These are some quick synopses of some of my more popular talks, and many can be be adapted for a variety of audiences.

Other possible topics not included here are: Big Numbers (suitable for KS3/4); Life on Mars? (general); Finding your way around the night sky (general); Exoplanets and how to find them (general and astro-soc)... and many many more...

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The science and beauty of nebulae This talk is about interstellar space - not truly a vacuum devoid of matter, but inhabited by vast thin clouds of gas and dust that appear as glorious and complex structures. We showcase some of the most spectacular images of these ‘nebulae’, including many taken with the Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes. We shall look at them with new eyes, dissecting the pictures and learning how to ‘read’ what they tell us about the turbulent story of the birth and death of stars. Indeed, revealing the science behind the beauty. You can watch a a video of this talk from March 2011 suitable for : general public, crowd-pleaser (lots of pretty images), astro-socs and most audiences

A voyage round Saturn, its rings and moons Saturn is the most beautiful planet in our Solar System. Famous for its bright yet ethereal rings, the gas giant has over sixty natural satellites in orbit around it – and one artificial satellite: NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, which provides many of the results and images that will be showcased in this talk. We shall explore the weather observed in the atmosphere of Saturn, the curious structures that develop within the rings, and its wide variety of moons – from smog-shrouded Titan, two-sided Iapetus, to busy Prometheus, and the icy plumes erupting from frozen Enceladus. You can watch a video of this talk from November 2011 ; a ppt file and transcript are also available at the same site. suitable for : general public, crowd-pleaser (lots of pretty images), astro-socs and most audiences

The sounds of the Universe In space no-one can hear you scream...but it is still a noisy Universe. We are familiar with the many stunning images of space, but these are only part of the whole human experience. This lecture takes a new approach to appreciating the Universe, through the vehicle of sound. Once we understand how sound is propagated, we can look at the how and where it can exist in space. We examine how sound can be a diagnostic of cosmic phenomena (such as the song of the Sun and distant stars), the way it can carry energy across vast volumes of space (away from a black hole humming in B♭), how it can be a useful way to illustrate processes in astronomy (such as the rapid spin of pulsars, and other more local radio emissions) and how it is ultimately responsible for the growth of all structure we see today in the cosmos. You can watch a video of this talk from November 2011 ; a ppt file and transcript are also available at the same site. suitable for : general public, crowd-pleaser, astro-socs and most audiences

A close look at the Moon Our only natural satellite has been an object of fascination for humankind since prehistory. Despite being the only other place in the Solar System we have visited in person, we are still making startling discoveries about the Moon – and what it reveals about our own planet. suitable for : general public, astro-socs and most audiences

Your place in the cosmos Everyone knows space is big - but where and how do we and the planet we live on fit into the Solar System, or our own Galaxy? Then what lies beyond the Milky Way? This talk will introduce you to the scale, structure and geography of our Universe. Come along and get a new sense of perspective! suitable for : crowd-pleaser for very general audiences

Rotation in space Rotation is a fundamental physical process throughout the Universe. So much is spinning, from planets and stars revolving on their axes, to whole spiral galaxies rotating around their centre. We shall start by looking at the fundamentals of rotational motion, including the concept of angular momentum. This then will be extended to show what observations of rotation can tell us about how planetary systems form and develop, how neutron stars evolve with time, and how rotational motion provides crucial evidence for the presence and distribution of the elusive dark matter. You can watch a video of this talk from February 2012; a transcript and ppt file are also available at this site. suitable for : general public, or astro-socs

Normal and Interacting galaxies After a glance at any coffee-table book on astronomy, you might be forgiven for thinking that there are only majestic spirals out there... but no, there is a whole universe of different shapes and types of galaxies. We look at some of the 'ordinary' galaxies (in that any galaxy can ever be regarded as 'ordinary'...), and then move to some of the more peculiar systems, discussing quite how and why they came to morph into such strange shapes. suitable for : general public, or astro-socs - some overlap with your place in the cosmos, clusters of galaxies

Clusters of Galaxies Clusters of galaxies are the largest organised structures in the Universe that appear gravitationally bound, containing thousands of galaxies all confined to a volume of space only tens of millions of light years across. They are laboratories for extreme galaxy evolution, as many of the processes that can change the structure of galaxies are accelerated in such a crowded environment. Clusters of galaxies also provide important constraints for cosmology: from both the way they are grouped into superclusters that trace the ‘large scale structure’ of Universe; and the fact that their internal properties lead to powerful confirmation for the need for dark energy. suitable for : general public, crowd-pleaser, astro-socs and most audiences - some overlap with your place in the cosmos

The cool Universe - Infrared Astronomy It's easy to see the stars at night - they shine so brightly because they are hot. But what about the much cooler parts of our Galaxy, such as the vast arching clouds of Galactic 'cirrus', the dusty proto-planetary torus around young stars, or the the hidden star formation buried within the core of cold dense molecular clouds? For these, and other components of the cool cosmos, we must view instead with infra-red eyes. This talk presents a colourful introduction to infra-red astronomy and some of the very new discoveries being made with the new telescopes and satellites. suitable for : general public and astro-socs - some overlap with Milky Way and Nebulae talks

The energetic Universe - X-ray Astronomy X-radiation is emitted by only the hottest and most dramatic regions of the Universe - where there are gigantic explosions, or intense magnetic or gravitational fields. An optical view of the sky shows where stars are burning through nuclear fusion; an X-ray view instead reveals regions powered by gravitation or where there is plasma heated to millions of degrees. This talk is a colourful introduction to X-ray astronomy - why it's important, and the kind of discoveries that have been made over the last few decades. suitable for : general public or astro-socs

Comets, Asteroids and Meteors Our Solar System doesn't just comprise the Sun, the eight planets and all their moons, the dwarf planets... but it is also home to many hundreds of thousands of comets, asteroids and meteors. We will look at the properties of these lesser-known inhabitants, and what we have learnt from the spacecraft sent to rendezvous with them. Finally we shall look at exactly how much of a hazard they pose - and what (if anything) we might be able to do about it. suitable for : general public, astro-socs and most audiences

An introduction to the Milky Way How much do you know about the Galaxy we live in? You may know about the bright blue star clusters that spin around in the spiral arms, the diffuse pink nebulae that highlight where new stars are being born... But what is lurking at the core of the galaxy, obscured by swathes of dust clouds? Why do we think we can only observe a fraction of the matter out there? And what is the Milky Way's eventual fate...? suitable for : general audiences - some overlap with ordinary galaxies, nebulae, your place in the cosmos

Cosmology for beginners We live in an expanding Universe - but how do we know? What does this imply for how much 'stuff' there is in the Universe, and what does it mean for the eventual fate of everything? Our story starts with Einstein and Hubble in the 1920's, bringing the story right up to date with the paradigm-shifting discovery of dark energy in 1998. suitable for : KS5 and some brave general audiences and astro-socs

Black holes for beginners Everybody is intrigued by black holes, the very wierdest places in our Universe. We shall discuss the properties of black holes - what they are, how they form, and how on earth can you find something that doesn't give off any light? Along the way we shall discover much more about both Newton's and Einstein's ideas about gravity, space and time... and of course ponder what happens should you be unfortunate enough to venture too near to one. suitable for: KS3/4, some general audiences

The wonders of the Solar System/Exploring the Solar System This are catch-all titles for an adaptable talk that can cover either a very simple introduction-to-the-planets for youngsters, to more comple ideas about what is needed for life, and/or how we explore the Solar System. suitable for: KS 1/2/3 or very general audiences

Careers in Physics and Astronomy This talk is meant as a gentle discussion about the possibilities opened up by studying the physical sciences at A-level and beyond - with the particular illustration of my own field, Astronomy. What do astronomers do, anyway? suitable for: KS 3/4/5