Your Universe Festival 2024

For thousands of years, the northern lights have captivated the human imagination. There are myths talking about the souls of dead sailors, celestial dances of gods and goddesses. The mysterious and dynamic displays are perhaps the most impressive events to be seen in the sky. But how are they produced? What can we learn from them? Join UCL alumnus Phil Halper, a seasoned aurora chaser, whose images have appeared in The Guardian, The Washington Post, The BBCʼS Sky at Night and was shortlisted as astronomer photographer of the year. Phil will treat us with his unique pictures, real time video and most importantly give expert tips on how you can see the aurora yourself and why now is the perfect time..

Image: Steingrímsstöð Power station, Northern Lights, Credit: Phil Halper

What is the origin of everything around us? Do we live in a cosmic Paradise? How unique is our home planet? Why is there so much human conflict, injustice and environmental destruction?

This will be a lecture-discussion about the colossal global challenges that humankind is facing for the first time in history.

Join us in this historical adventure. We will visit ancient creation myths and follow the amazing discoveries of modern science about the unique origin of humankind and the tragedy behind the colonisation of planet Earth.

In our open discussion, we will analyse the current global challenges, review some of the beautiful environmental projects in progress, recall ancestral wisdom and explore your ideas to make this a better world.

We will close with a short meditation.

This event is aimed at the general public/families. School children especially welcome, as usually they contribute the most imaginative, free and positive ideas.

This event will be recorded.

Different stations with themes, including the lives of stars, star classification, cosmology, a space-time continuum simulation, telescope optics, galaxy classification, the European Space Agency Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (ESA JUICE) mission to Jupiter , and more! Talk to UCL scientists and students about their research. Bookable-on-the-day Stellarium sky simlulation workshops. Free-flow format - you can come and go, and even stay on for our evening panel event (see above) (please book the tickets for each separately).

Life is arguably the most complex component of the Universe. How does it appear? How frequently? How many types of life are there? In a Universe that seems to contain more planets than stars, it may seem frustrating that we have only one example of life appearing on a small planet with liquid water on the surface and a relatively thin and transparent atmosphere.

In this panel discussion, we will explore the likelihood of alien life and even alien intelligece, able to travel along the enormous distances between the stars in our Galaxy.

Then, the inevitable questions arise: where are the aliens? Do UFO's exist? Are we really alone in the Universe?

Panelists include Ian Crawford, Professor of Planetary Science and Astrobiology at Birkbeck, University of London and Dr Mihkel Kama, expert in the formation of planetary systems and Assistant Professor at the Dept of Physics and Astronomy, UCL.

The panelists will give their presentations and after a short break, there will be plenty of time for an open discussion with the audience, where there may be more questions than answers.

Session moderated by Dr Francisco Diego, Festival Director