The Travelling Telescope are a team of astronomers who travel around giving educational tours and conducting outreach activities. They visited St Andrew’s, Turi  last week giving pupils across the whole School a chance to see into space and learn more about the universe around them. Travelling Telescope provide visual lessons inside their mobile planetarium and allow viewers to use the largest telescope in Kenya!

 
Mrs Leathers kindly described the event for us…
 
The planetarium stood before us like a big, black mushroom. As we entered the balloon-like structure, expectations were high. Darkness fell.  The phenomenal planetarium gave the feeling of being in the vast, night sky. It gave us a mind-blowing experience. Planets and stars splattered the roof of the dome. Did you know that Saturn’s ring is only ten meters in depth? That Saturn’s largest moon contains mountains and rivers? We discovered Titan is covered in many volcanoes, mountains and rivers.
 
Awed silence struck as we were launched into the earth’s upper atmosphere and beyond through constellations and the zodiac. From ancient times humans have learnt to remember them through mythical creatures, stories and pictures. We zoomed in on Jupiter and Mercury and found out that Mercury’s year is shorter than a day.
 
Did you know that an astronaut being launched in a rocket is equivalent to having a hydrogen bomb exploding beneath you? We learnt that astronomy is not just about the night sky but about exploring the universe. We experienced this using ‘Google Goggles’. These transported us into the vivid, breath-taking expanse of  life in space through a kaleidoscopes of light.