UNAWE Latest News (updates, space scoop and press releases)

Young Bookworms Needed to Judge the Best Science Books for Children

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 16:00:00 +0100

The UK’s national academy of science, the Royal Society, is giving children the power to pick the winner of its Young People's Book Prize. This annual prize honours books that succeed in communicating science to children, aged 14 and under, through clear and engaging writing and design.

While the grunt-work of short-listing six books was done by a panel of adult judges, the important task of picking the winner is handed over to children. These are the people “who should know best,” the Royal Society said on its website.

Children from the UK, aged 14 and under, are asked to form small judging panels in their schools, libraries or local science centres, with the help of an adult supervisor. Each judging panel will then receive a free set of the six short-listed books to read, discuss and judge.

The Royal Society only has 75 sets of books to give to its judging panels, so children that are interested in taking part should act fast. Applications to be one of the Royal Society’s judging panels are now open and will be accepted until 30 April 2012. For more information, please click here.

Classroom Quiz to Showcase South Africa’s SKA Bid

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 16:00:00 +0100

Students in South Africa from grades 4 to 11 are invited to enter a competition about the Square Kilometre Array (SKA). The competition aims to raise awareness of South Africa’s bid to host SKA, which will be the world’s largest radio telescope.

Following lengthy site evaluation surveys, South Africa and Australia were short-listed as suitable sites for the SKA. Since then, both countries have engaged in public outreach activities to garner support for their bids. The final decision on the site is now imminent, with an announcement expected this spring.

Regardless of the final outcome, South Africa’s bid offers a fantastic opportunity to educate local children about its country’s world-class astronomical facilities. For example, the Karoo Array Telescope (MeerKAT) – a radio telescope that is a pathfinder to SKA – is already under construction in the Karoo region.

As part of these public outreach and education efforts, the South African Department of Science and Technology is now calling on students to enter a quiz about SKA. The competition involves a few multiple-choice questions about SKA, with different levels of difficulty for primary and high school students. Competition winners will receive some fantastic prizes to help further their interest in astronomy, such as laptops, printers, digital cameras and organised tours of local observatories.

The competition closes on 31 March 2012. Entry forms can be downloaded from the SKA South Africa website.

Optical Illusions in Space

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 12:00:00 +0100

When you look at photographs taken at a birthday party or on a family day out, it’s easy to work out who is standing next to each other and who is far away in the background. But when you look at space photograph, where there’s no natural sense for how big objects should look, it is much more difficult to judge!

Take this new space photo, for example. It shows a cloud of dust and gas (shown in red) next to a bright star. However, the star is actually much closer to the Earth than the cloud is. Stars like this, which lie between the Earth and the object that an astronomer is trying to observe, are called ‘foreground stars’. They are much brighter than the other stars in photos because they are closer to us.

The foreground stars appear to have straight lines of light coming out of their centres, but these lines aren’t really there in the Universe. Instead, the lines are created by light bending around the supports that hold one of the mirrors inside the telescope, and are only visible for very bright objects. These fake lines are called ‘diffraction spikes’.

Although diffraction spikes add something to the photo that shouldn’t really be there, many people like them and think that they look nice. In fact, some people even add extra diffraction spikes to the stars in their space photos by drawing them onto their pictures using photo-editing software!

Cool Fact: The cloud in this image is an incredibly cold place: -260 degrees Celsius!

RAS Enters the Space Scoop Family

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 15:30:00 +0100

EU Universe Awareness (EU-UNAWE) is pleased to announce that the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) – the UK's leading professional body for astronomy, geophysics and planetary sciences – is joining forces with its astronomy news service for children, Space Scoop.

The idea behind Space Scoop is to show children the exciting new discoveries that are still being made today and how there is still much to learn about the Universe – research that they could contribute to in the future.

Space Scoop was launched in February 2011 in partnership with the European Southern Observatory (ESO). Since then, the NASA Chandra X-ray Observatory, Europlanet and the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) have joined the Space Scoop family. This has increased the number of releases that are published on the EU-UNAWE website each week and made Space Scoop the biggest and best resource for astronomy news for children.

The new partnership with the RAS will further strengthen Space Scoop. You can read the first RAS Space Scoop here.

Only the Biggest Survive

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 12:56:11 +0100

Our Galaxy, the Milky Way, is surrounded by about 200 groups of stars, which are called globular clusters. They are almost as old as the Universe and hold valuable clues about how the first stars and galaxies formed.

Astronomers had thought that the total number of globular clusters increased during star-making frenzies called ‘starbursts’ when the Universe was young. However, using a computer simulation, a team of astronomers has found that starbursts actually destroyed more of these globular clusters than they helped to create.

Starbursts are often caused by the collision of two galaxies. During starbursts, gas, dust and stars are still being sloshed around from the galaxy collision. This means that the pull of gravity on the globular clusters from the gas, dust and stars is constantly changing. This is enough to rip apart most of the globular clusters and only the biggest ones are strong enough to survive.

The astronomers say that this explains why the number of stars contained within globular clusters is roughly the same across the entire Universe. “In the early Universe, starbursts were commonplace – it therefore makes perfect sense that all globular clusters have approximately the same large number of stars. Their smaller brothers and sisters that didn’t contain as many stars were doomed to be destroyed,” says astronomer Diederik Kruijssen.

Cool Fact: The globular cluster survivors that surround the Milky Way contain up to a million stars each!

Hands-on with Hubble for Second UNAWE Morocco Workshop

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 16:00:00 +0100

On 26 January 2012, UNAWE Morocco invited about 70 children from five schools to a hands-on workshop about the Hubble Space Telescope in Al Akhawayn School, Ifrane. This was the second workshop organised by UNAWE Morocco, which was founded in late 2011.

The workshop introduced children to the wonders of the Universe by showing them some of the beautiful pictures captured by Hubble. Over the course of the day, the children gained an appreciation for what it takes to build such a big telescope. They then had the opportunity to construct their own models of Hubble in teams.

“The children were very proud of their models and excited to show and compare them with others. The children were very grateful to attend the workshop, as most of them had never had such an experience before,” says Hassane Darhmaoui from the UNAWE Morocco team, who was one of the organisers of the workshop.

UNAWE Morocco plan to organise at least one workshop every two months. The next workshop will be held in March and will focus on the Moon.

The UNAWE programme in Morocco was established by the National Aldebaran Project, the National Network of UNESCO schools and Al Akhawayn University.

EU-UNAWE Workshops For Children With Autism

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 12:00:00 +0100

EU Universe Awareness (EU-UNAWE) is providing educational resources to support a series of workshops in Portugal called Simbiontes Austim. The workshops are designed to inspire children who have Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs), while also raising funds for biomedical research in Portugal.

Simbiontes Austim is organised by Associação Viver a Ciência (VAC), working in partnership with the Centro de Apoio ao Desenvolvimento Infantil (CADin). The project began in October 2011 and it will continue to run every two weeks until March 2012.

The Simbiontes Autism project is providing CADin with several pedagogical scientific workshops, including some astronomy workshops created by EU-UNAWE. Art will be used in these workshops to inspire the scientific curiosity of the children.

All of the original artwork produced by the children will be sold at a special event to finance an award for scientific research into child neurodevelopment in Portugal.

Throwing Rocks in Space

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 09:46:51 +0100

When the Solar System was formed, there were lots of spare pieces left over. These spare pieces are called asteroids and comets.

Asteroids are lumps of rock, and most of them are found in a region called the Asteroid Belt, which lies between the planets Mars and Jupiter. Meanwhile, comets are lumps of ice, rock and dust, which is why they are sometimes called "dirty snowballs". Most comets are found in the outer regions of the Solar System, further away from the Sun than the planets Uranus and Neptune, in a region called the Oort Cloud.

However, not all asteroids and comets are well behaved and stay in these regions. Sometimes comets pay a visit to the inner parts of the Solar System. Comets are great to observe when they are near the Earth, as some of the ices evaporate because of the heat of the Sun, creating a wonderful "tail" as it travels across the night sky.

Asteroids also sometimes pass by the Earth. Small pieces of asteroids that enter Earth's atmosphere are called meteorites. As they travel through the atmosphere, the meteorites burn up, which is why they are also called shooting stars. Astronomers now think that the same thing may happen to asteroids that find themselves at the centre of our Galaxy, the Milky Way.

At the centre of most galaxies there is an object called a super-massive black hole. Anything that gets too close to a super-massive black hole is pulled to it with such a strong force that it has no chance of escape - not even light!

The super-massive black hole at the centre of our Galaxy is called Sagittarius A*. Over several years, astronomers have noticed mysterious flares of X-ray light coming from Sagittarius A*. Now, astronomers think that these flares of light may be caused by Sagittarius A* gobbling up asteroids, just like the streak of light that we see in the night sky when meteorites (or shooting stars) burn up.

If this theory is correct, then there must be hundreds of trillions of asteroids and comets around Sagittarius A*!

Cool fact: It's not just super-massive black holes that asteroids and comets need to be worried about: about once every three days a comet is destroyed when it flies into the hot atmosphere of the Sun!

The Universal Laws of Science

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:00:00 +0100

Science is like a Universal language, as everything in the Universe works in exactly the same way. The science that we experience on Earth is the same as the science that makes stars shine and planets travel around the Sun!

Take sunsets, for example. On Earth, we often see beautiful displays of red, orange and pink in the sky when the sun sets. This is because when the Sun is low in the sky its light bounces off more dust in the atmosphere and is scattered in different directions. Light is made up of all of the colours of the rainbow, but the colours scatter differently. Dust scatters blue light more than red light. This means that the blue light is scattered away, leaving a beautiful red sky at sunset.

The same thing happens in space. Dusty regions of space absorb and scatter blue light more than red. In some very dusty parts of the Universe, such as star-forming clouds, this effect is so strong that none of the colours of light reach us on Earth. But astronomers are clever: They use special telescopes that can see a different type of light that doesn’t get scattered or absorbed by big dust particles: infra-red light. (Our eyes can’t see infrared light, but we use it at home to switch on the TV with a remote control.)

The picture shown above shows the star-forming cloud called the Carina Nebula. This new photo was taken with a telescope called the Very Large Telescope. It has shown astronomers many objects that they hadn’t previously discovered in the cloud.

Cool Fact: The scientist Isaac Newton was the first person to realise that the laws of science on Earth are the same as the laws that govern objects in the Universe.

Report on the Launch of the Dutch Mission X Programme

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 18:00:00 +0100

On 2 February 2012, the Dutch programme for Mission X: Train Like an Astronaut was launched at the European Space Agency visitors’ centre, Space Expo, in Noordwijk, the Netherlands. About 300 schoolchildren from across the country attended the event and took part in EU Universe Awareness (EU-UNAWE) workshops.

In one of the workshops, students teamed up in pairs and were challenged to build a model of the Japanese Subaru Telescope to test their fine motor skills. One team, students Jack and Jeffrey from the Amsterdam International Community School, demonstrated incredible skill in constructing their telescope and worked together particularly well to finish within the set time. As a prize, the students were awarded with an EU-UNAWE Earthball each.

The day ended with a very special treat: the students had the opportunity to ask questions directly to the Dutch ESA astronaut Andre Kuipers, who is currently on the International Space Station (ISS). “Did you bring any Dutch delicacies to the Space Station?” asked one student. The astronaut laughed and said that he had brought a lot of Dutch cheese with him. Kuipers then amazed the children when he demonstrated weightlessness by swimming around on the ISS.

"The children asked me if I was an astronaut. When I told them I was an astronomer, they thought that was just as impressive as being an astronaut, which was nice to hear!" says Wouter Schrier, National Project Manager for EU-UNAWE in the Netherlands, who organised the workshops.

World Space Week Activities Inspire a UNAWE Programme in Bangladesh

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 17:54:25 +0100

Following a weeklong series of astronomy and space outreach and education activities held in Bangladesh in October 2011 for the United Nations-declared World Space Week, the UNAWE Bangladesh programme was born.

For World Space Week 2011, which is celebrated 4-10 October annually, the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and UNESCO organised a capacity-building workshop on astronomy for secondary teachers in Bangladesh. The workshop was led by Robert Hill from the Northern Ireland Space Office, who is a long term supporter of UNAWE. This event attracted space and astronomy enthusiasts from around the country, and with astronomy and space outreach at the forefront of everyone’s minds, it provided a perfect opportunity to establish a UNAWE Bangladesh programme.

The UNAWE Bangladesh team is led by Farseem Mohammedy from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology. In just a few months, Mohammedy has done an incredible job of building a UNAWE programme in Bangladesh. One of the most successful UNAWE Bangladesh activities to date is a series of workshops held in Dhaka, where students learn about the basics of astronomy and meet distinguished astronomers.

UNAWE Bangladesh activities rely on the support of the Bangladesh Astronomical Society and the Science Popularization Society of Bangladesh.

Cambridge Uni Develops Software to Take Primary Education in the Right Direction

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:00:00 +0100

Researchers from the University of Cambridge, UK, have developed new teaching software to help educate primary schoolchildren about the basic physical concepts of object motion, such as direction and speed.

The researchers also conducted a study in which children aged 6-11 years old were asked to make predictions about object motion during computer simulations of a billiard ball striking another ball and objects falling from hot air balloons. The aim was to document the explicit and tacit knowledge that young children have about this subject.

The study’s findings suggest that current methods used in UK primary schools to assess how children understand object motion underestimates how much they know already. "This research suggests there's very little improvement with school tasks between the age of 6 and 11, and that children aren't being taught in the most effective way,” says Professor Christine Howe from the University of Cambridge, one of the researchers behind the new study. “The software we developed would certainly enhance the knowledge that the children already have, and help them perform better in school."

The teaching software can be download for free from this University of Cambridge webpage.

Become a Student Ambassador for UNAWE

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:00:00 +0100

Universe Awareness is pleased to announce the launch of its new Student Ambassador programme. The programme offers university students an opportunity to gain valuable work experience in astronomy education and outreach, while helping to inspire young children – particularly those from local disadvantaged communities – to develop an interest in science and technology.

We are looking for enthusiastic BSc MSc or PhD students of astronomy, space science, physics, mathematics or social sciences for the programme. This is an unpaid position and successful applicants will be required to work on at least one educational activity every six months – anything from creating or translating educational resources, to helping to run an event for children.

For more information or to apply, please click here.

The Star Kicker

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 19:00:00 +0100

What remains of the star is squashed into a tiny ball, which is then called a neutron star. A neutron star has a mass about twice that of our Sun, but packed into a ball that is only 24 kilometers wide – that’s about 60,000 times narrower than our Sun!

The new space photo shown above captures the gassy remains of one such supernova explosion. Curiously, the position of the neutron star (the small orange circle to the right-hand side) is far away from where astronomers think the explosion took place (in the centre of the photo).

If the estimated location of the explosion is correct, then astronomers say that this is an extra piece of evidence that neutron stars can be given powerful “kicks” during a supernova explosion.

Cool Fact: According to astronomers’ calculations, this neutron star has been moving at a speed of at least 4.8 million kilometres per hour since the explosion!

A Ghostly Face in Space

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 14:58:59 +0100

This new photo shows a cloud of gas and dust in space, which is called a nebula. New stars are born inside a nebula, so they are also sometimes called star-forming regions. These newborn stars are very hot and make the gas in the clouds glow brightly, which means that we can see them through telescopes.

Some of these space clouds are named after things that they look like, such as the Horsehead Nebula. But can you see why the nebula shown above is nicknamed the Gabriela Mistral Nebula? Here’s a clue: click on the photo to see the full picture. Now, look closely at the right-hand edge of the pale pink part of the nebula.

What do you see? Can you see the outline of a human face? Astronomers think that it looks very similar to the face of a famous poet from Chile called Gabriela Mistral. (Click here to compare the nebula with a photo of the poet.) It’s spooky!

Cool Fact: The connection between the poet and astronomy is even stronger, as Gabriela Mistral was born in a region of Chile that is home to some big telescopes.

Celebrating the Life and Achievements of Franco Pacini

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:20:17 +0100

We are sad to report the death of our dear colleague Franco Pacini, National Coordinator of EU Universe Awareness (EU-UNAWE) for Italy. Franco, formerly the Director of Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory and the founding father of the International Year of Astronomy 2009, passed away on 25 January 2012 in Florence, Italy, aged 72.

Franco’s research provided groundbreaking insights into neutron stars. In 1967, a few months before the first pulsar was discovered, he published a paper in the journal Nature in which he hypothesised that strongly magnetised neutron stars could release their rotational energy through jets of radiation. Furthermore, during his tenure at Arcetri, Franco was instrumental in the construction of the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) – the largest optical-infrared telescope in the Northern Hemisphere.

“Franco's death is a great loss for Arcetri, Europe and the world. He was a great astrophysicist, who played a seminal role in the advances of astronomy during the past half century. Franco facilitated the construction of major astronomical facilities and he also recognised the importance of astronomy education and outreach,” said George Miley, founder of Universe Awareness and Chairman of the EU-UNAWE Board.

From 2001 to 2003, Franco was President of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) and this position gave him the opportunity to make his greatest contribution to astronomy outreach. In 2003, he proposed that the 400^th anniversary of Galileo’s first telescopic observations should be marked on a global scale, by declaring 2009 as the International Year of Astronomy (IYA2009). This year-long celebration of astronomy was a phenomenal success, reaching more people from around the world than any other science event since the Apollo Moon landings.

“The International Year of Astronomy 2009 was the brainchild of Franco, an event that brought the wonders of the Universe to hundreds of millions of people, some of them for the first time. Many of the projects that began in 2009 still continue to this day, and this is a wonderful legacy from Franco for future generations,” said Pedro Russo, International Project Manager of EU-UNAWE and formerly the global coordinator of IYA2009.

Grand Opening of Dutch Mission X Project

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:00:00 +0100

Mission X: Train Like an Astronaut is a project that uses astronauts as role models to promote regular exercise and healthy nutrition to young children. During the six-week mission, children aged 8-12 years old from around the world will compete for points as they tackle training modules on bones, hydration and the importance of energy from food. They will also take part in physical training exercises on strength, endurance, coordination and balance.

The Dutch Mission X programme will be launched on 2 February, 2012, with about 300 students invited to the European Space Agency visitors’ centre Space Expo, which is based in Noordwijk, the Netherlands. Currently, about 750 Dutch schoolchildren are taking part in Mission X.

The EU Universe Awareness team will be running a special workshop at the launch event, in which children will train their fine motor skills. This is an important skill for astronauts, who need to operate instruments and pick up small objects in space while wearing thick gloves. Children will also have the opportunity to chat live to astronaut André Kuipers, who is currently on the International Space Station.

Read more about the Mission X project here.

UNAWE Colombia Develops a 2012 Geology and Astronomy Calendar

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 16:00:00 +0100

Our UNAWE partner in Colombia, the Asociación de Niños Indagadores del Cosmos (ANIC), has produced a stunning wall calendar with an astronomy and geology theme. The 2012 Geo-Lunar Calendar displays beautiful images of the Colombian sky, as well as photographs of minerals and gems found in the region – and all of them taken by children, under the guidance of ANIC Director, Leonardo Delgado.

Each photograph is accompanied by a detailed explanation. Furthermore, the phases of the Moon and important astronomical events are marked on the monthly planner. Country-specific versions of the calendar (translated into national languages and featuring national holidays) are available for Brazil, Colombia, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, Russia, Spain, the UK and USA.

Revenue from the sales will help ANIC to continue its important work of developing new and original educational activities that will help to bring the wonders of the cosmos to young children. Please visit the organisation’s website for more information about the calendar, or email grandelonid@gmail.com.

Sput & Nik Take to the Stage in Heidelberg

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 16:00:00 +0100

In a new theatre production in Heidelberg, Germany, children will learn about the wonders of the Universe through the eyes of two adventurous dogs, called Sput and Nik.

The play, Sput & Nik, is aimed at four-year-old children. The plot is a wonderful mix of education and fun, following the dogs’ quest to find some galactic sausages! During their adventure, Sput and Nik travel to the Moon, Mars and even the Sun.

After the curtain falls, the EU-UNAWE National Project Manager for Germany, Natalie Fischer, will be on-hand to answer any questions that children have about the celestial bodies visited during the play.

For more information about the play, please visit the theatre’s website.

What: Sput & Nik
Where: Zwinger 3, Heidelberg, Germany
When: 15:00 on 19 February 2012 (Performance times can changes, so please confirm the time on the theatre’s website)

Dark Skies Bright Kids Outreach Programme

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 16:00:00 +0100

Schoolchildren in Virginia, United States, can look forward to a brighter future, thanks to an astronomy after-school club. Dark Skies Bright Kids (DSBK), an outreach programme that is organised by volunteers from the University of Virginia, is currently being piloted in elementary schools in Virginia’s Albemarle County.

DSBK runs weekly club meetings, in which children learn about astronomy through various hands-on activities. The programme’s lesson plans, which include building a model comet and investigating different types of light, are freely available on its website. DSBK also organise biweekly family observing nights, which take full advantage of the region’s rural location and dark skies.

DSBK volunteers are also putting the finishing touches to a bilingual (English and Spanish) astronomy art book for elementary school children, which is called Snapshots of the Universe. When the book is finished, a free digital version will be available on the DSBK website.

For more information about DSBK and to find out how you can volunteer, please visit the programme’s website.

Galaxies that Fizzled Out Young

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 12:00:00 +0100

Recently, astronomers used several powerful telescopes to look into the past and observe some galaxies from a time when the Universe was very young. (To learn about how astronomers can look at galaxies from the past, click here.)

Some of these galaxies are especially interesting to astronomers and they have been highlighted in red in this new space picture. When the Universe was very young, the galaxies that have been highlighted were in a star-making frenzy, which is called a starburst. These starbursts didn’t last long and this is what astronomers are interested in: What put a stop to this rapid star production?

Astronomers now have a possible explanation. The idea is that, while starburst galaxies worked quickly, they also created a lot of mess as they made new stars. This mess was then gobbled up by ‘space monsters’ that are found at the centre of galaxies, which are called super-massive black holes. And feeding these monsters released powerful jets of energy that blew away or destroyed the ingredients that the galaxies needed to create more stars. So, no more starbursts!

“In short, the galaxies’ glory days of intense star formation also doom them by feeding the giant black hole at their centre,” says astronomer David Alexander.

Cool Fact: During these short-lived starbursts, astronomers think that the number of stars within these galaxies doubled!

Young Science Artists can Exhibit during AAAS Annual Meeting

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 16:00:00 +0100

Childen are invited to participate in one of the world’s biggest science conferences, the Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), with a range of educational and artistic activities.

During the Meeting’s Family Science Days, which will be held on 18-19 February 2012, children can meet scientists, launch their own rockets, learn about alien planets and much more. Furthermore, the NRC-Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics and the Canadian Association of Science Centres, in partnership with Science.gc.ca (The Government of Canada’s Science and Technology site), will organise its National Science Art Exhibit for the event.

For this art exhibition, children from all over the world are asked to create a picture about what science means to them, with submissions ‘hung’ in a virtual gallery. The grand opening for the virtual gallery is during the AAAS Annual Meeting, to an audience that will include some of the world’s top scientists.

The deadline to submit your artwork is 1 February 2012, so entrants will have to get their creative thinking caps on. For inspiration, the video below shows some of the best artwork submitted in previous years.

Unexpected Visitor in the Night Sky Caught on Camera!

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 16:00:00 +0100

This photo shows an object called Comet Lovejoy, which was visible in the night sky last December. Comets are made of ice, dust and rock, so they are sometimes called dirty snowballs. They originally come from the outer regions of the Solar System, but they travel around the Sun in the same way that planets do. This means that sometimes they come close to Earth and we can see them in the night sky.

As comets get close to the Sun, some of the ice starts to evaporate, which creates a beautiful ‘tail’ for the comet. Astronomers had thought that the Sun’s heat would destroy Comet Lovejoy during this visit. However, to everyone’s surprise, the comet survived.

Astronomer Gabriel Brammer captured a fantastic video of the comet, which is shown below. Gabriel was finishing his night shift at a remote astronomical observatory in the desert in Chile in South America when the comet appeared just before dawn. What a great sight after a hard night’s work!

Astronauts on the International Space Station also filmed Comet Lovejoy. You can see their view of the comet from space here.

Cool Fact: Even if Comet Lovejoy survives another trip around the Sun, it won’t be visible in the night sky for another 314 years!

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EU-UNAWE Collaborates in a New Teacher Training Programme in Portugal

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 16:00:00 +0100

A new training programme has been introduced to help educators in Portugal to bring astronomy into the classroom.

The training sessions have been organised by the Galileo Teacher Training Program (GTTP), Núcleo Interactivo de Astronomia (NUCLIO) and UniSchoolLabS as part of the European Commission’s Lifelong Learning Programme. Teacher training is an important goal of EU Universe Awareness and the organisation is therefore working in partnership with GTTP in one of the sessions, called Astronomy@MyBackPack.

The aim of Astronomy@MyBackPack is to show teachers the wealth of real scientific data that is available for free on the internet and how they can incorporate such resources into their curricula to excite and inspire children. Astronomy@MyBackPack will be held 10-15 September 2012 at Centro de Interpretação Ambiental da Pedra do Sal em São Pedro do Estoril, Portugal.

Please visit these European Commission and GTTP web pages for more information about the courses, how to register and deadlines.