8 Feb - 15 March 2022

Tuesdays 19:00 - 21:00

(You can buy tickets for individual weeks or the whole 6 week course)

Course summary

This six week course is an excellent way to discover the wonders of our universe and all the mysteries we're yet to unravel. All explained in simple, everyday language with no maths or complex jargon.

We'll start close to home and venture ever further out until we reach the very edge of the observable universe. Our journey will take in black holes, dark matter, alien planets, other universes and more.

Sessions will be recorded and available for one week until the start of the next session.

Feedback from previous course participants

"Totally engrossing"

"You certainly have a knack of explaining really complex things in an accessible and understandable way!"

"This course has been really well thought out and crystal clear. It’s a truly exhilarating series of classes!"

"Colin is an amazing teacher - fabulous visual aids and he explains everything so clearly"

"We were surprised that, with so little knowledge of astrophysics, we were able to grasp the concepts that Colin was explaining to us"

Course breakdown

Week 1 - The Inner Solar System

Key topic: solar physics and planetary science

Exploring the Sun and the four planets that orbit closest to it. Also a chance to examine our own Moon and the two moons of Mars, as well as journeying through the asteroid belt.

Week 2 - The Outer Solar System

Key topic: solar system formation

A tour of the realm of the gas giants and their moons, and a look at the demotion of Pluto to one of five dwarf planets. Plus a trip to the comets of the Oort cloud and the debate over where our solar system came from and where it ends.

Week 3 - Our local galactic neighbourhood

Key topics: exoplanets and the evolution of stars

Almost everything you can see in the night sky in contained in our local galactic neighbourhood. Explore the night sky, tour the nearest star factory to Earth and learn about cataclysmic supernovas. Plus discover the thousands of planets beyond our solar system and whether any of them could be home to life.

Week 4 - The Milky Way

Key topics: Spiral galaxies, black holes, dark matter and SETI

How big is our city of stars? How many inhabitants does it have? We'll investigate the Milky Way's size, age and shape as well as the super-massive black hole that lurks at its heart. There is also chance to discuss the dark matter that continues to puzzle astronomers.

Week 5 - The Local Group

Key topic: measuring cosmic distances

Our Milky Way has neighbours of its own including the Andromeda galaxy. Look ahead to its future collision with our galaxy, as well as the bigger structure of this part of the universe. We'll also look at how we measure distances across the vast chasm of space.

Week 6 - The Universe

Key topics: The Big Bang, the Multiverse (parallel universes), particle physics and dark energy

The autobiography of our cosmos. From its inception in the Big Bang, to the formation of the first stars and galaxies, to the dark energy currently thought to be driving its acceleration. We'll even contemplate the possibility of other universes and other versions of you.

Cost: £99 for the whole course or £20 to attend any of the weeks individually

About me:

I’m an award-winning astronomy author and speaker. My nineteen books have sold more than 400,000 copies worldwide and been translated into 21 languages. Plus I've written over 200 popular science articles for publications including The Guardian, New Scientist, The Wall Street Journal and BBC Science Focus. I also write the monthly Absolute Beginners column for Astronomy Now magazine.

As well as writing a book with the astronaut Tim Peake, I've won The Margaret Mallett Award for Children’s Non-Fiction and been runner-up in the European Astronomy Journalism Prize. A Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, I've appeared on BBC News, Sky News and Radio 5Live. I'm also lucky enough to have had the asteroid (15347) Colinstuart named after me.