A New Sky
The JWST is the most expensive and powerful telescope astronomers have ever constructed. Its launch in 2021 started a new phase in our exploration of the cosmos, with the observatory’s golden mirrors producing instantly iconic images of the Solar System’s giant planets, nearby star-forming regions and galaxies, and our distant universe. The lecture includes the […]
Asteroid Adventures
Asteroids were for years considered ‘celestial vermin’ – objects which got in the way of more interesting fodder for astronomers. Now, they are central to our Solar System’s story, the building blocks from which planets are made, and capable of telling us the history of the last five billion years. This lecture considers two missions […]
The Biggest Cosmic Map
Mapping the stars is, perhaps, the oldest of astronomical pursuits, but it has been perfected by the European Space Agency’s Gaia mission. The exquisitely precise map it provides shows the positions and movements of the nearest two billion stars. Starting with a history of mapping the cosmos, this lecture outlines the new and dynamic history […]
Touching the Sun
Despite its familiarity, the Sun is a very different presence from the friendly yellow circle in children’s paintings. Our star is a broiling mass of plasma, with its powerful magnetic fields, twisted by its rotation, capable of producing dramatic events of spectacular beauty and power. Using results from NASA’s Parker Solar Probe – the fastest […]
Black Holes and Bangs
Space itself is wobbly. We exist on a choppy sea, its surface roiled by disturbances caused by the movements of black holes hundreds of millions of light-years away. The recent detection of these ‘gravitational waves’ by a completely novel type of observatory is a story of scientific persistence and precision engineering, resulting in a completely […]
Humanist Bloomsbury: Doers, Dreamers, Place Makers
Beginning at Conway Hall – the UK’s only surviving Ethical Society and its largest humanist research resource – join us for a walking tour to discover some of Bloomsbury’s non-religious radicals and reformers. Uncover a history spanning from Victorian era ethical societies to contemporary humanist activism, introducing suffragists, pacifists, and international activists, as well as […]
A Mirror in the Sky
The Hubble Space Telescope is the most famous astronomical instrument of all time. A project more than forty years in the making, Hubble overcame an initial disaster with a misshapen mirror to provide us with iconic views of everything from a comet crashing into Jupiter to the surprisingly active very distant Universe. This lecture tells […]
Conway Hall Open House Tour
Discover Conway Hall in a series of exclusive tours for Open House London. Director of Music Simon Callaghan will introduce the sublime acoustics of the Main Hall – home to Europe’s longest-running chamber music series. Discover the Library and Archives with Librarian Olwen Terris, and explore the home of the UK’s most comprehensive humanist archival […]
Boris Johnson: What Happened to Serious Politics?
What do the falls, rises, scandals, controversies and parties tell us about Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson? Who is he, and what does his particular brand of celebrity, chaos and contempt say about British Politics today? In this Ethical Matters talk, two very different Boris biographers join us to discuss the turbulent former Prime Minister. […]