Over the last few weeks, UNAWE has organised a special astronomy programme at the American School in The Hague, The Netherlands. They set up a Space Club for aspiring young astronauts! On six Fridays in May and early June, three UNAWE student ambassadors – PhD students Daniel Caputo, Marissa Rosenberg and Tiffany Meshkat – hosted surprising activities at the American School and exciting field trips. Daniel is enthousiastic about his experiences during the last couple of weeks. “The students’ unbridled curiosity inspires my own.”
On the first Friday, 2 May, the young soon-to-be scientists learned about light and different kinds of radiation and went on to discover the exotic phenomena around black holes! A week later, they acted as real scientists, contributing to astronomy by classifying newly photographed galaxies with the online tool Galaxy Zoo. On Friday 16 May, the children experienced the actual day-to-day work done by real world astronomers. They put together a scientific quality image from raw data of the famous Hubble Space Telescope.
A week later, it was time for our apprentices to spread their wings and go on a field trip. The Space Club visited the Old Observatory in Leiden near The Hague. This historic building used to serve as the astronomy department of Leiden University, and now acts partly as an astronomy museum. The children got a tour around the building, visited the museum and even did some solar observations!
The second-to-last activity was built around the kids’ specific interests. What would they research if they were astronomers? What is the most interesting phenomenon or question in the Universe? Tomorrow, on the final day, it is time for the big presentations. The children are invited to Leiden University to present their accomplishments and what they have learned during the past five weeks.
Daniel Caputo, Marissa Rosenberg and Tiffany Meshkat are American astronomy PhD Students at Leiden Observatory.
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