'We Are All Star Stuff' was the title of Norman Lockyer Laboratory's Family Day on Saturday, March 18.
It tied in with the theme of British Science Week 2023, 'Connections', and explored man's connections with the universe.
More than 300 people attended. Parents and children were entertained by talks, planetarium shows, storytelling sessions, hands-on-science demos (courtesy of Colyton Grammar students), historic telescope tours, rocket launching and meteor detecting.
Dr Des Howlett gave the first talk: 'Connecting stardust: how everything we see is made from the stars', explaining how all the elements heavier than hydrogen are all fused in the stars. Amy Scarr gave a presentation on how we might be able use the DNA of Tardigrades to help us survive long term space voyages.
Dave Alexander gave the first two planetarium shows to a full house, which was followed by two storytelling sessions under the stars by regular visitor Mike O’Leary, aided by Mac Currie.
Students from Colyton Grammar provided a large variety of hands-on science interactive displays in the Jeanne Edyvean Centre, and the NLO Astro scouts displayed their work in the Committee Room, with a display of the Tyndall effect.
Outside Phil Lynch (Colyton Grammar) hosted three rocket launches featuring rocket bodies all made on the day by visitors. Pete Youd and Mike Hutchings showed how to safely observe the sun through Hydrogen Alpha filtered telescopes, and a good number of solar prominences could be seen around the periphery of the solar disk.
The observatory's historic telescope domes were all open, with presenters telling stories of their historical significance. In the Lockyer Technology Centre, long-term NLO member Ken Bailey spent the day explaining how to detect meteors and monitor the Earth’s magnetic field. He also showed the observatory's recently installed Blitzortung lightning detector in operation and how it can detect lightning storms all over Europe.
The last talk of the day was given by science writer and author Jon Evans, who presented the top ten Big Ideas in science in the manner of Top of Pops.
The observatory has thanked all its volunteers and Colyton Grammar for making this annual event such a success.
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