During the 13.7 billion years that it has been around, our Universe has gone through a number of personality developments. From its infancy, spent mostly as a fiery inferno which extended across all of space, the Universe grew up through a dark, moody adolescence when the first stars and galaxies began to form, and finally matured to be the complex and subtle entity we know and love today. Through a combination of armchair time travel, large telescopes and clever deduction, astronomers over the past 100 years have pieced together a surprising tale of how our Universe has grown up, and have identified the key events which have made the transition possible. Each working on one of these distinct epochs, Rita, Stuart and Simon will retell part of this story. However, the story is far from complete, and you will hear about how current researchers are working to fill in the gaps.

In addition, Rita, Stuart and Simon will discuss a recent programme they have been involved in, called Dark Sky Scotland. During a year- long period they spent many weekends travelling to communities all around Scotland to promote astronomy and to talk to the public about some of the breathtaking things we know about our Universe.