Pythagorean Astronomy: On Board with DART

Posted on 2 November 2022 by Chris North

At the end of September, NASA’s DART mission was deliberately crashed into the asteroid Dimorphos. Not carelessness, but a deliberate act with a view to testing planetary defense. After all, if we discover something large heading towards Earth, we might want to be able to nudge it off course. Here in Wales, the Comet Chasers
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The Welsh school children helping NASA save the planet from asteroid strikes

Posted on 26 September 2022 by Chris North

In Hollywood movies like Armageddon, Deep Impact, or the more recent Don’t Look Up, it is the Americans who save the Earth from the disaster of an asteroid or comet impact. But now Welsh school children are getting in on the act, observing an asteroid in support of An exciting NASA mission. NASA and partners
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Quantum World: From research to teaching

Posted on 21 September 2022 by Chris North

An exciting meeting to bring together academics and teachers to discuss how STEM in academia could better contribute to our schools & kids. This hybrid online/in-person meeting is a teacher/academia workshop at the School of Physics and Astronomy with the aim to deliver lectures on current research, lab tours, discussions on problems in communicating and
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Pythagorean Astronomy: Gravitational Field Trip – part 2

Posted on 21 September 2022 by Chris North

This is the second part of a gravitational field trip to the LIGO Hanford Observatory in Washington State, in the US. Last month we talked about how the detectors work, and the scientists and engineers who operate them. This time, we take a longer-term look, not just into the future but also into the past,
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We are hiring! Physics Mentoring Project roles

Posted on 21 September 2022 by Chris North

Two exciting opportunities have arisen within the School of Physics and Astronomy to join the well-established Physics Mentoring Project. The opportunities are “Project Manager” and “Project Officer”: Project Officer The post-holder will assist the Project Manager in coordinating the project as it expands its reach to include more mentors and schools across Wales. This is
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Public Event: Gravitational Waves – Hear From The Experts

Posted on 9 September 2022 by Chris North

Hear from some world-leading experts on gravitational waves, and the status of the international network of detectors. Date: Thursday 15th September Time: 1930-2100 Venue: Centre for Student Life, Cardiff University About this event Since the first detection of gravitational waves in 2015, the international network of gravitational wave detectors has continued to grow and the
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The Award Winning Physics Mentoring Project

Posted on 10 August 2022 by Chris North

[cross-posted from the Physics Mentoring Project] We are extremely proud to announce that in July the Physics Mentoring Project was awarded the award of ‘Excellence in Support of Student Ambassadors’ by the Ogden Trust. The Ogden Trust is a charitable trust that ‘exists to promote the teaching and learning of physics.’ They encourage newly graduated
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Pythagorean Astronomy: Gravitational Field Trip – part 1

Posted on 4 August 2022 by Chris North

This month, we go on a field trip to the LIGO Hanford Observatory, one of a number of detectors that are searching for gravitational waves. In part one of this trip, we hear from a number of people working at the detector. Dr Mike Landry, Head of the LIGO Hanford Observatory, explains how – and
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Pythagorean Astronomy: Amateur Advances

Posted on 2 July 2022 by Chris North

Amateur astronomers regularly make important contributions to astronomy research. That can be through observations of meteor showers, or images of solar system objects. But it’s not always about pretty pictures, and some amateurs also make measurements that feed into our understanding of a broad range of astronomical phenomena, providing a network of telescopes that far
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Pythagorean Astronomy: Space Environmentalism

Posted on 30 May 2022 by Chris North

In the 65 years since Sputnik 1 was launched in 1957, the number of artificial satellites in orbit has been increasing. In the last two years, the number of satellites has doubled, largely thanks to the huge “constellations” launched by companies such as SpaceX. The number of satellites has a detrimental impact on astronomical observations,
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