Announcements

Irish Schools - send your message into space in 2013! Please note this is now open to all countries!

Mon, 05 Aug 2013 14:30:06 +0200

Please note this is now open to all countries!

“Gathering the Gathering” is a project to capture people’s thoughts and stories throughout the year of The Gathering 2013. At the end of 2013 CIT Blackrock Castle Observatory will send all of the messages into space!

They will be transmitted by radio waves to Epsilon Eridani, a star with an extrasolar planet (called Epsilon Eridani b), by a powerful radio telescope at the observatory in Cork.

You will be able to record and upload your messages during 2013 using a free web-based tool which will be available later in December 2012. The organisers say it’s up to you what to record: tell a story; draw a picture; video your family, friends, school, club, or favourite place in Ireland – the choices are endless and limited only by your imagination.

These “cosmic postcards” will also be stored in a digital time-capsule which will be opened in 2023 – at the same time as the nation’s thoughts and dreams finally arrive at Epsilon Eridani b (the planet is about 10 light years from Earth).

Meanwhile snippets of the cosmic postcards will be available in a special exhibit at CIT Blackrock Castle Observatory and on their website http://www.bco.ie/ from the end of 2013.

Extracts here are from: http://dse.createsend4.com/t/ViewEmail/j/4603CDC28C7663C5/0D54129F7351BF1B6A4D01E12DB8921D and also http://gatheringthegathering.com/ where you can enter your email for notification when this begins. An excellent idea for schools!

Launch!

Mon, 05 Aug 2013 14:24:54 +0200

Watch this space for an exciting venture in mid-August!

Summer Scheme Activities

Fri, 26 Jul 2013 12:00:00 +0200

UK EU-UNAWE National Project Manager, Libby McKearney, welcomed a visit by 23 young people and three adults from two local Armagh City and District summer schemes to the Observatory and Planetarium on 2013 July 25. The main objective was to encourage young people from different communities and social backgrounds in Armagh City and District to work together, in this case using astronomy as a shared interest and activity to help the young people to move towards building a united community.

The visit, which was funded by EU-UNAWE as part of the Observatory's wider programme of Science in the Community, enabled these children to view the Planetarium's exhibitions, attend a show in the Star Theatre and participate in rocket launching with Martina Redpath. Follow up visits by Libby McKearney to The LA Project and Spring group will take place at a later date. Feedback from the group leaders was very positive, demonstrating the very significant potential that exists for developing further such joint Observatory/Planetarium educational tours, funding and staff time permitting.

Win the trip of a lifetime to NASA’s Space Centre Houston

Thu, 27 Jun 2013 12:00:00 +0200

Be in with a chance to win the trip of a lifetime to NASA’s Space Centre Houston, Intel Museum in Silicon Valley, and two days in San Francisco.

Young people in the Republic of Ireland, we need you to help name Ireland’s Greatest Woman Inventor and be in with a chance to win this fantastic prize package for you, a parent/guardian, and a friend or other family member!

Silicon Republic have established a list of 10 finalists in the running to be deemed Ireland’s Greatest Woman Inventor. So to enter the competition, just read about the finalists and then vote for who you think should be named Ireland’s Greatest Woman Inventor.

Visit http://www.siliconrepublic.com/competitions/item/32 to see the list and enter!

Of interest are:

Pioneering astrophysicist – Margaret Lindsay Huggins (1848-1915)

A moon crater has been named after this self-taught amateur astronomer, and her husband, noted astronomer Sir William Huggins. Over their 30-year collaboration, they studied emissions from stars and nebulae, to lay the foundations of astrophysics. Read more about Margaret Lindsay Huggins.

Torch-bearing astronomer – Annie Maunder (1868-1947)

A crater on the moon has been named after Maunder, who studied the sun and chased solar eclipses around the world. She and her husband, astronomer William Maunder, collaborated on many studies, including the “butterfly diagram” of sunspots. Read more about Annie Maunder.

and

Bringing the heavens down to earth – science writer Agnes Clerke (1842-1907)

There is a crater on the moon named after this astronomy writer whose works promoted popular astronomy, and helped to shape early astrophysics research. Read more about Agnes Clerke.

The prize draw is open to 12-18-year-old residents of the Republic of Ireland, and parents/guardians may vote on behalf of their child.

Runner-up prizes include a Microsoft Surface RT tablet computer and a Nokia Lumia 820 smartphone, courtesy of Microsoft.

One grand-prize winner will be chosen at random before 30 August from those who voted for the winning woman inventor. The winner, once contacted, will be announced in September, and needs to be available to travel during mid-term break in February 2014.

Good luck!

Edenderry PS Visit Armagh Observatory

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 12:00:00 +0200

Teacher Miss Lesley Hanna and Classroom Assistant Liz took their Learning Support Group of 9 boys to Armagh Observatory for an organised school visit on 17th June 2013.

The children ranging from P5 to P7 had already studied the solar system and stars at school and were able to relate many interesting facts to Libby McKearney, UNAWE NPM at the Observatory.

A special tour of the Observatory, including the Troughton Dome, was followed by model making and other UNAWE activities and then outside to the Human Sundial, Human Orrery and the Astropark before final questions and a chance to meet Professor Bailey, Director of the Observatory.

The boys had really enjoyed their topic on Space at school and a visit to the Observatory was the perfect ending before their much deserved summer holidays.

P6 Space Day in Keady

Mon, 27 May 2013 06:00:00 +0200

Each year during May St Patrick’s High School in Keady, Co Armagh, NI holds a special open day to welcome its anticipated intake of new pupils from it’s feeder primary schools. This year, on May 24, the open day had a focus on Astronomy, involving approximately 160 pupils from eleven local primary schools in a cycle of structured activities spanning subjects such as Science, Mathematics, History, Geography, Art, Irish, Library Studies and Religion. Each of these classes, developed different aspects of astronomy in the curriculum, drawing on initial advice from the Observatory.

Thanks to the School Principal, Ms Patricia McGuckian, and especially teacher Mr Chris Furphy for allowing the Observatory to be involved in this highly successful Astronomy day, which provided an innovative new strand to the EU-UNAWE programme.

Teacher Training in Wales

Mon, 20 May 2013 06:00:00 +0200

In conjunction with See Science Wales, Mark Bailey and Libby McKearney from Armagh Observatory delivered two one-day primary-sector teacher training courses in Wales during May 2013.

Fifteen teachers attended Glyndŵr University, St Asaph on 14^th May and after the course had a special tour of the OpTIC Facility which is involved in polishing the very precise mirrors for the Extremely Large Telescope Project, plus tours of other R&D areas such as the Centre of Solar Energy Research.

http://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/e-elt.html

Day 2 in South Wales took place in the ACE² Centre, Aberthaw, Barry with 10 people in attendance on 16^th May.

Hopefully course participants have gained more background knowledge of astronomy and have some new ideas on fitting it into the curriculum!

Teacher Training in Scotland

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 06:00:00 +0200

Attention: European Girls' Day April 25th

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 18:40:10 +0200

This is the date suggested for us to celebrate Girls' Day in 2013!

We can all probably think of positive female role models; here at Armagh Observatory we now encourage you to think of famous female scientists and astronomers, for example Valentina Tereshkova first woman in space in 1963 or local astronomer Jocelyn Bell Burnell discoverer of pulsars.

If you are a teacher perhaps during Literacy you could ask your class to read or write about one of the following people:

Caroline Herschel:

http://www.womanastronomer.com/caroline_herschel.htm

Valentina Tereshkova:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentina_Tereshkova

Jocelyn Bell Burnell:

http://www.quaker.org.uk/jocelyn-bell-burnell-born-1943

Carolyn S. Shoemaker:

http://www.csuchico.edu/hfa/alumni/distinguished/1996.shtml

http://www.womanastronomer.com/women_astronomers.htm

At teacher training courses we encourage teachers to use female role models, for example when showing images of astronauts, scientists etc. and to emphasize that girls could become leading future scientists and engineers. We have also updated and reprinted a set of leaflets to highlight careers for girls in astronomy and space science, this can be downloaded at: http://star.arm.ac.uk/docs/leaflets/WomenInAst.2012.pdf

We Saw Comet PANSTARRS!!

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 12:00:00 +0100

As part of Armagh Observatory’s on-going work with Libraries NI our Director and UK UNAWE Coordinator, Professor Mark Bailey gave an Intergenerational talk in Omagh Library on the evening of March 13^th 2013.

35 young children accompanied by their parents and friends listened to the talk on “Bringing ‘Heaven’ Down to Earth” which made reference to the beautiful astronomy posters on display as part of a travelling exhibition around libraries in N Ireland.

The highlight of the evening was that most of the 65-person audience (of whom more than half were children) got the chance of a lifetime to see Comet PANSTARRS through the binoculars and small telescope brought along by Mark.

Just after dusk, in a mostly clear western sky, the delighted audience were able to view the comet from the balcony of the Co. Tyrone library. While they were waiting they also gained some knowledge on other objects visible to the naked eye such as the Moon, the brilliant planet Jupiter and the stars of the constellation Orion.

Comet PANSTARRS has probably taken 5 to 10 million years to reach our inner solar system on its journey around the Sun, and it is not expected to return for at least another 100,000 years. It is approximately 20 km in diameter and astronomers have been tracking it since 2011.

It is quite difficult to predict the brightness of a comet in advance of its first visit, however we are hopeful that the other comet, namely C/2012 S1 (ISON), which is expected to be visible in November and December 2013 will be very bright. Further details to follow closer to the time!

Armagh Observatory acknowledges with thanks our partnership with Libraries NI in this poster exhibition and related talks around Northern Ireland, under the umbrella of the DCAL Learning Strategy.