John C Brown: Astronomer Royal for Scotland/Events and Photos

International Year of Astronomy: Primary Schools Constellation Project http://www.cosmicsky.co.uk/psconstellation.htm

Mighty Mouse Rules the Stars at the Glasgow Science Centre!

Star prize for young designer of Scotland’s New Constellation was presented by Poet Laureate Liz Lochead. The ceremony, took place under the stars of Scotland’s finest Planetarium at the Glasgow Science centre June 30th 2009

mouse

Winner:‘Wee Sleekit Beastie ‘ by Laura Doliczny, age 11 from Dalmeny Primary School

Scotland’s New Constellation for the International Year of Astronomy 2009 was chosen last week.
From over 200 entries, ‘Ode to a Mouse’ or ‘Wee Sleekit Beastie ‘ by Laura Doliczny, age 11 from Dalmeny Primary School was selected as the winning design. The giant mouse will be projected digitally in the planetarium dome and will cover the whole sky. 2nd Prize was given to Laura Runciman, Age 9, Lauder Primary School, 3rd Prize was shared between Abdur Rehman Desai, Age 11, Glendale Primary School, and Ruby Partridge, Age 12, Broadford Primary School. Their designs will also be shown at the event.
The Astronomer Royal for Scotland will give a short introduction to the project and Liz Lochead will recite her poem ‘From a Mouse’.

The Scotland Wide Constellation Project is one of many exciting projects worldwide celebrating the International Year of Astronomy 2009. Eight Schools from all over Scotland have taken part in the
Constellation Project to create a new constellation for IYA 2009. Each school was linked to an important astronomy site and they selected a star whose distance in light years corresponds to the age of the site.
As well as choosing their school star they enjoyed two days of workshops with a planetarium show, magic and art workshops led by Professor John Brown (Astronomer Royal for Scotland) and artist Gill Russell. The 8 stars were linked to form the new constellation and a competition run to create a design.

For more information contact :
Project manager and artist Gill Russell on 07811 458066 or gill.russell@cosmicsky.co.uk
Professor John Brown on 07976 270904 or john@astro.gla.ac.uk

2nd Prize: Laura Runciman, Age 9, Lauder Primary School

3rd Prize (equal): Abdur Rehman Desai, Age 11, Glendale Primary School

Additional Information
Details of the project are at http://www.cosmicsky.co.uk/psconstellation.htm
The distances in space are so vast that the the light we see from the stars takes years or thousands of years to cross the vast distances in space to our eyes. So when welook at the stars we are looking back in time.
For example, our youngest site the Mills Observatory ( built in 1935), was linked to Coupar Angus Primary school . They chose Aldeberan, a star that is around 65 light years away so the light we see from Aldeberan today left around the time the Mills Observatory was built.
Orkney schools - Sanday and Stronsay, are linked to Maeshowe, which is the oldest site and was built around 5000 years ago. They chose the Double Cluster in Perseus, an object that is thousands of light years away and whose light we see left around the time Maeshowe was built!