Whitby & District Astronomical Society

Dr Massey’s subject matter was something we have visited several times over the years,  what is stuff made of, Chemists would say elements; atoms molecules etc, Physicists would say;  muons, quarks, bosons, up and down particles etc.  Ask an astronomer and he would suggest 4% baryonic or ordinary matter, 23% dark matter and 73% dark energy!

For the first time however, dark matter may have been caught interacting within a galaxy cluster, Abell 3827, located 1.4 billion light-years away. Although the dark matter cannot be seen, the team was able to deduce its location using the technique of gravitational lensing, bending the path of light passing nearby, in this case from a distant galaxy, which happened to be aligned just right for the team's purpose. When Dr Massey and colleagues previously studied collisions between enormous conglomerations of galaxies, they found that the dark matter hardly slowed down, but in this case they found that one dark matter clump appeared to be lagging behind the galaxy it surrounds. Such a lag between the dark matter and its associated galaxy would be expected if the mysterious stuff was interacting with itself - through forces other than gravity.

This slight interaction requires exotic physics, challenging our fundamental theories of particle physics and General Relativity. One potential candidate is the least massive of the (as-yet unobserved) super symmetric particles, and while it is widely believed to be associated with a specific particle, the current theory of physics known as the Standard Model does not account for one, almost all current scientific knowledge concerns only the (few percent) baryons.

Dr Massey did warn that it was too early to say if this is a dark matter effect, or caused by normal astrophysical processes. But it may specify the lower limit of interaction. Simulations will have to be run of these collisions to distinguish these possibilities

Further research by Richard's team has also been published placing an upper limit of the interaction of DM with its surroundings

To further his research, Dr Massey and his team have recently developed and built a new detecting scope called SuperBIT – a low cost solution to perhaps detecting DM particles. Soaring to an altitude around 99% above Earth’s atmosphere, the mission almost ended in disaster when the balloon and instrument package landed less than 30m from a river.

Dr Massey concluded by saying
"We are finally homing in on dark matter from above and below - squeezing our knowledge from two directions."

The Large Hadron Collider will take another approach to cracking the mystery during its second run, which began this month. The giant machine under the French-Swiss border will search for dark matter particles by smashing protons together at unprecedented energies.

The Q&A after Richard's talk was also illuminating.  One person from the audience asked whether dark matter could be a new particle. Yes, said Richard: in fact experience shows that particles tend to come in families, so dark matter could consist of a number of new particles.  Andi pursued this theme further: could dark matter respond to as-yet undiscovered fundamental forces of nature; and given the ratio of dark matter to barionic matter could there be several families of particles covered by dark matter?  Yes, Richard confirmed: we can't rule that out.  In spite of the knowledge about dark matter that we're gaining, it's clearly still a deep mystery.

This was Dr Chapman’s personal homage to Patrick, not his life story as such, but an attempt to compare his likeness with other great science communicators, publishers and educators of the last 300 years.

Alan began in the 17^th century, with Dr John Wilkins (1614-1672) a clergyman fascinated by life on other worlds and one of the founders of the Royal Society.  In 1638 he had written an account of how you might travel to the Moon on a flying chariot. A man very much in the mould of Patrick, thought Alan. The next successor was Benjaman Martin (1704-1782) a lexicographer who compiled one of the early English dictionaries, the Lingua Britannica Reformata (1749). Was also a renowned lecturer on science and maker and collector of scientific instruments.

Dr Chapman suggested that both Sir Humphrey Davey (1778-1829) and Michael Faraday (1791-1867) were in some or many ways akin to Sir Patrick. Davey displayed that characteristic enthusiasm and energy in all his pursuits and had a highly imaginative mind, indeed the poet Coleridge declared that if he "had not been the first chemist, he would have been the first poet of his age". At times rather sanguine and of irritable temperament, in spite of his ungainly exterior and peculiar manner, Davey’s gift of exposition and illustration won him extraordinary popularity as a lecturer, his experiments were ingenious. Davey’s dominating ambition, to achieve fame, was certainly opposite of Patrick’s character, however, his frankness and slightly careless observances of etiquette do though bear similarities to Patrick’s nature. Davey’s protégé, Michael Faraday, could be considered more akin to Patrick.  Faraday, who contributed so much to various fields in science, was an excellent experimentalist who conveyed his ideas in clear and simple language, not unlike Patrick. The Royal Institute lectures were instigated by Faraday, who in his later life was regarded as what would now be termed a ‘national treasure’. Indeed Queen Victoria granted Faraday a grace and favour apartment at Hampton Court.

Alan’s next choice was Sir Robert Ball, (1840-1913) the genial Irish astronomer and orator, celebrated for his popular lectures on science; bringing science to the masses. He gave an estimated 2500 lectures between 1875 and 1910 in towns and cities across Britain and Ireland lecturing to an estimated one million people, all before the media age. He also delivered three Royal Institute Christmas lectures. Patrick insisted that his grandfather met and knew Ball. Dr Chapman argued that during the early and middle part of the 20^th century, the English astronomer, physicist, and mathematician, Arthur Eddington (1882-1944) was the only populariser of Science on a par with Patrick.

Dr Chapman spent the last third of the lecture reflecting on Patrick himself. Alan had come to know Patrick over the course of several decades, through work in the media, on the lecture circuit and many other associated functions, meetings and events. The Moore’s were a military family, indeed Patrick once told Alan he was related to Sir John Moore of Coruna, in the Peninsula wars of the Napoleonic age. Dr Chapman was always a little sceptical of this. Indeed Alan suspected a few of Patrick’s tales and recollections may have been slightly embellished as the years went by.  Dr Chapman was even unsure as to the validity of some of Patrick’s war memories he sometimes alluded to. ‘You never quite knew with Patrick’ Alan said.

What cannot be doubted however was the passion Patrick had for astronomy, be it observing, writing about, presenting or giving lectures, Patrick always had something to say – normally very fast.  Dr Chapman fondly remembered following his marriage to his wife Rachel in1991, Patrick invited them down to his house; Farthings, in Selsey, for a few days. After dinner on the first night, Patrick decided to do some lunar observing asking Alan to join him. They duly disappeared into the garden leaving Rachel to retire to bed. During the course of the observations, which lasted into the small hours of the morning, they saw a TLP; Trans Lunar Phenomena – a bright streak, perhaps out-gassing of some kind, emanating from near the lunar limb. Such events have been seen occasionally, but to actually witness one with Patrick was something Alan will remember forever.

Patrick was extremely generous, always encouraging, he had time for any young astronomer who wanted his advice. Patrick would spend hours replying to letters and requests in person. Patrick was quite a skilled musician (his mother had been a trained opera singer) and he had learned to play the xylophone. He had a love of cricket, playing in the local team for many years. Alan also saw firsthand the love Patrick had for Cats, and he doted on his own two; Ptolemy and Jeannie who even had their own large self contained run in the garden. Following the death during WW2 of Lorna, Patrick’s only real love, Alan thought ‘they were the children Patrick never had’. 

As Patrick’s physical health slowly deteriorated, he found it increasingly difficult to make long journeys, so that eventually the Sky at Night was filmed from Farthings. Alan believed this added a homely feel to the programme which everyone who visited found very comforting. There was always a constant stream of friends and colleagues calling round, even when Patrick became fully housebound, something he hated, he always had time and continued his writings until the end.

Dr Chapman finished by reminding us just how very few people of Patrick’s persona have so endeared themselves to the general public over such a long period of time. Patrick crossed that threshold - observer, presenter, writer, lecturer, national treasure. His like are few and far between.