Just announced, the Society For Popular Astronomy has up to 1000 telescopes to give to qualifying UK schools, as part of their IYA2009 International Year of Astronomy celebrations.

The telescopes are 70mm, 700mm focal length (F10) refractors on easy-to-use, alt-azimuth mounts. They have been carefully selected for their decent optical quality and versatility, while being suitable for general school astronomy lessons.

What Could You See?

One of these telescopes should give great views of the Moon, with plenty of crater detail to study, plus exciting sights of the largest planets in our Solar System, Jupiter and Saturn.  

The rings of Saturn and the belts of Jupiter’s surface, should be within reach on a clear night.

Even from our light-polluted cities, these telescopes will reveal star patterns, which can’t be seen with the naked eye. And in good seeing conditions, you may be able to see nebulae and even other galaxies, outside our own Milky Way.

How To Apply

There is a simple application process.  Basically, any UK secondary school can write up to 500 words, saying what lessons the telescope would be used for, to be in with a chance of getting one.

The details and application form can be downloaded from the SPA Telescopes For Schools page. 

To help teachers, they will also get a DVD showing how to set up the telescope and suggesting how it might be used in lessons.  There will also be website pages, providing astronomy teaching ideas and assistance.

All applications from schools need to be received by 31 December 2008.

So, if you are a teacher, parent or student and think your school could make use of a telescope, download the application form now.

Astronomy is the science of studying the universe around us. It uses modern scientific techniques such as measurement, evidence, factual analysis, experiments to test theories, rigorous publication and peer-review.

Astrology is different – it is based on the belief that the positions of the stars, Sun, Moon and planets in the sky, in some way influence events and human behaviour here on Earth. It therefore seeks to analyse and identify what these influences might produce.

Nowadays, astrology and astronomy are quite different, but in years gone by, it was not like that.

Most astronomers I meet now, dismiss astrology as an irrelevance. In fact they rather “look down their noses” at anyone who takes astrology in any way seriously.

But a few hundred years ago, astrology and astronomy were closely related. You could even say that modern astronomy grew out of astrology.

One of the greatest people in astronomical history was Kepler . He developed our modern theories of planetary motion. Yet his work was a curious mixture of astronomy and astrology, as we now understand it.

As part of Kepler’s duties as a university professor, he was required to perform astrological analysis and astrological ideas appear throughout his written work.

It was much the same for other great astronomers of the period.

In those times a few hundred years ago, all the courts of Kings and Princes employed astrologers and they were important positions. Their duties were to analyse the heavens, work out the influences and then assist their masters directly with day-to-day decision making.

Of great importance in astrology are the twelve Signs of the Zodiac. These are the star constellations through which the Sun appears to pass each year, from our viewpoint here on Earth.

Of course in reality, the Sun does not get anywhere near any of these stars. (And there should actually be thirteen constellations, not twelve, because of Ophiuchus!)

Nevertheless, the Signs of the Zodiac can be very useful when talking about astronomy for kids. They all seem to know about the Zodiac and their birth sign, so kids are always keen to find out where “their” constellation is in the sky.

So astrology can be a good way to help kids become interested in astronomy.