The privilege to take part in this pilot scheme for the Faulkes telescope was every bit as thrilling to me as I’m sure it was to my fellow guinea pigs, fifth year Lizzy Hynd, third year Ciaran Roche and second year Katy Dickinson. Katy is just starting her section on astrophysics in standard grade science. Using the pictures and information she gained using the Faulkes telescope, she was able to showcase her findings to her class, who were very impressed. Lizzy is currently taking Higher Physics and hopes to do the Advanced Higher next year. She intends to do a project in astrophysics and this opportunity is perfect to inspire her. It is in fact Lizzy’s inquiries that led to Peebles High School being chosen to experiment with the telescope’s use during school time.

When Mrs Hill, physics teacher and leader of the PHS Engineering Club, asked around at Edinburgh Observatory for some information or projects that would aid Lizzy, she was recommended for trying out the Faulkes telescope. This suggestion came from Morag Hastie, an ex-PHS student who studied astrophysics at St Andrews University and is currently in the final year of her PhD. The Engineering Club at Peebles High School has explored many aspects of science and engineering. From robots to rockets, light up circuits to messing around with computers and anything else lying around Lab 3, we’ve done lots of interesting activities. But few of them involved the sky, and the Faulkes telescope has brought that side of physics to the club.

It is brilliant that we had this opportunity to turn to the sky capture the stars as astronomy is such a fascinating subject. The aim of this pilot scheme was to ascertain whether or not pupils believed that the Faulkes Telescope would be a good idea for the use of Scottish Schools.

The general opinion between my fellow stargazers and I was: Yes, absolutely

To tell this to everyone who wanted to know, we went to the Royal Museum in Chambers St. Edinburgh. There we saw the by now familiar sight of the Faulkes Telescope in Action, watched and listened to several presentations, and talked to everyone involved with the project over a buffet lunch. The presentations ranged from one from a government representative to school students, who had like ourselves, been given control of the telescope for sessions.

These presentations were lively, interesting, and gave a much larger and clearer view of the potential of the Faulkes telescope. The two telescopes in Hawaii and Australia are the first professional sized telescopes in the world to be controlled remotely. Also, accompanying us on our trip to the Museum was Linda Cameron, who visited NASA last year and was subsequently recognised by several of the people present.

At the buffet lunch we were talking to many of the people involved with the telescope. All of them were very friendly and told us a lot about different parts of astronomy. We were also speaking to the Astronomer Royal for Scotland, Professor John C. Brown. We learned that Professor Brown is into magic tricks, and he’ll be coming down to Peebles sometime, perhaps for a performance in the Eastgate theatre. That’s certainly something to look forward to in the near future.

For a change, I’ve put pictures on the website in a large size so they can be used by schools/organisations involved with the Faulkes Telescope (and so everyone can see them).

Click on the thumbnails to bring up the larger images.

And if that isn’t enough, I’ve got the presentation that Ciaran and Katy made for the showcasing at the Museum. It tragically wasn’t shown, so to amend things, it’s here for all to download. You'll need Microsoft powerpoint in order to view this. Enjoy.