JHI Public Lecture - How far is the Sun?

Event Date: 26 June 2025

Join us for a talk about the Sun and determining distances by our Emeritus Professor Don Kurtz!.

The lecture is given at the Darwen Lecture Theatre at UCLan on 26 June 2025 at 6:30pm (refreshments from 6pm)

Everyone is taught as a child that the Sun is 150 million km away from the Earth. But how do we know that? Have a look at the Sun at sunset sometime. Is it obvious to you how far away it is? The Sun is half a degree in angular size, but then so is the Moon, which is only 384,000 km away. So, we cannot determine the distance to the Sun from just looking at it. Finding its distance was the major scientific challenge of the 18th century. This lecture will tell a story of a cold castle tower, a dungeon, a Great Dane, a hypochondriac, Shakespeare, a child prodigy, a genius, sea battles and voyages of discovery, royal observatories, a clockmaker, a gentleman returned from the dead, and even Dixieland jazz – all leading to the greatest payoff of all time.

Book your free ticket on Eventbrite.

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