FT/LCO at the National Eisteddfod

A team of astronomers
from the FT/LCO project and the School of Physics and Astronomy at
Cardiff University have run a highly successful “Observatory” at the
2008 National Eisteddfod. This year’s event was visited by around
156,000 people, and the Science Pavilion attracted around 2,000 people
a day over the 8 days of the event.

Children use laptops to
take crash “virtual impactors” into Wales (courtesy of the “Down to
Earth” project) and use a variety of space and astronomy related
software (including some very popular Dr. Who games!).

 The
Eisteddfod is one of the world's greatest festivals, and one of the
oldest manifestations of Welsh culture and heritage that attracts
around 160,000 visitors annually. It also plays an important role in
the life of a nation by promoting the Welsh language and the arts. 

This
year, the FT team was asked to put together a new exhibition, named
“The Observatory”, which would highlight the educational work of the
project and the live observing capabilities of the LCOGT facilities.
Funding was obtained from a £15k small award from the Science and
Technology Facilities Council (STFC), allowing a large (9m x 9m) area
to be turned into a showcase for FT/LCO and the School of Physics and Astronomy at Cardiff University.

Promotional and
educational materials were produced in the Welsh language by Dr. Rhodri
Evans and Dr. Sarah Roberts, and a number of STFC projects that FT is
also working on were represented. The “Down to Earth” project, a
collaboration with the National Museum of Wales (funded by an STFC
Science Centre award), proved particularly popular, with a variety of
meteorites, dinosaur fossils and models on show courtesy of Heather
Jackson from the museum’s Dept. of Geology.

The “Down to Earth”
display proved very popular, with real meteorites and dinosaur fossils
available to be handled by members of the public.

A daily competition for
children to use FTN and FTS data to produce colour images proved very
popular, with around 300 entries over the 8 days. The FT educational
guides for colour imaging were translated into Welsh, and proved very
successful. Children were surrounded by a range of images from
astro-imaging experts Nik Szymanek and Danny Duggan, which inspired
many of them to produce some really superb images.

Children use the FT
colour imaging guides to produce their very own works of art – examples
of the images produced on previous days can be seen on the walls,
surrounding pictures from Nik Szymanek and Danny Duggan.

Live observations from
Hawaii and Australia took place throughout the week (twice a day for 1
hour at a time), and attracted audiences of several dozen to each show.
Despite appalling weather at the Eisteddfod, and high humidity in
Siding Spring, clear skies in Hawaii meant that most days saw
successful live observing sessions take place.

Weather conditions at
the Eisteddfod were not exactly ideal…typical Eisteddfod clothing is
modelled by Alison Tripp, Sarah Roberts and Charlotte Tripp!

 Cardiff
University supplied a 1/4 scale model of the Planck satellite, and
Rhodri Evans produced a display about infrared astronomy to showcase
the departments involvement in both the Herschel and Planck missions.
When weather conditions permitted, solar observing took place (rarely!)
and a variety of water and air-powered rockets were launched.   

After an exhausting but
enjoyable week, the team packed up the telescopes, rockets, colour
images, laptops and satellite models that they had shipped over from
the university. Over 5,000 people passed through The Observatory during
the 8 days of the Eisteddfod, and a great time was had by all.