Astronomy

We want to take the Renegades to the stars...quite literally!

 

Thanks to grants from the National Lottery and when the weather and cloud cover allows, we do astronomy as often as possible and have some very special locations for doing it where the light pollution is at its least.

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So far the renegades have been able to find and explore Jupiter and its Galilean moons.  Most people think it’s a star rather than a planet as it's the brightest object in the sky, and you can see the lines of the gases and the storm very easily with the simplest telescope - but be careful it is moving at one ridiculous speeds.

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The children have also see Saturn and Titan. There is nothing like seeing the rings of Saturn for the first time with your own eyes - it is magical and it's normally just below or above Jupiter at the moment.

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Obviously the moon has featured heavily in our stargazing - and the huge amount of satellites and objects skimming off the atmosphere - but the detail is fascinating.
 

Everyone can study the planets - you don’t need a big fancy scope, but we have been very lucky with our donations and grants and have a good array of equipment to choose from.

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There is nothing quite so special and as load of young people lying in the grass covered over with blankets staring into the inky dark of space. It has prompted some really interesting (if sometimes slightly left field) conversations!

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Our telescopes go with us whenever we go camping as it's a perfect opportunity for the children to all have a go late into the night.
 

And we all have our own night vision with the rhodopsin protein - you can try using at home. Close your eyes and turn off all the lights for 30mins (so far we've only done it for ten) but you will be amazed what you can see once the protein is activated... but one glimpse of a white light and you have to start all over again. Go on try it… the Renegades have!

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Boredom is just not an option.

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