Today the Durham School Tristram Society have invited Professor Derek Ward-Thompson who is the Head of Natural Sciences at the University of Central Lancashire to speak to them about how to take a picture of a black hole.

The Tristram Society is aimed specifically at potential scientists, but open to all pupils with an interest in this discipline and it offers targeted sessions focused on the world of science. The society is completely pupil lead and our Year 13 pupil Hanlu organised today’s lecture.

Speaking about the lecture, Hanlu said:

I am particularly interested in this lecture because astrophysics is such a fascinating subject. It awes me every time and I am sure I am not the only one. There are so many things that are unknown to us in the universe, but every time we discover a new celestial event, or a new theory, we gain a better understanding of the world which we are living in. This topic especially is quite recent as scientists only just managed to take the first picture of a black hole in 2019, so I think it’ll be a really engaging lecture. I am looking forward to find out about the technologies involved in this and what we can learn from such a picture, for example, how it paves way to any future research on black holes.

When asked about being a part of the Tristram Society, Hanlu said:

Being part of the Tristram Society has given me a huge opportunity to gain leadership skills as well as learning science outside of lessons with a group of like-minded students. The events are initiated by students allowing us to practice our communication and organisation skills which I think will really benefit me in the future. The activities cover a broad range of sciences including physics, chemistry, biology and medicine to inspire students to pursue a scientific career. As a team, we meet up once a week to discuss progress and plans and it has been a wonderful experience working with the group.