The Schools' Observatory News
January 2024
Happy New Orbit!
Wishing you all a year filled with health and happiness!
From: Allie, Andy, Chris, Emma, Stacey & Vicki
Astrophysics Work Experience Week!
Applications are now open for our annual Work Experience Week for students in year 12 (or equivalent, in the UK and Ireland).
The application form is now open and will close on Monday 15th April 2024.
Visit our Work Experience page for more details and the link to the application form.
Please note that while we welcome students from all across the UK and Ireland, accommodation is not provided. We can provide financial support for public transport costs.
We especially encourage applications from students within the Liverpool City Region.
The week consists of talks, and workshops, and will give the students an idea of how professional research is done at a university. The students will work in pairs to research an area of astrophysics and produce a poster summarising their work. Each day will start at 9:30 am and end at 4:30 pm.
Some of the talks and workshops include:
- Introduction to Astrophysics
- Using Astronomical Data
- Introduction to Robotic Telescopes
- Design a Telescope
- Science Communication Skills
- University Life
- Careers in Physics
There will also be opportunities to talk with current students about what it is like to go to university.
Things To Do
Over the last few months, we've been busy adding more and more resources to the Things To Do catalogue.
This project has included refreshing older classroom activities. If you can't find a lesson plan you used to use, it has migrated to Things To Do. But don't panic! Things To Do has a helpful search function to find resources by topic, age, or curriculum.
Newly created or refreshed activities this month include:
- Find out how stars make light, and why they are different colours in our new What is a star? video (for ages 7 - 16)
- Watch our video to understand What is a Nebula? (for ages 7 - 18)
- Use the Liverpool Telescope and AstroLab to Investigate: Counting stars in the Milky Way (for ages 11-18)
Look to the Sky!
Our monthly calendars help you plan your stargazing activities.
Download and display February's astronomy calendar at home or in your classroom!
This month's night skies include a conjunction between the Moon and Jupiter.
Add it to the calendar!
Safer Internet Day, 6th February 2024
Chinese New Year: 10th February 2024
Big Schools' Birdwatch, 8th January - 19th February 2024
National Apprenticeship Week, 5th - 11th February 2024
International Day of Women and Girls in Science, 11th February 2024
Darwin Day, 12th February 2024
