Our Place in Space?
- Date 17 November 2026 - 5.00 p.m.
- Location Garden Quad Auditorium, St John's College
In this lecture Professor Katherine Blundell OBE will explore how our understanding of the Universe has transformed our sense of where we belong within it.
From our neighbourhood in the Solar System to the extraordinary scales and phenomena of deep space, Our Place in Space? will consider what modern astronomy reveals about our cosmic surroundings – and the science that allows us to investigate them. The lecture will offer an intriguing exploration of discovery, perspective and our place in an astonishing Universe.
About Professor Katherine Blundell OBE
Katherine Blundell OBE is Professor of Astrophysics at Oxford University, the 38th Gresham Professor of Astronomy, and a Research Fellow at St John's College. Before this she was one of the Royal Society's University Research Fellows, a Research Fellow of the 1851 Royal Commission, and a Junior Research Fellow at Balliol College, Oxford.
Professor Blundell’s research interests include extreme energy phenomena in the Universe, ranging from supermassive black holes at the hearts of distant, powerful quasars, to plasma physics, to novae.
She is Founder/Director of The Global Jet Watch, that comprises seven worldwide observatories which collect dynamical data on evolving black hole systems and nova explosions in our Galaxy. The majority of these observatories are in schools and a twin goal of The Global Jet Watch is to inspire the next generation of scientists in South Africa, Chile, Australia and India.
Her awards include a Philip Leverhulme Prize in Astrophysics, the Royal Society's Rosalind Franklin Medal in 2010, the Institute of Physics Bragg Medal in 2012, the Royal Astronomical Society's Darwin Lectureship in 2015 and an OBE for services to astronomy and the education of young people in 2017. Minor planet 31006 Katherine is named after her.