PROFESSOR ANDREW BUNKER, Professor of Astrophysics, and Fellow of St Catherine’s College, Oxford
‘Finding the most distant galaxies in the universe’
We were delighted to welcome our speaker, Professor Andrew Bunker, who has been working on a state-of-the-art new telescope powerful enough to detect the galaxies in our universe formed immediately after the Big Bang. What is the Big Bang? How large is our own galaxy, the Milky Way? How many other galaxies are there in our universe? Indeed, how many universes are there? Apparently, a great deal more than it would seem! We had an expert guide to lead us through these questions, which are beyond our imagination, and illustrate how very, very insignificant is our own little world.
The talk was preceded by the 2018 AGM of the branch, which also marked the retirement of our Chairman, Jack Edwards, after six years of highly successful leadership for which he was warmly thanked. He was presented with a case of wine from the members, and his very supportive wife Jill, (a frequent judge at our Public Speaking Competitions), was given flowers. His successor will be chosen when Dartmouth House’s plans for the branches are finalised. Meanwhile, our President, Dr Tony Wood, will be acting as chairman.
