A team from the Astronomy and Astrophysics group led by Dr Lauren Doyle attended the Big Bang Fair in Birmingham and were one of the most popular stands with students returning again and again to engage with their stall. The Physics department was represented at the Big Bang Fair by the Astronomy and Astrophysics group (Dr Lauren Doyle, Dr Bec Nealon, Dr Conor Byrne, Dr David O’Neill, Faith Hawthorn, Mairi O’Brien, Ginger Frame and Toby Rodel) who had a stand on the show floor showcasing their brand-new Astro Table! The touch table runs the software Stellar Playground allowing users to experience and explore stellar life cycles, gravitational/orbital mechanics, and the advancement of civilizations by dragging and dropping stars and other exotic celestial objects. Through exploration and play, users can visualise the research the team work on but also experience the physics which drives objects in space.

 Dr Lauren Doyle says:

“Our stall was one of the most popular on the show floor with students coming back again and again throughout their session. We were able to showcase the research within the Astronomy and Astrophysics group and talk to the students about what it is like to pursue a Physics degree at Warwick. This showed the students what opportunities were available to them to study Physics where we had a lot of questions about the degree programme but also to engage with teachers where they were interested in the Outreach that we do for the department and the events we take part in.“

Find out more about the Big Bang Fair.