Students search for the (real) stars

While most girls their age are fixated on movie stars, a group of students in Cork have their eyes on a whole other type of celestial bodies.

Transition year students from Regina Mundi College in Douglas, Co Cork, have teamed up with five schools from across Europe in an attempt to locate and photograph asteroids.

Schools from France, England, Portugal, and Poland all took part in the unique physics project.

Each of the schools searched for, located, and photographed two asteroids using high quality robotic telescopes, one based in Hawaii and the other in Arizona.

They found two asteroids, 585 Bilkis and the 1676 Kariba, both in the main belt of the solar system, which is between Mars and Jupiter.

During their search the students kept in touch using internet group conferencing while they took turns imaging the asteroids.

Physics teacher John Murphy said it had been an amazing experience for everyone involved.

“It showed just what science can achieve. We were operating a telescope based in Hawaii from our laptop in Cork. The telescope has a webcam so we could track everything.”

Mr Murphy said the main aim of the project was to get more girls interested in science.

“We wanted to engage girls with science and applied mathematics and this allowed them to get a hands-on, real life experience of the workings of science.”

The students are now busy analysing the images in an attempt to deter-mine the orbit, rotation and shape of the asteroids.

Three of the students have been selected to represent the Irish Partner in Poland at an international youth astronomy conference.

“It is excellent for the children to learn from other students across Europe but it was also a great opportunity for teachers as it gave them a chance to engage in the different teaching practices used,” said Mr Murphy.

The project has enabled the school to forge stronger links with the EU, while making an abstract idea a reality.

“Astronomy has been an ongoing interest in the school; a few years ago we set up a website where we document all the projects we have undertook. It’s really engaging the students in the real life aspects of science.”

The project was funded by Comenius, a UK-based organisation aimed at funding projects for schools and colleges across Europe.

The funding has already seen some of the fifth year students travel to Portugal to link up with a robotic telescope located in Arizona.