1st November 2024

This month NRT instrument scientist Chloé Miossec led a fun and inspiring "Design a Telescope” workshop in collaboration with The Schools’ Observatory (TSO). This brand-new session has quickly become a favourite among school children, giving them the chance to step into the shoes of real astronomers and engineers designing their own professional telescope to observe some of the most dynamic and explosive phenomena in the universe.

Chloé presents the 'Design a telescope' session to school children, with the NRT experts (to the left of the image) waiting to provide 

Working in teams, the students were handed a hypothetical budget of £160 million and got to make all the big decisions:

❖ Where in the world would their telescope be built?

❖ What materials should they use for the structure?

❖ How big should the mirror be? What shape should it take?

During the session the students were able to ask LT and NRT scientists and engineers about the different decisions that were made during the design and planning processes for the telescopes. The students also learned about real-world telescope sites and the important factors that go into choosing a spot; from the height of the site, to light pollution, and the natural risks associated with each location. These young designers were exposed to the same kind of complex decision-making that scientists face in real observatory projects. The main message the team wanted to get across was that building a telescope involves more than just picking a big mirror, as every choice affects so many other aspects of the project. There is no "right” design, which means each team could get creative, think outside the box, and come up with a totally unique vision of their telescope.

Chloé talks about different types of telescopes to the attendees of the session

In the end, the session didn’t just teach students about astronomy, it also gave them a genuine feel for the challenges, creativity, and collaboration that go into designing world-class scientific instruments. They also developed their mathematics, team-work and logical skills.