Public talks

My following list of talks are suitable for schools, colleges and the general public alike.

The Tidal Universe

Anyone who lives along the coast is used to watching the tides rise and fall twice each day. But such tidal forces are active throughout our Universe – with both creative and destructive results.
Gravity is well known as the force that binds the cosmos together, yet it is the differences in gravity that lead to some of the most dramatic phenomena in the Universe. From ocean tides that gave rise to life on Earth (and possibly elsewhere in our solar system, and beyond), to the destruction of stars by supermassive black holes and the evolution of entire galaxies, in this talk we discover how tidal forces have shape our Universe across a vast range of scales.

Astrophotography - without a telescope!

Digital cameras, originally developed for astronomical research in the 1970's & 80's, are now commonplace. With immediate feedback allowing a rapid learning curve, what used to take weeks or even years of dedicated practice can now be done within an hour. And as software and digital technology continues to rapidly improve, getting great photographs of the night sky has never been easier.
This introductory talk includes plenty of ideas for astrophotography that you can try at home – without the need for a telescope. From the Moon to the Milky Way, and from shooting stars to star trails, the audience will leave with plenty of ideas on how to take great, original photographs of the night sky.

The Aurora

The aurora, the dancing lights that illuminate up the night sky, is a wondrous sight that have been visible over Brighton several times in 2024/5 as the Sun went through a period of maximum activity. In this talk, we look at the science behind the lights to understand their shapes and colours, and look beyond Earth at the aurora on other planets - both within our solar system and beyond!

Brilliant Binaries!

Even though they just look like single stars to our eyes, half the stars in the night sky are actually in pairs - binary stars! This talk covers the weird and wonderful variety of binary star systems - including pairs that a so close together that they are tearing each other apart!

Observing the Hawaiian skies

The UK has access to large telescope facilities at the top of Mauna Kea in Hawai’i. This presentation is all about life as an astronomer, working nights at an altitude of over 4,000m.

Observing the Invisible Universe, with the Webb Space Telescope

A talk about the Webb Space telescope, launched on Christmas Day 2021 as the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, and how the sky looks in infrared light.

X-treme Astronomy

The sky looks so peaceful on a clear dark night, but it is actually violent almost beyond comprehension - and that is revealed through observing the Universe with X-ray eyes. This talk looks at the field of X-ray astronomy, both the space telescopes we use to detect this highly energetic form of light, and about what we actually see.

And an appropriate brief biography to go with these talks...

Dr Darren Baskill has over 25 years of experience in astrophotography since studying astrophysics at the University of Leicester. He began using old-fashioned film and patience, and is now stunned on a regular basis at the sensitivity of modern digital cameras. Darren also initiated the Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition when he worked at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, and is now a lecturer at the University of Sussex in Brighton.

A longer bio is available on my career page.