Keele UniversityFaculty of Natural Sciences
Physics & Astrophysics
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BBC Stargazing Live at Keele
Keele's planet-hunting research had a starring role on the BBC's "Stargazing Live" programme with Brian Cox on Wednesday.The exoplanet-themed programme included a live link from the studio at Jodrell Bank to Keele's WASP-South observatory in South Africa, including an interview with postdoc David Anderson. WASP-South runs robotically, so David and Keele's Professor Coel Hellier set up a link allowing presenter Dara O'Briain to send a command triggering WASP-South into live action.
Keele Observatory also took part in the Stargazing Live extravaganza. Doors were open to the public from Monday through to Thursday and despite the poor weather most visitors were able to gaze at Jupiter and its moons through the 138-year old giant telescope, whilst daytime visitors watched some spectacular solar flares.
For many of the 1,000 visitors this was their first experience of looking at the sky through a telescope. Observatory staff and Keele astronomers showed people around the observatory and talked with them about the many mysteries of the Universe. Media coverage of the events at Keele Observatory included interviews on BBC Radio Stoke and Radio CrossRhythms and an article in The Sentinel.
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