Gaia is a European Space Agency mission which is currently taking data to make the most precise 3D map of our Milky Way galaxy.

As the Gaia satellite constantly scans the sky measuring the positions of millions of stars in our Galaxy, it can also detect objects that suddenly change in brightness.

The Faulkes Telescope Project has joined forces with the Gaia Science Alerts team at Cambridge University in order to develop a series of educational resources which aim to provide students with an opportunity to perform investigations using real data they have collected themselves using robotic telescopes. These have been designed to follow some of the areas within the Key Stage 5 physics curriculum.

Students can observe objects millions of kilometres away, deep into space!

Schools can partake in cutting edge astronomy that is brought to us by the European Space Agency. The materials developed by FTP and the ESA Gaia team provide an opportunity for students to participate in and contribute to real scientific research that is happening right now.

By teaming up with the Faulkes Telescope Project, your school can adopt a supernova and be the first to make follow-up observations of these newly discovered exploding stars and watch them gradually fade over time.

Find out more about how you can join in with observing objects which Gaia scientists have picked out for further follow-up observations by looking at the Gaia alert pages here: https://www.gaia.ac.uk/alerts

For classroom resources based around using robotic telescopes and Gaia alerts, including pre-packaged data, go to the Faulkes Telescope Project resources pages here: http://resources.faulkes-telescope.com/course/category.php?id=48

For more information, contact the FTP team: info@faulkes-telescope.com.