With interest in science subjects waning, Armagh Planetarium has launched a new initiative to help keep students interested, writes Dick Ahlstrom.
What does your neighbourhood look like from an orbiting satellite? How do you sleep when weightless in the orbiting International Space Station? The answers to these and many other questions are available via Astrogazers Ireland, an initiative led by the Armagh Planetarium.
Like many other research centres on this island, Armagh Observatory and Planetarium views with concern the rapid decline in student interest in the sciences. It decided to fight this trend by establishing a student network focused on astronomy, says Mr Robert Hill, educational presenter at Armagh Planetarium.
"The whole idea is it is an ideal way for post-primary students to enjoy astronomy," he explains. "It is an initiative set up by ourselves with funding from Northern Ireland Electricity. This is one of our attempts to enthuse students back into science."
Astrogazers Ireland provides a network of support to help promote astronomy clubs in secondary schools across Ireland. It is both a student network and a teacher resource that helps schools to keep students engaged in the sciences, explains Hill.
"If you have an astronomy club in a school with three or four students they are going to get bored," he suggests. There won't be enough student activity to keep things going.
"With Astrogazers Ireland, students can interact with other pupils from other schools and the chances of the club being a success are much higher," says Hill. "Hopefully some of these students will join our ranks and amateur societies and may be the next generation of sky-watchers."
Clearly there is no shortage of student interest. Armagh brought its mobile planetarium, the "Star Dome", on tour last November, during Science Week Ireland. Over a two- week period 4,000 students attending science fairs in Waterford and Galway visited the Star Dome, sometimes waiting for up to an hour to get in, says Hill. The Astrogazers programme hopes to exploit that interest and renew student engagement in the sciences.
A key element of the scheme is an online forum where students with an interest in astronomy can compare notes. "We are currently setting up an online forum to facilitate communication between students and staff with guest speakers answering questions during chosen dates," says Hill.
"It will be a secure online forum," he adds, with high levels of security given the risks of too-open an internet system. It will, however, give students direct access to leading scientists and presenters, people such as Sir Patrick Moore and others.
The scheme also has an important role to play as a back-up service for teachers, explains Hill. "We are a teacher resource centre. There was never a support mechanism before.Teachers didn't know where to phone, now they know."
There is no cost to join Astrogazers Ireland, but students must become involved via their schools. Once a school joins, teachers can begin to draw on Armagh's resources, not just advice and help but access to bodies such as the European Space Agency.
Students can receive ESA's International Space Station interpretive pack. Armagh can also supply optical data collected by orbiting ESA satellites, visual information that can be opened up and examined by the students who can get a bird's-eye view of how their own neighbourhoods look from space.
It will operate on an all-Ireland basis, he says, working cross border as a reflection of the fact that there are "no boundaries with astronomy".
Students and teachers involved in Astrogazers Ireland will be encouraged to link up to mark important times on the science calendar, for example international astronomy week during November, explains Hill. They will be encouraged to put together projects, which in turn will go on display at Armagh.
"It is a good forum for schools to promote themselves here," he says, given that the Planetarium draws thousands of visitors each year from Ireland, Britain and the US. Information and support will be provided via the Armagh link. It should give students with an interest in astronomy a new way to learn about astronomy and perhaps find a career.
Those interested in joining Astrogazers Ireland may write to Robert Hill at The Armagh Planetarium, College Hill, Armagh, BT61 9DB or phone 048 3752 4725