Astronomy Lecture with Professor Roger Davies

The search for distant worlds: the incredible story of the discovery of planets beyond the Solar System

We are delighted to welcome back Professor Roger Davies from Oxford University to our Dark Skies Festival this year to lead an informative talk at South Molton. Join him as he delves beyond the Solar System and explains how Voyager’s famous picture of the `pale blue dot’ showed just how small and isolated planet Earth is. How could astronomers possibly find planets orbiting around other stars? We’ll trace the story of this discovery, one of the most important of the twentieth century, and the follow-up work which has resulted in the detection of over 5000 `exo-planets’.

Roger Davies is an astronomer and emeritus Professor at the University of Oxford. He has observed at many of the world’s leading observatories including those in the United States, the Canary Islands, Hawaii, Chile, and Australia. He has a passion for communicating astronomy to the public speaking regularly at schools, clubs and events. He has led tours to observe both the Northern Lights and Solar eclipses, most recently to Mexico in April 2024.

Q&A following the talk. Arrive 7pm for 7.30pm start. Tea/Coffee/Biscuits £8 per person.