Press Release from RIBI

June 2004

SCHOOL PUPILS EXPLORE BLACK HOLES

On the afternoon of Thursday 24th June, about 350 students from all over Britain will gather in the world-famous Faraday Theatre of the Royal Institution, London at the culmination of a true adventure in scientific discovery. After months of careful research using a cutting-edge professional telescope, they will come together to learn something new about the Universe. They will be joined by adults who are not themselves scientists but want to learn something of how they work and why they find it so exciting.

Since February, students have been using the Liverpool Telescope to study some of the most energetic objects in the universe: Quasars. The Quasars are billions of light years away and produce more than a trillion times the energy of the Sun. Astronomers think that these amazing "power stations" are huge Black Holes in the centres of galaxies destroying and swallowing up the stars and gas around them.

However, there are many perplexing questions about Quasars and through the "Excitement of Science" event this year, it is hoped that students around the country will find some of the answers - they will be able to do scientific research, rather than just hear it talked about.

Dr. Andrew Newsam from Liverpool John Moores University is the lead scientist for the project. He explains "Quasars change in brightness very quickly. Using the special robotic capabilities of the Liverpool Telescope, we can observe those changes and use them to understand more about Quasars, black holes and perhaps even the formation of our own galaxy."

The experiment uses observations from scientists in Liverpool, Southampton and Boston which have been analysed by the students themselves, and will be brought together "live" at the Royal Institution on Thursday. Dr Newsam adds "The exciting thing is that nobody knows what we will discover until it all comes together. That is what science is all about."

The selection and transport of the students has been organised by Rotary, led by Prof Bill Mullarkey: "From the outset it was considered vital that all should be able to travel at no cost to themselves other than having to earn their places. That was done by intellect and enthusiasm not money: they simply have to demonstrate that they are amongst the most able candidates to join the next generation of scientists."

In another first, the day will also bring live observations into the Faraday Theatre from a telescope on the other side of the world. The Faulkes Telescope in Hawaii is a robotic telescope just like the Liverpool Telescope, but set-up by the Dill Faulkes Educational Trust and dedicated to education. Using this telescope the students will take observations in real time from the lecture theatre, see the telescope move into position 10,000 miles away and have their images returned within minutes.

Add to that an explosive demonstration of the delights of Chemistry from Dr John Kilcoyne from the University of Sunderland, and it promises to be an amazing day. The whole event will also be webcast live at (www.excitementofscience.org).

ends

Further information can be obtained from:

Dr Andrew Newsam, National Schools' Observatory (amn@astro.livjm.ac.uk, 0151 231 2905) and the website www.excitementofscience.org.

Images are available from www.excitementofscience.org/press

The Excitement of Science Event 2004 is organised by Rotary International, the Royal Institution and the National Schools' Observatory.

The National Schools' Observatory (NSO) is major web-based educational resource set-up by Liverpool John Moores University giving schools direct access to the Liverpool Telescope. The project aims to use Astronomy to promote science to pupils and their teachers and parents. See http://www.schoolsobservatory.org.uk

The Liverpool Telescope is the world's largest fully-robotic telescope and is sited alongside the UK's Isaac Newton Group of telescopes at La Palma in the Canary Islands. Owned by the Astrophysics Research Institute of Liverpool John Moores University its observing time is divided between UK and international research programmes and education. See http://www.schoolsobservatory.org.uk/tel/lt and http://telescope.livjm.ac.uk

The Faulkes Telescope Project provides UK schools with an inspirational educational resource - two large robotic telescopes, equipped with research-grade astronomical instruments, and located at professional observatory sites in Hawaii (FT North on Maui) and Australia (FT South at Siding Spring). The telescopes are located in different time zones, Hawaii (12 hours behind the UK) and Australia (10 hours ahead of the UK), allowing schools to use them during classroom hours. Access to the telescopes is via a specially designed webpage. See http://www.faulkes-telescope.com