Quiet Sun

The Sun has an 11 year cycle of activity - and we're currently in a low point. There has not been a single spot on the Sun for 45 days in a row! That means that we are now in the deepest solar minimum for a hundred years (and that we cannot blame the Sun for global warming).

Being that there are no Sun-spots, you might think that it is a bad time to be using a solar telescope - but that is not the case (which is fortunate for us here at Sussex since we have two solar telescopes that are available for schools to use!).

Take a look at this image taken by the SOHO observatory...

Even when the Sun is in a quiet state, jets of hot gas can be seen though a solar telescope. For the latest images, take a look at the SOHO realtime data page.

And remember, never look at the Sun directly since it will damage your eyes. Always use equipment with the appropriate solar filters.

More website additions...

As we continue to plan and develop our outreach offerings in time for the return of the school and college students, our website is also rapidly developing!

You can now view our events calendar online, where you can see if the fixed-dates events are fully booked or still available. And do take a look at our ever-expanding selection of activities and talks that we can offer to your school or college.

Perseids Meteor Shower: More tonight?

Some amazing photographs are appearing on the internet of last night's Perseid meteor shower, such as this photograph below taken by local astronomer Pete Lawrence in West Sussex.

Perseid Meteor Shower

It is the time of year again when the Earth passes through the debris left behind by Comet Swift Tuttle.

For the last 10 days, the number of meteors (shooting stars) have been greater that usual, and I myself saw a bright meteor through partial cloud a few nights ago. But over the next few nights and mornings (the 11th and 12th), the Earth will be going through the heart of the debris stream. The plot below, from British amateur radio astronomer Dave Swan (see the radio meteor observers website for other contributors), shows the number of meteors, tiny bits of rock less than a millimeter in size, currently burning up over the UK.

As you can see from Dave's data, we see more meteors after midnight than before. But why is this?

Our Earth is orbiting around the Sun at 70,000 mph. In the evening, we are looking backwards, at where the Earth has been. But in the morning, we are looking forward in the direction of Earth's travel around the Sun. If you've ever driven through falling snow in a car, you will realise that it is more exciting looking forwards than looking backwards, and so you see more meteors burning up in the Earth's atmosphere looking into space after midnight than before.

It is also best to go somewhere dark, well away from the light pollution of the cities. The darker your location, the more meteors you will see - and you may see a sight that you will always remember!

Outreach Launch Party

On the 14th of July, 2009, over 50 teachers from around the region came to visit the University of Sussex, to see the launch of outreach offerings from the department of Physics & Astronomy.

Activities included:

• a tour of the research facilities
• demonstrations of hands-on workshops for schools kids
• watching radiation passing through cloud chambers
• GCSE revision experiments
• our new roof-top robotic observatory
• solar telescope demonstrations
• plus the chance to talk to members of the department, both staff and students

The event was a tremendous success, and everyone enjoyed themselves! We also got lots of valuable feedback from visitors, and ideas to put into our program for next year.

We'd like to thanks all those who made the effort to come and visit, and we really value your thoughts and ideas. And we look forward to seeing you all again at some point in the future, either here on campus, or at your school.

Under-graduate students Nick and Darren (left), and lecturer Jon Loveday (right), all from the Physics & Astronomy department of the University of Sussex, show off the selection of telescopes available for visiting schools to use.

Welcome!

Welcome to the Physics & Astronomy Outreach blog, here at the University of Sussex!

This blog will contain...

• Previews & reminders of up-and-coming events
• Reviews of past events
• Latest news in Physics & Astronomy - with special relevance to teaching, and the University of Sussex.

We hope you will enjoy reading the blog, and if you do have any ideas or suggestions, please let us know at physicsoutreach@sussex.ac.uk