David Elder Lectures

Glasgow Science Centre is proud to host the David Elder Lectures in partnership with the University of Strathclyde's Department of Physics. The David Elder lecture series presents a line-up of fascinating talks by expert astronomers, spaceflight pioneers, award-winning science writers and broadcasters. This lecture series continues the tradition of monthly astronomy lectures in Glasgow which began with the first David Elder Lecture in 1905!

This regular monthly programme of talks runs over the winter months each year. Each lecture lasts approx. 1 hour and is best suited to older teenagers and adults.

• Month: Monthly from October to March
• Time: 19:00 GMT
• Duration: 1 hour
• Price: Online - free

The next lecture of the 2021/22 series takes place online as a livestream at 19:00 on Tuesday, 23 November. Details of future lectures will be forthcoming later in the year.

Planet Nine from Outer Space

19:00 GMT on Tuesday, 23 November 2021

Streaming live online - YouTube and Facebook

Mike Brown is the Richard and Barbara Rosenberg Professor of Planetary Astronomy at the California Institute of Technology and the author of "How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming".

In the past 175 years, more than 30 separate astronomers have suggested the existence of a giant planet beyond Neptune. They have always been wrong.

In 2016, Konstantin Batygin and Mike Brown joined the list, suggesting that Planet Nine, at a distance perhaps 20 times greater than that of Neptune, is the only plausible explanation for a wide range of phenomena in the distant solar system.

In this David Elder Lecture, Mike will talk about why they think Planet Nine is real, how they’re continuing to develop their hypothesis, and what they are doing to track down this elusive planet and when they might find it.

Some aspects of the lectures are technical, and they are therefore most likely to appeal to older teenagers and interested adults.

The livestream comprises a 35-minute lecture and included a 20-25 minute opportunity for viewers to ask questions.

Using satellites to understand changing sea levels

19:00 GMT on Thursday, 7 October 2021

Streaming live online - YouTube and Facebook

The continuous and near‐global coverage of satellites has led to significant advances in our understanding of sea-level rise on both global and regional scales.

In this David Elder lecture, which is presented in partnership with the Department of Physics at the University of Strathclyde, NASA’s Dr. Ben Hamlington will give us an overview of the sea level observing network, and how it connects to vital improvements in our understanding of the processes that drive sea level change.

He’ll discuss the future of observing, and areas where there is still uncertainty in assessments of future sea level, as well as the challenges of translating science into action, and potential solutions to these challenges.

Some aspects of the lectures are technical, and they are therefore most likely to appeal to older teenagers and interested adults.

The livestream comprises a 35-minute lecture and 20-25 minute opportunity for viewers.