YOUNGSTERS can explore the wonders of the universe as part of a new university programme.
East Cleveland schools are among several in the region which, along with Durham and Sheffield universities, are developing a public outreach programme in the north of England on particle physics and astronomy - From Fundamental Particles to Galaxies and the Universe.
The programme targets schoolchildren aged 11 to 16 and their teachers and focuses on exploring the origin of the universe, the properties of fundamental particles and the nature of dark matter.
It is based on the work of two important research centres within Durham University's Ogden Centre for Fundamental Physics and also involves Boulby Mine, which hosts the UK Dark Matter project. Among the programme's key activities will be to establish the first regional Faulkes Telescope Centre, offering schools access to two robotic telescopes via the internet so they can carry out 'real-time' astronomy during classroom hours.
The first instrument, Faulkes Telescope North, will begin operating at Haleakala Observatory in Hawaii shortly. It will be followed later this year by a second one at the Siding Springs Observatory in New South Wales, Australia.
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