Welcome to the Excitement of Science 2009
A message from the project leaders
In this year's Excitement of Science we will be using radio telescopes at Jodrell Bank and a robotic optical telescope in the Canary Islands to study exploding stars. The project leaders are Dr Tim O'Brien of the University of Manchester and Prof. Mike Bode of Liverpool John Moores University.
Tim O'Brien
Dr Tim O'Brien of the University of Manchester's Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics describes how radio telescopes give us a unique view of the Universe.
Visit Tim's home page at Jodrell Bank for more information about his work.
Mike Bode
Professor Mike Bode of Liverpool John Moores University talks about the robotic Liverpool Telescope on the island of La Palma.
Visit the Liverpool JMU Astrophysics Research Institute to find out more about their work and the Liverpool Telescope.
Video Lecture - Exploring the Invisible Universe
This is a recording of a presentation made by Tim O'Brien for the National Planetarium of Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur. The audience was mainly composed of 15-17 yr old school students and other interested members of the public. The video can be viewed by clicking on the Play button at the bottom of the window below.
Background reading
We're all very excited about the prospect of giving you access to live science from professional telescopes in the International Year of Astronomy. The project is fast approaching launch date. In the meantime you may wish to begin reading around the subject by following these background web links.
- Galaxies: From the National Schools Observatory website.
- Stars: From the National Schools Observatory website, particularly the section on supernovae.
- Imagine the Universe: A NASA website focusing on high-energy X-ray and gamma-ray astronomy but which includes some sections relevant to this project on the the electromagnetic spectrum, multiwavelength astronomy and supernovae.
- Nick Strobel's Astronomy Notes: This is a comprehensive introduction to the whole of astronomy. Written at a level that extends from GCSE astronomy to first year undergraduate. A number of sections have some relevance to this project. Most notably those on galaxies, including the Milky Way, and those on the life and death of stars, including novae and supernovae.
- The Jodcast: A twice-monthly podcast covering all aspects of astronomy from The University of Manchester's Jodrell Bank (UK). It includes the latest news, what you can see in the current night sky, interviews with astronomers and other things we liked the sound of. It is created by a bunch of astronomers for anyone who is interested in things out of this world.
Deleted scenes
Despite Tim and Mike's best efforts there were a number of deleted scenes.
