Stargazing

[Sukerkin]

I thought that in amongst the more usual political discourse that fills the Study, it might be good to direct peoples eye's to the skies for a change - after all, a sense of the scale of the universe is a wonderful way to get some perspective back on the sheer insignificance of our scurryings about on this tiny mote of dust.

The BBC is running a week long series of live programmes on astronomy and related physics matters at the moment. Part of it is an encouragement to get the public involved in analysing data from planet-hunting telescopes. It's easy enough to do once you've read the Help and maybe watched the tutorial videos but it does take some judgement. However, don't fret too much about making a mistake as I believe the analysis overall will use the "Wisdom of Crowds" to verify identifications {i.e. more than just one claim of sight of a transit phenomenon}:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/tv/features/stargazing/

The link to set you on the right path is the "Planet Hunters" one.

 

[Tez3]

I have a crick in my neck from running out to look at the stars! managed to see nearly everything they've told us to look for, only got binoculars though but because we live in the country and its a cold clear night it's been very good.
I'm surprised about how much I can understand when Prof Cox explains things, he's a born 'explainer'!

 

[Razor]

I had a look at that early, tried identifying the dips in light and it kept telling me I was wrong. Then when it showed the answers, they were where I had clicked! Must have clicked in slightly the wrong places or something.