Glamorgan Astronomers share their knowledge with the Next Generation

August 27, 2010

University of Glamorgan Astronomers Martin Griffiths and Allan Trow are teaching observational astronomy to school-teachers at the Griffon Educational Observatory in Andalucía.

Secondary schools teachers will be given tuition in using instrumentation, so that they can then encourage groups to visit and take advantage of these state-of-the-art facilities. “We want to encourage people to study astronomy at GCSE and degree level – and hope that this will provide a gateway to our Observational Astronomy award at Glamorgan. I am looking forward to forging closer links between the university, the observatory and school networks,” says Senior Lecturer in Observational Astronomy, Martin Griffiths.

The Griffon Educational Observatory has enjoyed close links with Glamorgan since its inception in 2008, with Griffiths and Trow involved in its planning.

In April 2010 University of Glamorgan students became the first customers to use the observatory as part of a field school for the module “Exploring the Sky”. They studied deep sky object recognition, used instrumentation, performed solar observations and learned image processing and data collection for later analysis.

This image was taken by the students as part of their fieldwork. It shows the starlit dome of GEO with the Sagittarius Milky Way above it.

Find out more about studying BSc Observational Astronomy at the University of Glamorgan.

Tagged: hesas