Armagh Planetarium

ARMAGH PLANETARIUM VISITS UNIVERSITY COLLEGE CORK

On 23 February 2005 students from Deerpark CBS observed the night sky in Hawaii (in real time) from University College Cork. The students used the Faulkes telescope to observe planets, nebulae and galaxies in real time from Hawaii (11 hours behind Ireland). The 25 tonne telescope, controlled entirely by the students, worked perfectly, taking some excellent images of Jupiter and Saturn despite the full Moon. After students from Deerpark CBS Cork , logged off from their session students from a High School in Kentucky, USA logged on to take over control of the telescopes.

This is the first time that students in Munster gained access to the Faulkes telescopes. The Faulkes telescopes have been built specifically to provide secondary school students (primarily in the UK) with access to large telescopes during the school day. It is hoped that eventually many schools throughout Ireland will use these telescopes in the classroom to inspire students to study astronomy and the sciences in general.

(LEFT) THE STARDOME, READY FOR ACTION IN THE AULA MAX HALL

(RIGHT) JUPITER 1/100TH SECOND EXPOSURE TAKEN BY THE FAULKES TELESCOPE

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The students were in UCC as part of a week-long Astronomy Programme being run by UCC's Access Programme in collaboration with Armagh Planetarium (Faulkes Telescope Project regional centre in Ireland) and the Department of Physics, UCC. During the week, 600 1st and 2nd year students spent one hour in the Stardome, observing the most fascinating celestial objects in the night sky. Interactive physics demonstrations were organised by UCC's Department of Physics.

(LEFT) ...AND THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A STAR EXPLODES! STUDENTS PREPARING TO CONTROL THE TELESCOPE IN HAWAII

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On the Tuesday evening, Robert Hill, Planetarium presenter, entertained Physics teachers from Access Programme linked schools in Cork & Kerry. During the two hour teacher workshop, he gave presentations about the Faulkes Telescopes project and the European Space Agency, as well as demonstrating some practical experiments that can be used in the classroom to make science real!

UCC's Access Programme commenced in 1996 and targets those students who have the ability to benefit from and succeed in higher education, but who, for social or economics reasons, are underrepresented at third level. This is a wonderful initiative that will ensure that many capable students will not slip through the academic net.