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Debbie
Ward has spent more than 15 years
as a journalist, several as Features
Editor of Travel Trade Gazette.
She now works freelance.
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Seeing
Stars
Hotline, the Virgin Trains magazine - June 2009
Prise the kids away from TV talent shows and put real stars
in their eyes by getting involved in International Year of
Astronomy. You needn't rubberneck vaguely in your back
garden; with observatories and planetariums celebrating the
400th birthday of the telescope there are plenty of expert-guided
experiences around to wow all ages.
Cosmic capers at London's Royal Observatory and
Planetarium, Greenwich (Greenwich Park, 020 88584422
www.nmm.ac.uk/places/royal-observatory
take the tube and DLR to Cutty Sark from Euston) include Saturn
Family Weekend on 27-29 June with spacecraft making, a special
planetarium show (£6 adults/£4 children) and Q&As
with visiting NASA mission scientists. Similar moon-landing
themed workshops blast off 25-26 July.
The observatory's public astronomer Marek Kukula says:
"Everyone can look up at the stars and wonder. For both
children and adults there's that whole idea of aliens,
of flying out there, black holes and supernovas. And astronomy
is really about the big questions that everybody asks from
kids up to 90-year-olds - what's out there and
what's it all about?"
Greenwich's observatory dome cracks open Thunderbirds-style
for stargazing sessions using its 28-inch telescope from Autumn
but before then you can peek safely at the sun through a solar
scope most weekends (www.flamsteed.info/fassolarview.htm).
Weather permitting, seasonal sunspot or star searches for all
ages are also made through rooftop scopes during Friday visitor
evenings at the Royal Observatory Edinburgh
(Blackford Hill, 0131 668 8404 www.roe.ac.uk/vc
£4 adults/£3 children/£10.50 family). Education
officer Tania Johnston says: "If there's a planet,
like Saturn, visible we'll set them up to look at that,
otherwise it's the moon or star nebulas. We hand out star
charts so visitors get some bearings. If they haven't
got a telescope back home they can still look for constellations."
Themed family activities including rocket-making run throughout
summer while there'll be research lab tours and shows
in a mobile planetarium on the observatory's free open
day 26-27 September.
Stars are not seen but 'heard' at Cheshire's
Jodrell Bank Observatory (Macclesfield, 01477
571339 www.jodrellbank.manchester.ac.uk/visitorcentre)
where the Lovell telescope's 76m dish collects radio waves
from deep space objects and potential ETs. You can make your
own orbit of Lovell then take a trip to Mars in the 3D Theatre
followed by a down-to-earth stroll in the arboretum (Adults
£2/Children £1). On 8 August there'll be a
feast of barbecue food, shooting stars and telescope planet
viewing at the observatory's Perseids Meteor Shower Party
(£12 adults/£10 children). Connect to Goostrey from
Crewe or Manchester Piccadilly to reach Jodrell.
Planetariums offer simulated stargazing whatever the weather.
Both Glasgow Science Centre (Pacific Quay,
0871 5401000 www.glasgowsciencecentre.org)
and Birmingham's ThinkTank science museum
(Curzon Street, 0121 2022222 www.thinktank.ac)
have different astronomer-guided planetarium shows aimed at
under and over-sevens including 'Tonight's Sky'
presentations on what to hunt for the evening of your visit.
Merseyside has a planetarium among the out-of-this-world galleries
at Spaceport (Victoria Place, Seacombe 0151
33301333 www.spaceport.org.uk),
reachable by ferry from Liverpool, plus the museum is commemorating
the 40th anniversary of the moon landings with its One Small
Step exhibition until January. Rock up between 28 July and 3
Sept to see meteorites and chunks of moon on loan from NASA.
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