Physics: WIMPS and Bullets – The Mystery of Dark Matter with Dr Ben Maughan from The University of Bristol

Ben will present our current understanding of the nature of dark matter – the mysterious, invisible form of matter that dominates the Universe. He will cover some basic astronomical concepts such as distances, redshifts and the expansion of the Universe. He will then focus on a specific example of a colliding cluster of galaxies which gives new insight into the nature of dark matter.

The session will be based around a presentation, but will include some discussion sections for the students, and an interactive section for the students to experiment with images of a galaxy cluster in different wavelengths. This will make use of printouts and transparencies to be printed by the schools from material they will be emailed. The session will finish with a Q&A.

Suitable for: Year 11, 12 & 13

Preparation/Pre-reading: There is no pre-reading or preparation required for this session. There will be an acetate printout to be printed prior to the session. This will be emailed to participating schools.