Informal Talks on Astronomy and Astrophysics

I will be running these talks in person in Stroud. My desire is to share the inspiration for how we know what we know about the universe from our place here on Earth. I aim to pitch these talks to anyone. Prior understanding of physics and mathematics is not required but I may intersperse the odd equation for those who are inclined. I hope to take you through the logical connections that lead one to see how we know what we know and not just dazzle you with facts. Although, the facts are still dazzling when we look at the scales of time, space, mass and temperature that are involved in the cosmic landscape. I plan for plenty of time at the end of the talk for questions and discussion. This is a new venture for me but I hope it blossoms and further talks emerge from it.

The first talk will start with how one begins to know anything much beyond the Earth, which is by observation. Observation requires the medium of light as the messenger or conveyor of what is being observed. So we will delve into what light is and see that it actually conveys information across the vast distances it travels across the cosmos to Earth. Our eyes only can decode a limited amount of information contained within light. In discovering the nature of light and its characteristics, an observer with the right tools, can unlock a whole plethora of information of where that light came from and what sent it. What an incredible nature this cosmos is.