...with Alex Amon

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 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.