Skip to primary content
Skip to secondary content

Engaging Research

An Open Research University: Embedding public engagement within the research culture of the OU

Engaging Research

Main menu

  • Home
  • About
  • Engaging opportunities
    • Giving public lectures about research
      • School-University Lectures 2016
      • School-University Lectures 2015
      • School-university lectures 2014
      • School-University Lectures 2013
    • How to organise a research café
      • Possible topics for research cafés
    • Communicating partnerships creatively
    • Resources
    • People
  • An open research university
    • 2015 Engaging Research Award Scheme
      • 2014 Engaging Research Award Scheme
    • Participation Now
    • Evidencing Engaged Research
    • People
  • Resources
    • Digital practices of engaged researchers
    • Snakes and Ladders of Social Media
    • Designing public-centric forms of public engagement with research
    • Evidencing impacts from engaged research
      • Collecting evidence from research-informed practices
      • Juxtalearn: capturing engagement processes
      • Special Educational Needs: The impact of key working
    • School-University Engagement
      • Planning for school-university engagement
      • Open Lectures
      • Open Dialogues
      • Open Inquiry
      • Open Creativity
    • Reports, publications, posts
    • Researching and Practicising Science Communication
    • Postgraduate Science Resources: Open Learn
  • NERC Training
  • Contact

Author Archives: Andrew Norton

Exoplanets and how to find them

Posted on Thursday, 6 February 2014 by Andrew Norton
Professor Andrew Norton, The Open University

Professor Andrew Norton, The Open University

I’m an astrophysicist and my research is mainly concerned with what may be called the “time domain universe”, or simply: stars whose brightness varies with time.

Stars can have a variable brightness for one of several reasons: they might be intrinsically variable due to pulsations of the star’s atmosphere; they might be in orbit with another object that periodically passes in front of it; or they might suffer some form of catastrophic change that causes flaring or outburst behaviour, for instance.

One way to carry out research in time domain astrophysics is simply to monitor the brightness of all the stars in the sky and see what you find. This is, in effect, what is done by the WASP (Wide Angle Search for Planets) project, of which I and others at the Open University are part.

Continue reading →

Posted in Events, Presentations, School-University Engagement | Tagged astronomy, CEPSAR, culture change, Denbigh school, Engaging opportunities, engaging research, engaging with school students, lecture, Public engagement with research, SUPI, Web video

Categories

Recent Posts

  • Denbigh Geography students help to map future research priorities
  • Talking hay while the sun shines
  • Identifying, disentangling and reflecting on traditions in science communication
  • Denbigh School students ‘sow the seeds’ for future urban tree research
  • Three tales from the riverbank

Archives

Blogroll

  • NCCPE: Exploring how universities engage with the public
  • Nottingham University: Making science public
  • Open University: Creating publics
  • QMUL Engagement Blog

Other stuff

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org
Proudly powered by WordPress