What’s it all about?
Astronomers have realised that the world we see around us is only the tip of the iceberg… a hidden universe, formed from an unknown new form of invisible matter, controls the motion of the stars and galaxies, outweighing everything we can see in the Universe many times over. Learn how astronomers have come to this amazing conclusion and how we now routinely see material that is truly invisible.
What will we cover?
With no knowledge of maths or physics we will learn how to infer the presence of invisible matter, using techniques such as the speeds of stars moving around in galaxies, the bending of light around matter due to Einstein’s General Relativity and witness the formation of galaxies inside the most powerful supercomputers in Australia. If any of these things are new to you then don’t worry, all will be explained with live demo’s and taken through the basic mathematical steps to actually weigh our Milky Way, and figure out how much Dark Matter there really is in the Universe.
Who will be teaching?
Dr Alan Duffy is a Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne in the School of Physics. A keen astronomer and science communicator, he has tried to explain the Universe in schools and public talks around Australia as well as the Adelaide Fringe and TEDx, and occasional stints on radio, TV and national newspapers.