Astronomy

Star Stories Impact

/ Stephen Mackintosh / Leave a comment

Here’s some facts and figures highlighting the impact of the Star Stories astronomy programme, running up at Abriachan forest since 2018 (after a pilot in 2017). As principle researcher for the Spark Award grant I’ve been sharing impact data with STFC, who’ll use it to better target future funding for science and astronomy outreach.

Impact Summary

  • Over 40 face to face events delivered
  • Close to 1800 total attendees
  • Highland Astronomy Facebook community grown to 14,000 followers
  • Wide geographical distribution (see map)
  • 40% of attendees Under 16s
  • Balanced engagement between male and female
  • Local schools, scouting and astronomy organisations engaged with
  • High quality home baking by @Judith Mackintosh

Examples of astronomy topics and themes explored during the events:

Meteors, Venus, Life of Stars, Saturn, Aurora, Variable Stars, Night sky photography, Buying a Telescope, Orion, Island Universes, Scale of the Universe, Mesolithic Stargazing, Renaissance Astronomy, Globular Clusters,Summer and Winter Solstice, Moon, Gravitational Waves, Multiverses, Lord Kelvin, Age of Universe, Planetary Nubulae, Black Holes, Space Telescopes

Astronomy speakers:

  • Martin Hendry
  • Steve Owens
  • Graham Bradshaw
  • Maarten De Vries
  • Claire Rayne
  • Anthony Luke
  • Eric Walker
  • Catherine Haymans
  • Stephen Mackintosh
  • Glasgow Science Centre team

Storytellers:

  • Barbara Henderson
  • John Burns
  • Suzann Barr
  • Trish Matthews
  • Daniel Allison
  • Allis Balance
  • Chris Holland
  • Fiona Macdonald
  • Clelland McCallum
  • Gordon MacLellan

Key Findings

  • To engage wide audiences try to blend science and culture.
  • Binoculars are an empowering and inexpensive tool to access the night sky with large groups
  • Well managed social media pages are a great way to build communities and drive engagement
  • Audiences, particularly young people, are highly engaged by very challenging and abstract cosmology (don’t dumb down)
  • The ‘wonder’ of the night sky is a highly motivating vehicle to increase engagement in science and mathematics

The Future

Star Stories is now a well established astronomy outreach programme within the Highlands, close to the city of Inverness. Its events continue to sell out each season . Our new programme of events will kick off at the start of the 2024 winter season in October. We look forward to expanding the scope of the work, reaching new audiences and developing new and exciting content that will forge a bridge into science, mathematics and astronomy.

The Age of the Universe and Lord Kelvin

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Our 2023/2024 season of astronomy outreach at Abriachan Forest ended on a high note this Saturday with a visit from Martin Hendry, Professor of Gravitational Astrophysics and Cosmology. Since 2022 Martin has been acting vice principle at the University of Glasgow and was formerly head of the school of Physics and Astronomy.

Martin’s packed talk was broadly about the age of the universe, but touched on the age of stars, stellar classification, cepheid variables, rates of cosmic expansion, and the important work undertaken by female astronomers like Henrietta Leavitt, Annie Jump Cannon and Williamina Fleming, who were instrumental in helping us calculate the distances to star clusters and galaxies. A special tribute was also paid to Lord Kelvin on the 2024 bicentenary of his birth.

Alas, we were not graced with clear skies for open air stargazing, so following Martin’s talk we both hosted a virtual planetarium tour instead, referencing many of the clusters, galaxies and some stars mentioned in the main talk.

Thanks to Suzann for the Kelvin and Constellation witches fingers which captivated some of the younger audience members, and my wife Judith for the excellent home bakes. I look forward to announcing our new new 2024/2025 program in October. Stay tuned for details.

Calculations of the age of the universe using a variety of datasets and methodologies, including galactic red shifts and globular clusters have broadly placed the age of the universe at about 14 billion years old.

Stargazing Event Date Changes

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Due to heavy snow this winter my Tales of the Moon event (with Steve Owens) has moved to February 17th and our scheduled event with Professor Martin Hendry is now March 9th. The former event has sold out but the Eventbrite links for March have just gone live. Please see details below if you wish to book:

Join us up at Abriachan Forest (a Dark Sky Discovery site) for an evening of stargazing with guest astronomer Martin Hendry, professor of Gravitational Astrophysics and Cosmology at the University of Glasgow.

Event format is weather proofed so please book with confidence. As well as our indoor guest speaker talk from Martin on the Age of the Universe (and Lord Kelvin) we’ll have outdoor (or indoor) night sky guiding with astronomer Stephen Mackintosh, possible telescopic views of Juipter and more family focused activities with the Abriachan team.

Refreshments and home bakes available. Due to site and classroom capacity, booking via Eventbrite is essential. Admission is free for under 16s with accompanying adults but please inform Abriachan of any large booking requests.

Ticket links HERE

Abriachan Star Stories Guest Speaker Events

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I’m delighted to announce the return of three excellent astronomers and guest speakers to Abriachan Forest this season.

On December 9th – Maarten De Vries (talking about Meteor Showers)

On January 20th – Steve Owens (joins me to Explore the Moon)

On February 10th – Martin Hendry (discusses Lord Kelvin and the Age of the Universe)

All guest speaker talks will be followed (or proceeded) by naked eye and binocular stargazing led by myself, or a backup indoor sky tour on planetarium software if clouds roll in. Plus storytelling and other activities led by the Abriachan team. Refreshments and home bakes provided.

Ticket links will go live roughly four weeks prior to each event so please stay tuned to my Facebook page for details as they do sell out very quickly.

2023 Perseids Meteor Shower Guide

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The peak of the Perseids meteor shower will occur in the small hours of August 13th. With the Moon is a slender waning crescent phase, this year will potentially preset ideal conditions for observing one of the most active shooting star displays on the celestial calendar.

Officially the shower is active now so do head out under clear skies any night you can, however peak activity will occur between 11th – 14th August, with the early morning of the 13th predicted to produce absolute peak rates.

Please do not get carried along by the hype from some sectors of the media promising displays of 90 meteors per hour. These rates are under the best possible conditions of darkness, seeing and elevation. If you catch a few zipping shooting stars and some brighter fireballs during your vigil you’ll have had a great night. Go in with low expectations and just enjoy being out under a canopy of distant stars. As you wait the Pleiades star cluster and Jupiter will be on display in the rough direction of the radiant.

Ideally you’ll want it get away from bright city lights and head out somewhere dark with good views of the sky and horizon. After midnight on peak nights should mean the radiant of the shower in the constellation Perseus is suitably elevated in the sky but you don’t need to stare at the radiant as shooting stars will appear to come from random directions.

No special optical aids are needed to enjoy a meteor shower, just your own eyes and some patience.

Good luck and clear skies.

2023 Hebridean Dark Skies Festival

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I’ll be sky and star guiding from remote and beautiful Lewis this March, for the 2023 Hebridean Dark Skies Festival, with dates spanning 18-21st March. Tickets and event info below and in the accompanying link. On Thursday 16th March I’ll also be joining the HDS panel for a special facebook live session “Ask the Astronomers”.

Event details:

Join astronomer Stephen Mackintosh (aka Highland Astronomy) for an evening of fascinating insights into the cosmos and – weather permitting – a walk under the stars at some of our best stargazing spots.

Grinneabhat, Bragar, Saturday 18 March, 7pm

Gallan Beag, Aird Uig, Sunday 19 March, 7pm

Calanais Stones and Visitor Centre, Monday 20 March, 7pm

Scaladale Centre, Tuesday 21 March, 7pm

Tickets can booked in advance via An Lanntair’s box office. A limited number may be available on the door on the night if the event is not sold out.

The Hebridean Dark Skies Festival runs from 9-21 March 2023 with arts and astronomy events for all the family at An Lanntair and across Lewis and Harris.  Browse the full festival programme here.

The festival is supported by Caledonian MacBrayne and Outer Hebrides Tourism, in partnership with, Calanais Visitor Centre, Stornoway Astronomical Society, Gallan Head Community Trust, Lews Castle College UHI, Cala Hotels, and VisitScotland.

Star Stories Jan 2023

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Our next stargazing and storytelling session at Abriachan Forest will be on New Moon (Jan 21st) and we welcome back Glasgow Science Centre astronomer Steve Owens to guide us under the stars (or present a backup indoor talk on the planets). Our guest campfire storyteller Fiona Macdonald should also be in attendance.

If you booked for the cancelled December event your tickets will carry over and will be valid for the Jan event.

If you missed out on the last few events we have a February and March events planned so stay tuned. The February tickets links and event details will go up in the next week.

Many thanks