Who’s afraid of black holes? Revealing the monsters of the cosmos
Date: Wednesday 21st April, 2027
Time: 16:00 – 17:30
Location: Main Hall, Whickham School, NE16 5AR
Overview
Every galaxy is home to a population of true monsters – stellar corpses so dense they warp the fabric of space and time; dark abysses from which nothing, not even light can escape. These are the fascinating and much misunderstood “black holes”, although they’re not holes and they’re often not black.
An unstoppable object that “sucks everything in” might be scary to many, and even the theory (General Relativity) that describes them has its own reputation for inspiring terror in students.
Fear not! In this lecture, we’ll explore the formation and mind-bending properties of black holes, make them accessible to everyone, and show how understanding these extreme objects pushes the frontiers of physics back with new discoveries every year.
Image credit: NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio – KBR Wyle Services, LLC/Scott Wiessinger, University of Maryland College Park/Barb Mattson, University of Maryland College Park/Francis Reddy, University of Maryland College Park/Jeanette Kazmierczak
Bookings
Bookings are not yet open for this lecture