Pupils have stars in their eyes through net telescope

A PROJECT to give schoolchildren in the Capital the chance to observe the night sky was set to be launched in Edinburgh today.

The Royal Observatory has become the Scottish base for the Faulkes Telescope Project, where pupils can use two state-of-the-art robotic telescopes via the internet.

The location of the telescopes in Hawaii and Australia enables the night sky in both the northern and southern hemispheres to be observed from the classroom during the Scottish school day.

The telescopes, set up in prime astronomical observing areas close to some of the world’s most powerful professional telescopes, are two metres long.

The project lets schools book their time slot, plan the work they want to carry out and take control of the telescope.

John Brown, Astronomer Royal for Scotland, was due to be present at the launch of the project at the Royal Museum, National Museum of Scotland today.

He said: "This project will bring the wonder of the night sky right into the classroom, giving schools a unique resource through which to teach maths and science in an inspirational and exciting way."

Dawn Knight, physics teacher at Dalkeith High School, one of four schools to pilot the telescopes, said: "Using the telescopes has been really inspirational for the children, bringing science and maths alive.

"The students from the Royal Observatory that have worked with us have been great role models for our pupils."