Broadcast: News items

A team of astronomers from the University of Sussex, led by Research Fellow Dr Will Roper, took part in this year's Goodwood Festival of Speed as part of Future Lab, the festival's showcase of science and technology. The event attracts around 250,000 visitors over four days and highlights innovations in motoring, engineering, and cutting-edge research.

This year's exhibit, developed in collaboration with researchers at Imperial College London and the University of Durham and inspired by the theme of the Moon, invited visitors to recreate the formation of our nearest celestial neighbour by colliding planets together.

Dr Will Roper, Research Fellow in Extragalactic Astronomy at Sussex, said: "Our Moon is unusual because we believe it formed following a collision between the young Earth and a Mars-sized object known as Theia. In our exhibit, visitors can explore different impact scenarios by changing how Earth and Theia collide. In some cases, the Earth is effectively destroyed, while in others the two bodies simply merge together. Only under a narrow range of conditions do we see the formation of a moon similar to our own."

This year's exhibit builds on Sussex contributions to Future Lab in 2023 and 2025, which focused on the James Webb Space Telescope and the European Space Agency's Euclid mission.

Professor Stephen Wilkins, Head of Physics and Astronomy at Sussex, said: "The Festival of Speed provides an excellent opportunity to engage large audiences with the cutting-edge science being carried out here at Sussex."