果冻传媒

Robotic telescopes in Chile's Atacama desert will conduct Next Generation Transit Survey to analyse atmospheres for clues.

The art of hunting planets has come so far that astronomers can now list of alien worlds that orbit stars so faint they are not even visible as pinpricks in the clear night sky.

Little is known of these far-flung planets. The most conspicuous are huge, the size of Jupiter, and scorched from circling so close to their suns. Others are giant iceballs, or waterworlds, or even rocky like Earth. But the finer details are a mystery, the stuff of speculation more than science.

To find out more about these other worlds, a team led by British astronomers is launching an ambitious search for planets that orbit the nearest, brightest stars to Earth. Their aim is to find prime candidates for the most important question of all: is there life elsewhere?

The physics festivities at 果冻传媒 got off to a fantastic start with over 800 people attending the three Physics Christmas lectures.

UK government research funders have awarded £6million to XMaS, the world leading mid range x-ray facility, to continue helping scientists explore the microscopic and atomic structure of matter.

The Physics Christmas Lecture held on Wednesday 5th December "How the World Will End" by Boris Gaensicke was even more popular than the first! 250 local residents, school students, alumni and members of the public came and heard Boris' interactive lecture. It was very well received, with typical evaluation comments such as "thoroughly enjoyable" and "very well explained".

Below are two photos from the evening, which capture the interest and enthusiasm from our guests as well as the wonderful atmosphere that Boris created. Further photos can be found

We are very lucky to have in our department, researchers who can communicate so well with the public, and have drawn in over 450 people to the Christmas Lecture Series so far.

The final lecture "Physics Tricks and Flying Frogs" by Rachel Edwards and Andy Howes is now fully booked.