What’s it all about?
Galaxies are huge. They have a diameters hundreds of thousands of light years across and reside at such large distances that are even our closest neighbours are millions of light years away.
Defined by their vast quantities of stars, gas, dust and dark matter entangled in a constant cycle of creation and destruction, galaxies house most of the universe’s visible matter. But why do galaxies exist? And how do they evolve?
In this informal session we will explore how the cosmos – with its galaxies and voids spun like sugar – got built this way…
What will we cover?
The distances between even the bodies in our own solar system are immense, so the size of space can be difficult to comprehend. We will ask the question just how big is big when it comes to the Universe? The class will cover the galactic building blocks needed for every galaxy with easy to follow assembly instructions.
The Universe’s largest pieces come in different types; so we will categorise and quantify different galaxies, using them to understand some of the scientific mysteries of Nature and our place in it.
If any of these things are new to you then don’t worry, all will be explained with live demos and we will go through all the basic steps of building your galaxy!
Who will be teaching?
Toby is a professional astronomer and passionate science communicator here in Melbourne. Originally from Manchester in the UK, Toby came to the antipodes in August 2013 to take up a PhD position at Swinburne University. He has been trying to explain the Universe through public talks, articles and (occasional) radio ever since.