Between 23rd and 26th June 2014 over 600 astronomers gathered in Portsmouth for the annual National Astronomy Meeting. This meeting, organised by the Royal Astronomical Society, provides the opportunity for physicists, astronomers, space scientists and cosmologists to discuss the latest developments in their areas of research. It covers a huge range of topics, so cosmologists can find out about what’s happening on the Sun, or planetary scientists can hear about the formation of stars.

For this month’s instalment of Pythagoras’ Trousers, I spoke to a few scientists I met while at the conference: Edward Gomez, Helen Fraser, Jane Greaves, and Brooke Simmons. You can listen to the extended version of the astronomy segment below, or listen to the full Pythagoras Trousers episode.

Scott Balfour’s simulation of a star forming cloud.

The work discussed in those interviews is clearly a tiny fraction of the total. Several members of the School of Physics and Astronomy presented their work in astronomy research as well as our outreach and education projects. PhD student Scott Balfour presented his latest computer simulations of star formation, recreating structures very similar to one of the most famous astronomical objects, the “Pillars of Creation”. You can read all about this on the RAS website and on Universe Today.

You can also read about Edward Gomez’s endeavours during the “NAM Hack Day”.