Aspiration Friday - Astronomy
24th April 2019
Our latest Aspiration Friday talk was on Astronomy, given by Matt Bothwell from the Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge. Below, Isaac (10O) shares his thoughts about the talk:
Most recently, we had Matt from the University of Cambridge come in to give us a short introduction into the world of astronomy. Using satellite image, he demonstrated just how small we are compared to our galaxy, and then how small our galaxy is compared to the rest of the universe.
This, combined with the astronomically large numbers describing the universe, caused mild existential dread.
It was interesting to learn how and why he first became a researcher and then a speaker for the field of science.
A highlight of the talk was learning how radio signals sent from Earth have only reached approximately 100 light years away from the planet – a tiny distance, in comparison to the scale of the whole galaxy - and so in many ways, it is no surprise that we have not yet made contact with life on other planets! Naturally, all of the students (and Miss Clash) were excited to hear this.
Matt has kindly offered to host us at the Institute in the autumn for another short talk followed by an evening of stargazing: we’re really looking forward to it! If you’re interested in coming on this trip, please do get in touch with Miss Clash.
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