Jeremiah Horrocks Public Lecture - Islands of Infinity

Event Date: 29 January 2026

Join us for a for a mind-bending journey exploring the endless possibilities of the universe at Islands in Infinity with our Professor Derek Ward-Thompson! The lecture is given at the Darwin Lecture Theatre at UCLan.

In this talk Professor Derek Ward-Thompson will describe and discuss galaxies, from our own Milky Way, via spirals, barred spiral, ellipticals, irregulars and galaxies undergoing mergers and collisions, to the largest structures in the Universe, including clusters, super-clusters, filaments and voids, arcs and rings. He will also talk about his experiences with Sir Brian May in writing their book ‘Galaxies in 3D’. In particular, he will discuss the making of the 3D galaxy images by co-author J-P Metsavainio.

Professor Derek Ward-Thompson read Physics at Oxford University, before taking a PhD, some 40 years ago, in Astronomy at Durham University, specifically studying spiral galaxies. Since then, he has worked at the then Lancashire Polytechnic, Cambridge University, the Royal Observatory Edinburgh and Cardiff University, before returning to Preston to be Director of the Jeremiah Horrocks Institute of the now University of Lancashire.

Book your free ticket on Eventbrite.

For more information look at the JHI Public Lecture website or email VPDebattista@uclan.ac.uk