‘A vast telescope will create a movie of the universe’

On the night before Sian’s mother died we were talking with her about all sorts of stuff. I brought into the conversation Catherine Heymans who had recently been appointed as Scotland’s first woman Astronomer Royal.  Our conversation naturally travelled and Eileen [Sian’s mum] asked about Dark Matter. Sian then explained to her mum that, although dark matter is 95% of the universe, it is invisible and we still do not know what sort of ‘stuff’ it is!

My friend, the poet Rab Wilson, wrote ‘Oor Big Braw Cosmos’ with John Brown [the previous Astronomer Royal]. I was fortunate to be there for its ‘launch’ in Glasgow:

I wrote this poem for my friend Rab: