Exploring the End of the Dark Ages

Speaker: Prof Stephen Wilkins, Head of Astronomy, University of Sussex

In our current understanding, our universe emerged from an incredibly hot, dense state roughly 14 billion years ago. While initially incredibly hot and full of light as the Universe expanded it cooled, eventually becoming dark, entering a period known as the 'cosmological dark ages''. During this period dark matter and gas, attracted by the force of gravity, developed into structures, eventually leading to the formation of the first stars and galaxies, lighting up the universe. This earliest period of galaxy formation is now accessible thanks to the James Webb Space Telescope (Webb). Webb not only allows us to identify examples of early galaxies but learn about their detailed physical properties. Webb has already thrown up surprising results including many more super-massive black holes in the early Universe than expected.

About the Speaker

Stephen Wilkins is a Professor of Astronomy and Public Understanding of Science at the University of Sussex, just outside Brighton. Stephen obtained his Masters in Physics from the University of Durham before receiving his PhD from the University of Cambridge. Stephen then worked as a research fellow at the University of Oxford before joining the faculty at Sussex in 2013. Stephen’s main research focuses on understanding the formation and evolution of galaxies, particularly the first stages in the distant early Universe. To do this Stephen combines observations from telescopes including Webb and Hubble with supercomputer simulations. Outside his research Stephen is also a keen advocate of public understanding of science. Highlights include his leadership of three exhibits at the prestigious Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition and dozens of talks.

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