GCSE Astronomy

Over the past few hundred years, astronomers have discovered thousands of stars whose brightness goes up and down over time. These are known as variable stars. But what causes this to happen?

In 2017, the Liverpool Telescope was involved in the investigation of an exciting new discovery: the star system TRAPPIST-1.

The ocean’s tides rise and fall every day, but have you ever wondered what causes them? The Moon and Sun both play a role in shaping the movement of water across the Earth. 

Galaxies are vast collections containing billions of stars, planets, and massive clouds of gas, dust, and ice. Understanding galaxies is a key part of astronomy. One important tool for studying them is classification—grouping them into a few different categories. 

Have you ever wondered why stars look different colours? What do these colours mean? How do we know what stars are made of? Explore these questions with our classify a star activity.