Boys enjoy Astronomy Trip at Patterdale

Saturday saw the boys treated to many activities such as:

The 3rd annual Astronomy weekend took place from Friday 27th to Sunday 29th January at Patterdale Hall.

The group this year consisted of boys from Years 7 to 13 accompanied by members of the Physics Department and our amateur Astronomer Gary Hill.

The aim of the weekend is to offer Astronomy-related activities to all the boys and, of course, take advantage of the dark sky area of the Ullswater valley (assuming little cloud cover).

We were very fortunate on the Friday evening to be treated to mainly clear skies over Patterdale, enabling the boys to put into practice what they had learned about the constellation of Orion and various stellar objects that can be found using the constellation. Ask any of the boys what M42 is and they should point out that it is a nebula found within Orion.

• Synthesising a comet from dry ice and sand

• Launching water powered rockets

• Making Galilean telescopes

• A masterclass in telescopes using a selection of semiprofessional telescopes courtesy of our amateur astronomer Gary Hill

• Following the new solar system orienteering course in the grounds of Patterdale Hall

The evening sessions included a very interesting illustrated talk delivered by George Seddon of Year

13, on the collision of neutron stars forming black holes –interesting to everyone, but maybe a little difficult for Year 7 to follow.

The next to present was Muhammad Akhtar from Year 13 and Zak McCallister from Year 10, who included explanations and tips of how to take pictures of the night sky using cameras and mobile phones.

The boys then had the opportunity to use their phones or iPad to take pictures of a somewhat cloudy sky, but with the moon and stars appearing between clouds. Since then, a few members of our Astronomy Club from Years 7-12 have captured images from home.

Sunday’s activities consisted of making L.E.D. models of constellations by Years 7 and 9; they were very pleased to take these home with them.

Year 10 measured out a scale model of the solar system stretching from the entrance to Patterdale Hall to the pier at Ullswater. This was then followed by all the boys.

Years 11, 12 and 13 were treated to a hands-on session on drone flying and photography by Gary Hill.

Overall, it was a very successful weekend giving the boys an insight to the world of Astronomy and many practical skills. The Physics Department is looking forward to seeing the results of their attempt at astrophotography that will be displayed along the Physics corridor.

Zac now shares his experience of the trip:

This year, I left Patterdale in awe of the night sky above us. Even though it was cloudy, this didn't take anything away from the whole experience. We spent time learning about constellations, neutron stars and telescopes. We completed orienteering within the grounds which showed the true scale of the solar system. At night, we even got to watch films like the Martian and Ad Astra. Overall, this trip was great for our knowledge and enjoyment of Astronomy.

Joseph now shares his experience of the trip:

As I am part of the Astronomy Club and am taking the subject for GCSE, I was given the chance to go to Patterdale Hall over a weekend on the astronomy trip. While we were there, we were given the chance to take part in many activities, such as making dry ice comets and bottle rockets; stargazing; and outdoor activities with the Patterdale staff. In the evenings, there were talks by some of the older students and space-themed films such as The Martian. By far, my favourite part of the weekend was the opportunity to do stargazing, as the skies were extremely clear so it was perfect to try and find di ff erent stars, constellations and objects. Overall, the trip was extremely interesting and definitely helped me understand more about the night sky.