This is a topic about how telescopes work and how, together with astrophotography, they help us understand the Universe.
We bring a solar telescope and a nighttime telescope to schools and offer practical demonstrations on how to use them.
One of the best things about space sciences is that we can observe space from the surface of the Earth, day and night. When we come to your event or school, we can bring our solar telescope to safely observe the Sun and our refracting telescope to observe the Moon during the day when it’s visible.
The solar telescope contains a hydrogen alpha filter that only allows in light from the hydrogen alpha emission line, which corresponds with the Sun’s photosphere. This means we can see details on the Sun’s surface, such as sunspots, filaments, and prominences. The solar telescope is a great way to experience a star close-up. We can also plug in our special camera and display the Sun on a screen for easy viewing.
The larger refracting telescope is ideal for seeing details on the surface of the Moon during the day. Sometimes, the Moon is visible during the day and is often overlooked for viewing through a telescope as the conditions are not as good as at night. Even during the day, the craters and mountains on the surface of the Moon are clearly visible.
