Embark on an awe-inspiring journey to uncover the mysteries of the cosmos. Dive into the heart of a black hole, a region of spacetime where gravity is so intense that nothing—not even light—can escape. Travel through the core of a star like our Sun, where nuclear fusion produces the energy that sustains life. Unravel the story of how the violent deaths of massive stars, through spectacular supernovae, scatter the elements that form the building blocks of life across the universe. Explore the immense power of black holes, which act as the engines of galaxies, driving some of the most energetic phenomena ever observed. From exploding stars to the supermassive black holes at the centre of nearly every galaxy, the universe’s most extreme events reveal the profound connection between the cosmos and ourselves. After all, the atoms in our bodies were forged in the hearts of ancient stars—we are truly made of stardust.

Dr Chris Crowe is a professional astronomer, teacher, elected fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, and received degrees in theoretical physics and mathematics from the universities of Nottingham and Cambridge. He is currently the Head of Astronomy and Director of The Rayleigh Observatory in London where he teaches astronomy. He works extensively in public outreach at science festivals across the UK and hosts public observing evenings. Previously part of a research team at the University of Cambridge studying the relic radiation from the big bang, he worked in the same department as the late Stephen Hawking while studying for his doctorate. Recently he has been part of a team designing a new state-of-the-art observatory in the Caribbean. His main research interests are cosmology and the early Universe, and was part of the international Planck collaboration, a European Space  Agency project which uncovered light from the earliest moments of the primordial Universe.

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