A Cosmic Perspective: astronomy, technology and culture

Friday 3rd July 3pm - Parish Hall, Llandaff - free

The Universe and our place in it is one of the core mysteries that faces humanity. From the earliest times ancient peoples have told stories about the shapes they saw in the night sky. These stories live with us today but they are part of an ever evolving story which is stranger and more fascinating than we expect. Astronomy is the most ancient science known to humanity but it is also one of the most technologically advanced. The invention of the telescope showed that the heavens did not behave exactly like clockwork, which kickstarted the Renaissance in Europe. Everywhere we look in the Universe there are new discoveries, whose stories are being teased out by astronomers all over the world, using cutting edge technologies. In this talk, I will take the audience on a journey through time, showing how astronomy has influenced culture, driven technology, and inspired generations.

Dr Edward Gomez is an award winning, welsh astronomer, working for Las Cumbres Observatory. His research is in asteroids, cosmic dust and machine learning. He is passionate about communicating science, and has created many educational science projects, including Serol's Cosmic Explorers and the Ada's Adventures in Science comic book, which aim to inspire under-represented audiences.