Dr Chris North is the Ogden Science Lecturer in Cardiff University's School of Physics and Astronomy. He also holds an STFC Public Engagement Fellowship entitled "The Dawn of Gravitational Wave Astronomy". Chris is also an astronomy researcher by training, focusing most recently on the Herschel Space Observatory.
July 1969 was the month that the first people walked on the Moon. 12 people walked on the surface of our celestial neighbour between 1969 and 1972. Since then, humanity has been confined to low-Earth orbit. There is talk of sending people back to the Moon, on timescales that vary depending on who you talk Read more
The School of Physics and Astronomy hosted the Ogden Trust School Physicist of the Year event on Tuesday 2nd July to celebrate young regional physicists. The School Physicist of the Year programme recognises outstanding efforts and achievements of secondary school students in physics. Seven physics students from local schools were awarded prizes at the ceremony. Read more
Mars is covered in craters, but most of them are very old. But new ones do appear from time-to-time, created when objects hit the surface of the red planet. That’s just what happened at some point a couple of years ago, producing one of Mars’ youngest craters. Higher up in Mars’ atmosphere, scientists are also Read more
14th May 2009 marked the the launch of the Herschel Space Observatory. Herschel was a cornerstone mission for ESA, the European Space Agency, with the goal of unveiling the hidden Universe. In this special bonus edition of Pythagorean Astronomy, marking 10 years since Herschel’s launch, we’ll find out how it did this, and what astronomers Read more
A roundup of the month’s news from around the Solar System – and beyond. You don’t think of mars rovers having drawers, but that’s exactly what has just been installed on the Rosalind Franklin Rover, part of ESA’s ExoMars mission. This is no ordinary drawer, of course, but the “Analytical Laboratory Drawer”, designed to test Read more
***Deadline Extended: 14th June 2019*** For the third year running we are once again hosting a 3 day non-residential workshop for A/S level students interested in continuing on to Physics degrees. Taking place in Cardiff University School of Physics and Astronomy the workshops will run Tuesday 25 – Thursday 27th June 2019. The event will run 10:00 Read more
A roundup of the month’s news from around the Solar System – and beyond. Starting with the Moon, where the first attempt by a privately funded organisation to land on the Moon has ended in a crash-landing. Despite the sad end, the Beresheet mission was otherwise a success, and a promising start for privately funded Read more
Do you have a Year 7 and/or 10 student you feel deserves to have their efforts and achievements in physics recognised? You can reward them with an Ogden Trust School Physicist of the Year Award. The recipients don’t need to be your highest achieving students academically as this award is for enthusiastic students who may Read more
The School of Physics and Astronomy invites applications from motivated undergraduates for Summer Internship positions. Successful applicants will spend 6-8 weeks in Cardiff working with researchers, staff and students within the school. Further details for each internship, including how to apply, are available on the internship page, or through the links below Michelson Interferometer Interface Design Read more
In December 2018 an object hit the Earth’s atmosphere at over 100,000 kph over the Arctic Ocean, entirely unnoticed, until the orange streak was spotted in satellite imagery. Meanwhile, two missions are currently exploring much larger asteroids – Japan’s Hyabusa-2 mission to Ryugu and NASA’s Osiris-REX mission to Bennu. Chris North and Edward Gomez discuss Read more
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