For this episode we were outside the Great North Museum: Hancock as part of the Great Exhibition of the North with cosmologist and dark matter explorer Dr Alex Amon. At the time, Alex was just completing her PhD at the Institute for Astronomy in Edinburgh and has recently been awarded the prestigious Royal Astronomical Society thesis prize. She is super cool.

In this episode Alex explains:

• what dark energy and dark matter are and how you find it
• what “gravitational lensing” is
• how space telescopes work
• how to get a job looking at galaxies
• her new project looking for “killer asteroids”

and answers questions including:

• what will happen when the Milky Way and the Andromeda galaxies collide?
• what even is the Milky Way anyway?

and Alex tells us why stars are boring…

Enjoy!

LINKS

Alex on Twitter @astroalexamon

Alex’s excellent article Shedding Light on the Dark Universe

CREDITS

Presenters: Jon Spooner & Mini Jon

Sound Engineer & Editor: Andy Wood

Additional sound design: Elena Pena

Music: Public Service Broadcasting

Producers: Jon Spooner, Alice Massey, Sarah Webb for Unlimited

Consultancy: Storythings

Graphic Design: Lee Goater

The Unlimited Space Agency and The Space Shed are projects of Unlimited Theatre

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