Course

Image: The Andromeda galaxy at different wavelengths, Radio:WSRT/R. Braun; Infrared:NASA/Spitzer/K. Gordon; Visible: Robert Gendler; Ultraviolet: NASA/GALEX; X-ray: ESA/XMM/W. Pietsch

NOTE:

This is a new project for us so we would be very grateful for your feedback, particularly if there are any problems with the course.  Currently, the quiz and questionnaire are not available without a log in, so if you would like your free certificate of completion, please email outreach@sepnet.ac.uk with your name and email address.

Introduction

Are we alone in the Universe?  Will the Sun ever stop shining?  What else is out there?  What happens when galaxies run into each other?  What happens when stars explode?

These are just a small selection of the questions that researchers in astronomy and astrophysics explore.  Some of the answers we think we know, some are still key areas of research in the UK.

In this short course, we will take you through some of these questions and update you on the current thinking and what research is still going on.  The course will cover five main areas: our Solar System, stars, galaxies, our Universe, telescopes and other methods of observing.  It contains a number of activities and videos.

There will be a short quiz at the end, and if you complete that you will receive a certificate of completion from us. (Currently unavailable - apologies)

We hope you find it interesting, and remember if in doubt, just remember that you're standing on a planet that's evolving, and revolving at nine hundred miles an hour, that's orbiting at nineteen miles a second, so it's reckoned, a sun that is the source of all our power...

Monty Python - Galaxy Song