Faulkes Telescope Project
Encyclopedia
The Faulkes Telescope Project (FTP) is supported by the Dill Faulkes
Educational Trust. It provides access to 1,500 hours of observing time on two 2-metre class telescopes located in Hawaii (Faulkes Telescope North
in Hawaii
) and Australia (Faulkes Telescope South
in Australia
). This time is dedicated to education and public outreach, mainly in the UK, but also for smaller, selected projects in Europe and the US.
FTP has operated a UK-wide educational programme since 2004, and currently works with science education projects across Europe and further afield (e.g. USA, Russia, Israel), including many EU-based science, maths and ICT programmes. FTP specialises in providing physics and maths education and outreach via astronomy and space science, utilising the unique access it can provide to research-grade facilities. The basic philosophy is to engage learners in “real science”, making them active participants in a range of astronomical research projects, ranging from observations of the solar system to distant galaxies. Teacher training (both face-to-face and online) is a core component of the FTP educational philosophy, and project staff have been involved in professional development work both in the UK and overseas, with teacher training days being held in Moscow, Santa Barbara, Munich, Lisbon, Paris and several other venues in Portugal and Spain.
FTP operates a broad range of educational programmes, with a strong emphasis on teacher training and engaging students with “real science”. A variety of research projects are currently being run on the FTs, with schools often participating in the role of data gatherers, particularly in long-term monitoring or short-term intensive studies or Target of Opportunity requests for transient objects (e.g. GRBs, supernovae, NEOs or X-ray systems in outburst).
The project also provides extensive educational materials which can be accessed and downloaded free of charge from their educational resources website. These resources include astronomy video tutorials, online astronomy training, paper-based documents for use in the classroom, and pre-packaged data from the telescopes to use with the exercises detailed online.
The project was the winner of the 2008 Sir Arthur Clarke Award
in the category of Achievement in Education.
The Faulkes Telescope Projects in cooperation with Hands-On Universe runs many student observing projects such as supernovae observations, asteroid observations, the Lifecycle of Stars project and Hickson Compact Group of Galaxies project. Details of these, and many more projects can be found on the Faulkes educational website.
Bexley
Broadstairs
Canterbury
Dartford
North Yorkshire
Wales
Poland
Bełżyce
Dzierżoniów
Grudziądz
Kraków
Łódź
Niepołomice
Olsztyn
Szczecin
Toruń
Warszawa
Uganda
Lira
United States
Montauk,USA
New York, USA
Freeport Public Schools
Dill Faulkes
Dr Martin C. Faulkes , otherwise known as Dill Faulkes, is a British businessman and philanthropist.Faulkes has a Special Mathematics degree from Hull University and a PhD in Mathematics from Queen Elizabeth College, London. He did post-doc work in general relativity.He then left academia and went...
Educational Trust. It provides access to 1,500 hours of observing time on two 2-metre class telescopes located in Hawaii (Faulkes Telescope North
Faulkes Telescope North
The Faulkes Telescope North is a clone of the Liverpool Telescope, and is located at Haleakala Observatory in the U.S. state of Hawaii.The telescope is owned and operated by LCOGT. This telescope and its sister telescope Faulkes Telescope South are used by research and education groups across the...
in Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
) and Australia (Faulkes Telescope South
Faulkes Telescope South
The Faulkes Telescope South is a clone of the Liverpool Telescope and is located at Siding Spring Observatory. It is a Ritchey-Chrétien telescope....
in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
). This time is dedicated to education and public outreach, mainly in the UK, but also for smaller, selected projects in Europe and the US.
FTP has operated a UK-wide educational programme since 2004, and currently works with science education projects across Europe and further afield (e.g. USA, Russia, Israel), including many EU-based science, maths and ICT programmes. FTP specialises in providing physics and maths education and outreach via astronomy and space science, utilising the unique access it can provide to research-grade facilities. The basic philosophy is to engage learners in “real science”, making them active participants in a range of astronomical research projects, ranging from observations of the solar system to distant galaxies. Teacher training (both face-to-face and online) is a core component of the FTP educational philosophy, and project staff have been involved in professional development work both in the UK and overseas, with teacher training days being held in Moscow, Santa Barbara, Munich, Lisbon, Paris and several other venues in Portugal and Spain.
FTP operates a broad range of educational programmes, with a strong emphasis on teacher training and engaging students with “real science”. A variety of research projects are currently being run on the FTs, with schools often participating in the role of data gatherers, particularly in long-term monitoring or short-term intensive studies or Target of Opportunity requests for transient objects (e.g. GRBs, supernovae, NEOs or X-ray systems in outburst).
The project also provides extensive educational materials which can be accessed and downloaded free of charge from their educational resources website. These resources include astronomy video tutorials, online astronomy training, paper-based documents for use in the classroom, and pre-packaged data from the telescopes to use with the exercises detailed online.
Robotic Telescopes
The robotic telescopes used by the Faulkes Telescope Project are owned and operated by Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network (LCOGTN). Users must register for an account via FTP and, providing they meet the criteria for an account (as explained on the FTP website), the account details will be emailed out to the registered user. Students and teachers can then go online and book time on the telescope and run their own 29 minute long real-time observational session on one of the telescopes, remotely controlling it over the internet. These telescopes are the largest robotic telescopes in the world available for UK schools to control in real time.The project was the winner of the 2008 Sir Arthur Clarke Award
Sir Arthur Clarke Award
The Sir Arthur Clarke Award is a British award given in recognition of notable contributions to space exploration, particularly British achievements. It is owned by the Space Education Trust and is independent of and separate from . Founded in 2005, the awards are an annual event. They take place...
in the category of Achievement in Education.
The Faulkes Telescope Projects in cooperation with Hands-On Universe runs many student observing projects such as supernovae observations, asteroid observations, the Lifecycle of Stars project and Hickson Compact Group of Galaxies project. Details of these, and many more projects can be found on the Faulkes educational website.
Participants
United KingdomBexley
- Beths Grammar SchoolBeths Grammar SchoolBeths Grammar School, commonly known as Beths, is an all-boys foundation grammar school in Bexley, south east London. Students are admitted from the age of 11, with girls joining the sixth form in Year 12...
Broadstairs
- The Charles Dickens School
Canterbury
- Simon Langton Grammar School for BoysSimon Langton Grammar School for BoysSimon Langton Grammar School for Boys is a selective boys school of over 1000 pupils and staff, located in the outskirts of Canterbury, Kent. It holds both Foundation and Grammar school status and has 'specialist college' status in science....
Dartford
- Dartford Grammar SchoolDartford Grammar SchoolDartford Grammar School is a selective secondary foundation school for boys in Dartford, Kent, England, which admits girls to its sixth form . All of the students joining the school are from the top 25% of the ability range...
North Yorkshire
- Giggleswick SchoolGiggleswick SchoolGiggleswick School is an independent co-educational boarding school in Giggleswick, near Settle, North Yorkshire, England.- Early school :...
Wales
- Christ College Brecon
Poland
Bełżyce
- Zespół Szkół im. Mikołaja Kopernika
Dzierżoniów
- Zespół Gimnazjów nr 3 im. Stanisława Konarskiego
Grudziądz
- Zespół Szkół Technicznych
- Planetarium i Obserwatorium Astronomiczne im. Mikołaja Kopernika
Kraków
- V Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. Augusta Witkowskiego
- Publiczne Salezjanskie Liceum Ogólnokształcące
Łódź
- Planetarium i Obserwatorium Astronomiczne im. Arego Sternfelda
Niepołomice
- Młodzieżowe Obserwatorium Astronomiczne
Olsztyn
- I Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. A. Mickiewicza w Olsztynie
- Planetarium i Obserwatorium Astronomiczne
Szczecin
- XIII Liceum Ogólnokształcące
Toruń
- V Liceum Ogólnokształcące
Warszawa
- XXVII Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. Tadeusza Czackiego
Uganda
Lira
- Dr. Obote College Boroboro
United States
Montauk,USA
- Montauk Public School
New York, USA
Freeport Public Schools