AN EXHIBITION which explains how we came to understand dark matter in the universe will focus on Whitby’s role in science.

The Whitby and the Cosmos – the search for Dark Matter exhibition will open at the Whitby Museum on Saturday, February 16. It will tell the story of Captain Cook who made an expedition across the ocean to map the transit of planet Venus, which would later help scientists detect dark matter.

The exhibition comes as the Zeplin III, a dark matter detector, used until recently, was donated to the museum by the Imperial College London.

Whitby Museum curator, Roger Osborne said: “We are thrilled to have Zeplin III as part of our museum. We aim to use Zeplin and the exhibition to tell visitors about the remarkable and internationally important work taking place at Boulby Underground Laboratory.

“It’s also a great opportunity to highlight Captain Cook’s role as an innovator in scientific exploration whose work contributed to our current understanding of the universe.”