies on the rotation of galaxies led to the discovery of dark matter. Finally I tell how Einstein's theory of general relativity allows gravitational lensing to calculate the masses of galaxies and galaxy clusters in the early universe. Some of the human interest stories along the way are told, with animations to illustrate both scientific principles and also the trouble some astronomers got into to attempt their measurements.