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Becky-smethurst
Becky Smethurst

A Brief History of Black Holes and Why Nearly Everything you know about them is Wrong CANCELLED

Becky Smethurst

Tuesday, 28 March 2023

2:00pm

1 hour

Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre

£7 - £12.50

This event has been cancelled due to unforeseen personal circumstances. Ticket purchases will be refunded by the TicketSource box office. If you purchased your ticket with a credit for 2020, the credit has been restored to your code.

Astrophysicist and leading science communicator Dr Becky Smethurst explains the real story of black holes and how they contain the answers to the most profound questions of our universe.

Smethurst looks at the scientific breakthroughs that have uncovered the weird and wonderful world of black holes, including the collapse of massive stars and the first photograph of a black hole taken in 2019. She explains why black holes are not really black, what it means to be ‘spaghettified’, and why black holes are more like sofas than hoovers.

Smethurst is an astrophysicist based at the University of Oxford and holder of the Royal Astronomical Society’s Research Fellowship for 2022. Her YouTube channel on space has 400,000 subscribers and her first book, Space: 10 Things You Should Know, was one of the Sky at Night magazine’s top 20 books of 2019.

Owen Mumford logo

University of Oxford Netflix European Union Delegation of the European Union to the United Kingdom Cultural Relations Platform Supporter of the festival's Voices of Europe programme Owen Mumford Supporter of programme of science and medicine and annual science and innovation award Bodleian Libraries Festival cultural partner Oxford Martin School Festival ideas partner Spanish Embassy Event generously supported by the Spanish Embassy Cervantes Institute, London Republic of Panama Event generously supported by Republic of Panama Italian Embassy Supporter of Italian programme The Dorchester Hotels Collection Festival London hotel partner International Literary Properties Festival literary heritage partner Blackwell’s Festival on-site and online bookseller The Randolph Hotel by Graduate Hotels Sponsor of the festival crime fiction programme Jim Mellon John Roberts Lady Hatch Patron donor for the programme of Irish literature and culture Tim and Marion Stevenson Martin and Elise Becket Smith Miles Young Masumi and Jonathan Dobson Pank Koria CEO of Project People Carole and John Allen David Isaac Jill Dunsmore Mary and Cecil Quillen Supporters of the programme of American literature and culture Anna Hunter Exeter College Exeter College: college home of the festival New College Worcester College Worcester College Lincoln College Lincoln College St Cross College St Cross College Trinity College Trinity College Critchleys Accountants to the festival Pasture to Plate Compassion in World Farming Symington Wines of the Douro Valley Princeton University Press Prestige publishing partner European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Jewish Book Week Partner of Jewish programme Foodbuy Thje Menu Partners Institute of Hospitality Project People Royal Academy of Arts British Academy Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies Oxford United Football Club Racalia Olive Oil Olive oil from Sicily BBC Radio Oxford Local radio partner Bear Ram Elk Festival Digital Strategy & Web Design Paul Bloomfield Ltd University of Oxford Alumni Office Alumni Office Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies Conference Oxford Felicity Bryan Associates CAV Oxford The Sheldonian Theatre Oxford University Images Oxford University Images Oxford University Department for Continuing Education Oxford Brookes University OX magazine Ox in a Box K T Bruce Photography K T Bruce Photography The Litmus Partnership Schoolreaders La Leccia Literature Ireland Confucius Institute Pusey House James Currey Society
 

The Oxford Literary Festival sponsors, donors & partners

University of Oxford Netflix European Union Delegation of the European Union to the United Kingdom Cultural Relations Platform Supporter of the festival's Voices of Europe programme Owen Mumford Supporter of programme of science and medicine and annual science and innovation award Bodleian Libraries Festival cultural partner Oxford Martin School Festival ideas partner Spanish Embassy Event generously supported by the Spanish Embassy Cervantes Institute, London Republic of Panama Event generously supported by Republic of Panama Italian Embassy Supporter of Italian programme The Dorchester Hotels Collection Festival London hotel partner International Literary Properties Festival literary heritage partner Blackwell’s Festival on-site and online bookseller The Randolph Hotel by Graduate Hotels Sponsor of the festival crime fiction programme Jim Mellon John Roberts Lady Hatch Patron donor for the programme of Irish literature and culture Tim and Marion Stevenson Martin and Elise Becket Smith Miles Young Masumi and Jonathan Dobson Pank Koria CEO of Project People Carole and John Allen David Isaac Jill Dunsmore Mary and Cecil Quillen Supporters of the programme of American literature and culture Anna Hunter Exeter College Exeter College: college home of the festival New College Worcester College Worcester College Lincoln College Lincoln College St Cross College St Cross College Trinity College Trinity College Critchleys Accountants to the festival Pasture to Plate Compassion in World Farming Symington Wines of the Douro Valley Princeton University Press Prestige publishing partner European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Jewish Book Week Partner of Jewish programme Foodbuy Thje Menu Partners Institute of Hospitality Project People Royal Academy of Arts British Academy Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies Oxford United Football Club Racalia Olive Oil Olive oil from Sicily BBC Radio Oxford Local radio partner Bear Ram Elk Festival Digital Strategy & Web Design Paul Bloomfield Ltd University of Oxford Alumni Office Alumni Office Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies Conference Oxford Felicity Bryan Associates CAV Oxford The Sheldonian Theatre Oxford University Images Oxford University Images Oxford University Department for Continuing Education Oxford Brookes University OX magazine Ox in a Box K T Bruce Photography K T Bruce Photography The Litmus Partnership Schoolreaders La Leccia Literature Ireland Confucius Institute Pusey House James Currey Society