Our Scholars were treated to a galactic spectacle as Dr. Peter Swift joined us from Durham University to give his Astrophysics lecture from within a planetarium in our very own hall. Students were enthralled as Peter shared his passion for understanding our planetary system, discussed the measurements used and the make up of planets and the sheer number of galaxies that exist. He then showed us the Durham’s night sky as it would appear without light pollution and students learnt how stars appear in different colour and that it takes up to 15 years for us to see when a red star has imploded.

Dr Swift captured students’ imaginations and had them asking complex and considered questions throughout. At the end of the session Peter shared his own fields of research – creating invisibility cloaks using microwaves, he reassured us that whilst it’s possible whilst stood still in the corner, we’re a while away from having Harry Potter’s magical moving cloak.