Illuminating Astrophysics Engagement in Blackpool, Lancashire
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Central Lancashire
Department Name: Jeremiah Horrocks Institute
Abstract
The resort of Blackpool holds a unique place in the affections of generations of British holidaymakers. The town's iconic landmarks of the Tower, Pleasure Beach, Prom and Piers provide a backdrop for busy summer seasons followed in autumn by the famous Illuminations. However, for those living in large parts of Blackpool, life paints a very different picture. Government statistics rank Blackpool was as England's 4th most deprived region with only 43% of pupils obtaining 5 or more A*-C grades at GCSE and less than 12% entering Higher Education.
This Leadership Fellowship in Public Engagement (PE) is in collaboration with Blackpool Council and seeks to inspire young people in the town into engaging with and subsequently pursing a career in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). This will provide them with better future career prospects as well as build a more skilled workforce within the region. The work will also train other researchers to undertake similar approaches to engagement in other parts of the country. There are three strands:
1. The Fellowship will allow me to engage with a specific group of young people from these deprived areas over a three-year period from Year 6 (Primary) through to Year 8 (Secondary). This engagement will consist of school visits by myself and other astronomers, community events and trips to specialised UCLan facilities. These are the UCLan/Ri Young Scientist Centre (YSC; a vibrant laboratory space dedicated to offering interactive STEM workshops) and Alston Observatory (a teaching and PE facility that houses both modern and historical telescopes, exhibitions and a planetarium).
Each event will have a lesson plan of what is to be achieved and how it will be evaluated. Example activities include building a Mars Rover through to living close to our stormy Sun. The focus will be on inspiring young people to engage in STEM and so spark their aspiration of pursuing a career in science. An annual workshop for the participating teachers will be held along with an annual community-based mini-science festival to which the families of the pupil cohort will be invited.
2. It is important to use the opportunities that arise from this work to train scientists in PE. Researchers from all over the UK will be invited to join in the YSC activities to experience for themselves how best to work in this environment. On visits to schools, I will also take with me early career researchers from my own university. Both of these activities have the important element of the pupils themselves meeting inspiring scientists who can be role models for them.
3. In 2016, UCLan delivered an STFC-funded interactive astrophysics exhibition and art installation project in Whitehaven, Cumbria (see a short movie at https://gmoo.gl/bB9gUC ). Thus I will use the opportunity of the Fellowship to pursue this work further in Blackpool. The Council are keen to see these PE opportunities being associated with what the resort is best known for. This includes;
- Astrophysics at the Blackpool Illuminations: The art installation above consisted of a large, semi-circular projection of solar images along with a specially composed soundtrack and an Sun educational movie. I will collaborate with the Blackpool Illuminations team to assess the most impactful way of developing this science imagery.
- Dance workshops: With the famous Tower Ballroom, the resort is synonymous with dance of all types. With Blackpool Council, I will investigate working with appropriate local dance groups to employ and adapt the astronomy dance workshops previously developed.
- Science Stand-up Comedy: Blackpool's comedy heritage is unsurpassed. Yet the interest in science stand-up has not touched the resort. One appropriate route to introduce this would be to host a "Bright Club Blackpool" (www.brightclub.org). Collaborating with the Council provides a route to working alongside venues and seeking sponsorship accordingly.
This Leadership Fellowship in Public Engagement (PE) is in collaboration with Blackpool Council and seeks to inspire young people in the town into engaging with and subsequently pursing a career in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). This will provide them with better future career prospects as well as build a more skilled workforce within the region. The work will also train other researchers to undertake similar approaches to engagement in other parts of the country. There are three strands:
1. The Fellowship will allow me to engage with a specific group of young people from these deprived areas over a three-year period from Year 6 (Primary) through to Year 8 (Secondary). This engagement will consist of school visits by myself and other astronomers, community events and trips to specialised UCLan facilities. These are the UCLan/Ri Young Scientist Centre (YSC; a vibrant laboratory space dedicated to offering interactive STEM workshops) and Alston Observatory (a teaching and PE facility that houses both modern and historical telescopes, exhibitions and a planetarium).
Each event will have a lesson plan of what is to be achieved and how it will be evaluated. Example activities include building a Mars Rover through to living close to our stormy Sun. The focus will be on inspiring young people to engage in STEM and so spark their aspiration of pursuing a career in science. An annual workshop for the participating teachers will be held along with an annual community-based mini-science festival to which the families of the pupil cohort will be invited.
2. It is important to use the opportunities that arise from this work to train scientists in PE. Researchers from all over the UK will be invited to join in the YSC activities to experience for themselves how best to work in this environment. On visits to schools, I will also take with me early career researchers from my own university. Both of these activities have the important element of the pupils themselves meeting inspiring scientists who can be role models for them.
3. In 2016, UCLan delivered an STFC-funded interactive astrophysics exhibition and art installation project in Whitehaven, Cumbria (see a short movie at https://gmoo.gl/bB9gUC ). Thus I will use the opportunity of the Fellowship to pursue this work further in Blackpool. The Council are keen to see these PE opportunities being associated with what the resort is best known for. This includes;
- Astrophysics at the Blackpool Illuminations: The art installation above consisted of a large, semi-circular projection of solar images along with a specially composed soundtrack and an Sun educational movie. I will collaborate with the Blackpool Illuminations team to assess the most impactful way of developing this science imagery.
- Dance workshops: With the famous Tower Ballroom, the resort is synonymous with dance of all types. With Blackpool Council, I will investigate working with appropriate local dance groups to employ and adapt the astronomy dance workshops previously developed.
- Science Stand-up Comedy: Blackpool's comedy heritage is unsurpassed. Yet the interest in science stand-up has not touched the resort. One appropriate route to introduce this would be to host a "Bright Club Blackpool" (www.brightclub.org). Collaborating with the Council provides a route to working alongside venues and seeking sponsorship accordingly.
Organisations
- University of Central Lancashire (Fellow, Lead Research Organisation)
- Blackpool Council (Collaboration, Project Partner)
- Westminster Primary Academy & Children's Centre (Collaboration)
- Light Up Lancaster (Collaboration)
- Revoe Learning Academy (Collaboration)
- Royal Observatory of Belgium (Collaboration)
- Alex Whitley Dance Company (Collaboration)
- Unity Academy (Collaboration)
- Pufferfish Displays (Collaboration)
Publications
Walsh R
(2020)
A space to study: expectations and aspirations toward science among a low-participation cohort
in Journal of Science Communication
| Title | SUN |
| Description | SUN is a partnership between Prof. Robert Walsh and public artist, Alex Rinsler. SUN is a seven-metre diameter suspended projection sphere, presenting astrophysical data from NASA's Solar Dynamic Observatory in stunning 360° with additional smoke effects to mimic the sun's outer atmosphere. SUN displays 10 weeks in the life of our closest star in 12.5 minutes of real time. The continually revolving images reveal the Sun in extreme ultraviolet light, a part of the electromagnetic spectrum beyond human sight. The images make the sphere itself appear to rotate. Specialised image enhancement techniques highlight the finer details and texture of our solar neighbour, which would otherwise be lost. Cycling through different ranges of temperature from a cool 4500 degrees to an impossibly hot 10 million degrees, SUN reveals our star in a completely new light. |
| Type Of Art | Artwork |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Impact | 8000+ visitors at Lightpool Festival, Blackpool. 2000+ at Light Up Lancaster Festival. Following pandemic, SUN has been to Royal Museum of Central Africa, Brussels, University of Warwick as part of NAM2022, Cardiff City Hall as part of NAM 2022. |
| URL | http://www.seethesun.org |
| Title | SUN Augmented Reality App |
| Description | While the SUN installation project has the "Wow-factor" when viewed by a visitor, there is a need to use the opportunity of this unique art-science experience to engage in further experiential learning about astronomy and astrophysics; thus during the pandemic, the team began exploring avenues for digital engagement. Working with a digital expert (Ragnar Hrafnkelsson), the SUN team developed the levels of interactivity with the project through an augmented reality (AR) extension, bringing added layers of information and participation via visitor's handheld devices. The artistic principle driving this work is to extend the installation's reach, so that a visitor is not only confronted by the glowing orb but also has additional layers of experience that the attendee themselves can access independently. We believe that this experiential learning will lead to enduring further memories of the piece- this hypothesis is something we can interrogate and measure against through this work. The artist (Alex Rinsler) involved with SUN oversaw the artistic visualisation of "SUN AR" while the STFC Fellow (Robert Walsh) provided the science oversight. |
| Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Impact | The artistic principle driving this work is to extend the installation's reach, so that a visitor is not only confronted by the glowing orb but also has additional layers of experience that the attendee themselves can access independently. We believe that this experiential learning will lead to enduring further memories of the piece- this hypothesis is something we can interrogate and measure against through this work. The SUN app will be employed at SUN installations going forward. |
| Description | A new way to engage audiences with STFC science - SUN can and has been employed in very different venues, reaching individuals, groups, schools and the general public through a unique experience of placing you close to our local star. |
| Exploitation Route | SUN is now a UKRI-STFC National Strategic Partnership project. The resulting installation is being used by differing venues to explore the art-science arena and bring the science of the Sun to audiences in a way a single organisation could not undertake, |
| Sectors | Creative Economy,Education,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| URL | http://www.seethesun.org |
| Description | SUN is a unique vehicle for public engagement that is now being employed in venues and festivals that we would not have imagined at the start of this process. SUN was part of UCLan's impact case study portfolio which states: "The success of the exhibition outlined above led to further exploration of engaging astronomy and astrophysics through art. In 2019 Walsh collaborated with artist Alex Rinsler to create the touring art installation SUN. Also in 2019 Argo collaborated with storyteller Cassandra Wye to deliver the We share the same moon project as part of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) 100 Special Projects. In 2020 Pledger and dancer Lucy Starkey developed Into Our Skies, an online dance workshop targeted at primary school pupils. Outlined in the following, to date, these projects have successfully obtained competitive peer-reviewed funding of over GBP215,000 from STFC, Arts Council England, the Royal Astronomical Society and the International Astronomical Union. SUN Walsh, Rinsler, and digital animators Pufferfish UK created SUN, a seven-metre diameter sphere suspended four metres above the ground into which is projected a digitally combined movie of the NASA's SDO AIA EUV images, stitched together to form a full 360-degree presentation. Ten weeks in the life of the Sun over five different EUV wavelengths are presented in a twelve-minute spectacle with additional smoke special effects flowing over the sphere to represent the outer solar corona. SUN is experienced as a piece of art/science engagement that transforms the viewer's perception of our closest star. As outlined by Rinsler [C2], this collaboration generated for him a new way of approaching his creative practice, retaining the integrity of the raw observational data but portraying the resulting imagery in a way to best recreate the size and scale of the Sun. Specifically, Rinsler states: "It is hard to understate the impact of Prof Walsh's contribution to SUN: quantitatively in terms of the instances of engagement for festival audiences (predominantly local families) in high quality research, but qualitatively, insofar as SUN can be enjoyed as a festival attraction, critiqued as a contemporary artwork, and discussed as a tool for public engagement in scienceWorking with Prof Walsh has opened up new avenues for me as an artist. The wonders of the sky and stars opens up an entirely new field of imagination." The SUN installation premiered in October 2019 at the Lightpool festival which runs in conjunction with the Blackpool Illuminations. These form key parts of the local tourism economy, attracting visitors from across the North West to the town after the traditional summer tourist season has ended. SUN at Lightpool was supported by (i) JHI astronomers on-site each evening to converse directly with SUN visitors; (ii) a focused primary school engagement programme in collaboration with another STFC project - the SunSpaceArt project with support from artist, Helen Schell; and (iii) a series of evening public lectures [C1]. SUN was the first educational and public engagement of this type in the 140 years history of the Illuminations and the most popular Lightpool installation, attracting over 8,500 visitors from across the North West. Coverage of the SUN and Lightpool festival on Granada Reports raised awareness locally of the festival with Creative Director, Phil Holmes noting that the reporting gave a "huge promotion not only to the SUN, but the wider festival, something I am not sure we would have received had it not been for the 'Wow factor of SUN." SUN was then exhibited in November 2019 at the Light Up Lancaster Festival, attracting a further 2,000 attendees. The success of the SUN has also influenced festival organisers working practices going forward, seeking installations that can be developed to include additional engagement opportunities and enhance the visitor experience further. Festival attendees were also able to see the process behind the installation on a dedicated webpage. This provided insights into the science behind the images and the work involved in turning that complex information into an amazing art installation. In December 2020, STFC formally acknowledged SUN as one of only two nationally strategic engagement projects for the research council, providing funding of GBP85,000 for a two-year programme. SUN will tour a number of sites and festivals in the coming years." |
| First Year Of Impact | 2019 |
| Sector | Creative Economy,Education,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| Impact Types | Cultural,Societal |
| Description | Arts Council National Lottery Project Grant |
| Amount | £15,000 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | ACPG-00149054 |
| Organisation | Arts Council England |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 04/2019 |
| End | 03/2020 |
| Description | GRANT AGREEMENT FOR STFC SUPPORT OF THE SUN STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP PROPOSAL |
| Amount | £85,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 12/2020 |
| End | 03/2023 |
| Description | Light Up Lancaster Commission |
| Amount | £6,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Light Up Lancaster |
| Sector | Public |
| Start | 10/2019 |
| End | 11/2019 |
| Description | Lightpool Festival Commission |
| Amount | £6,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Blackpool Council |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 10/2019 |
| End | 11/2019 |
| Description | SUN at Royal Museum for Central Africa, Brussels |
| Amount | £25,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Royal Observatory of Belgium |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | Belgium |
| Start | 03/2022 |
| End | 06/2022 |
| Description | SUN: Engaging low science capital audiences through the Lightpool Festival at the Blackpool Illuminations |
| Amount | £14,995 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | ST/S005994/1 |
| Organisation | Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 03/2019 |
| End | 12/2019 |
| Title | Blackpool PIER Evaluation Tool |
| Description | An adapted and expanded version of the ASPIRE research evaluation questionaire to target the low science capital audience for the PIER project. |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2018 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | To be decided as the PIER programme progresses. |
| Title | PIER Dataset following ASPIRE |
| Description | Creating a longitudinal dataset of around 90 school children from schools in Blackpool. Database consists of )i) baseline survey based on ASPIRE at start of Fellowship programme, (ii)evaluations after each intervention; (iii) annual survey based on ASPIRE; (iv) some teacher survey information; (v) parent/carer surveys after mini-festivals at schools. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2018 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | Data for the production of a paper on working with low-science capital audiences. |
| Description | Astrophysics Dance Workshops |
| Organisation | Alex Whitley Dance Company |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Planned, designed and delivered the science elements at six astronomy-dance workshops for year 5 school children in Blackpool. Recruited the schools and undertook all administrative support. |
| Collaborator Contribution | AWDC developed the creative learning environment for the dance elements to relate to the science talks (orbits and magnetism). They provided two professional dancers who they trained to deliver the workshops with Professor Robert Walsh. This extends their work from the piece "8minutes". |
| Impact | Created a two-hour, year 5 workshop teaching science topics of orbits and magnetism through the medium of interactive talks, demonstrations and movement/dance. This a truely multi-disciplinary collaboration involving astrophysics and contemporary dance. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Blackpool Illumination Team |
| Organisation | Blackpool Council |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Discussion on potential astronomy-related projects with the Blackpool Illuminations. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Outline of possible engagement activities and exhibition designs with an astrophysics theme. |
| Impact | Discussion ongoing to outline engagement activity. |
| Start Year | 2017 |
| Description | LightUpLancaster |
| Organisation | Light Up Lancaster |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | SUN installation created for LightUpLancaster Festival. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Joint commission of SUN installation and display at LightUpLancaster Fesitval. |
| Impact | Sun installation piece. |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | Phil Holmes, Lightpool Festival |
| Organisation | Blackpool Council |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Created SUN- a seven-metre diameter suspended projection sphere, presenting astrophysical data from NASA's Solar Dynamic Observatory in stunning 360° with additional smoke effects to mimic the sun's outer atmosphere. SUN displays 10 weeks in the life of our closest star in 12.5 minutes of real time. The continually revolving images reveal the Sun in extreme ultraviolet light, a part of the electromagnetic spectrum beyond human sight. The images make the sphere itself appear to rotate. Specialised image enhancement techniques highlight the finer details and texture of our solar neighbour, which would otherwise be lost. Cycling through different ranges of temperature from a cool 4500 degrees to an impossibly hot 10 million degrees, SUN reveals our star in a completely new light. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Financial support as joint-commissioner of the art-science installation. Liaised with local partners and location for installation. |
| Impact | Large scale art-science installation SUN |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | Pufferfish Displays |
| Organisation | Pufferfish Displays |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Created database of SDO AIA images for time periods to be considered as well as image enhancement for highlighting fine-scale features. Educational input to 3D display of data. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Creation of 360 degree protection of NASA SDO AIA data into 7m sphere via specialised lens system and projector frame. |
| Impact | Movies of 3D projection of NASA SDO AIA data for use in SUN installation. |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | Revoe Learning Academy Collaboration |
| Organisation | Revoe Learning Academy |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Worked with 30 Year 6 pupils to undertaken baseline evaluation of their attitudes to science with targeted ASPIRE-like survey followed by for three interventions (RWW site visit, UCLan Young Scientist Centre, Alston Observatory). |
| Collaborator Contribution | Provided opportunity to work with Year 6 pupils and supported the activities including teacher survey. |
| Impact | Data on pupil attitudes as well as participants for three year study. |
| Start Year | 2017 |
| Description | SUN in Belgium |
| Organisation | Royal Observatory of Belgium |
| Country | Belgium |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Brought SUN team n to Royal Museum of Central Africa, Brussels. Advised and participated in associated public engagement activity. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Worked with SUN team to bring installation to Royal Museum of Central Africa, Brussels. Organised public engagement activity associated with SUN. |
| Impact | SUN at Royal Museum of Central Africa |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Unity Academy Collaboration |
| Organisation | Unity Academy |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Worked with 30 Year 6 pupils to undertaken baseline evaluation of their attitudes to science with targeted ASPIRE-like survey followed by for three interventions (RWW site visit, UCLan Young Scientist Centre, Alston Observatory). |
| Collaborator Contribution | Provided opportunity to work with Year 6 pupils and supported the activities including teacher survey. |
| Impact | Data on pupil attitudes as well as participants for three year study. |
| Start Year | 2017 |
| Description | Westminster Primary Academy PIER Collaboration |
| Organisation | Westminster Primary Academy & Children's Centre |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Worked with 30 Year 6 pupils to undertaken baseline evaluation of their attitudes to science with targeted ASPIRE-like survey followed by for three interventions (RWW site visit, UCLan Young Scientist Centre, Alston Observatory). |
| Collaborator Contribution | Provided opportunity to work with Year 6 pupils and supported the activities including teacher survey. |
| Impact | Data on pupil attitudes as well as participants for three year study. |
| Start Year | 2017 |
| Title | SUN inflation and smoke delivery system |
| Description | Bespoke software and physical kit to control balloon inflation system and smoke delivery. |
| Type Of Technology | Physical Model/Kit |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Impact | Better streamlined approach to running installation |
| Description | Dance workshops (Westminster, Unity, Revoe) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | In January 2018, I applied for and received some additional Fellowship funding to realise an initial project with Year 5 pupils in the above PIER schools with the Alexander Whitley Dance Company's (AWDC) 8 minutes Creative Learning Programme (CLP). Drawing on the ideas explored in creating 8 Minutes, the CLP programme was designed with four key priorities in mind: • To use movement and physical learning processes to broaden understanding around scientific concepts, providing a wider set of entry points into the subject. • To highlight the parallels between artistic and scientific processes showing how creative and procedural thinking are inherent features of both domains. • To introduce young people to contemporary dance and show how it can draw upon scientific ideas as a means of inspiration. • To engage more girls in science and more boys in dance. The additional funding allowed AWDC and myself to deliver three intensive one-day workshops of this innovative cross-curricular CLP to 180 Year 5 pupils in the three Blackpool PIER schools. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | EWASS 2018 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | European Week of Astronomy and Space Science (including NAM2018), Liverpool, April 2018 - Poster on PIER as part of outreach session. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | IAC2018 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | International Astronautical Congress 2018, Bremen, October 2018 - oral presentation and proceedings paper on PIER. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | IAU CAP2018 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | IAU Communicating Astronomy with the Public, Fukuoka, Japan, March 2018 - Plenary talk and proceedings paper based on PIER. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | IAU Communicating Astronomy with the Public Virtual Conference 2021 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presentation on SUN project at the International Astronomical Union Communicating Astronomy with the Public Virtual Conference 2021 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.communicatingastronomy.org/cap2021/ |
| Description | IAU GA2018 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | IAU General Assembly, Vienna, August 2018 - Poster presentation on PIER. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | NAM2021: Sketching stars: how the Artist and the Astronomer can advance science |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | National Astronomy Meeting 2021 - organiser and speaker at online session on "Sketching stars: how the Artist and the Astronomer can advance science" Science and art are often considered as incompatible; in universities, they're housed in separate buildings (or even campuses!) while in your local bookshop, the disciplines are shelved in different aisles. But it is the case that astronomy and art have been inseparable for centuries. From Galileo's singular yet sublime sketches of a ragged lunar terrain and complex, entwined sunspots through to the today's digital datasets that combine multiple observations from many different instruments across the electromagnetic spectrum, our approach to understanding the universe demands from us both ingenuity and creativity. Astronomical imagery is now woven into popular culture. The session brought together perspectives from both artists and astronomers to explore the following two themes; (i) how artistic representations utilise and express real astronomy data; (ii) how art has influenced astronomers to see and interact with their data in different ways. These were examined through ongoing art/astronomy engagement projects that demonstrate how these approaches enhance science discovery, artist expression as well as the wider public understanding of both. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Online workshop activity with Blackpool Schools |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Given the issues with school visits not being possible, we created workshop boxes that could be used in school in conjunction with online engagement. Based around the theme of light, the activity supported and augmented the national curriculum for Year 9. The activity included; 1. creation of online video in UCLan-Ri Young Scientist Centre 2. creation of two workshop boxes for two complete year groups at two schools (Unity and South Shore) 3. delivery of boxes to school, experiments undertaken in class, supported by video and box materials 4. Live online session once expts completed to talk through the result, what was learned, any further questions. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Orkney International Science Festival 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Talk on Sun as well as groundwork for SUN to visit Orkney in 2023. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | SUN - closed system test |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | In order to test the new, improved SUN system, a closed, invite only install of the artwork SUN took place at Rockaway Park, Bristol in May 2021. A thorough examination of all parts of the now streamlined system was undertaken. This included new digital projection material, a new sphere, a re-engineered inflation system as well as an upgraded smoke delivery process. An invite only event was undertaken with residents of Rockaway Park to get feedback on their views of the "nee SUN" system. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | http://www.seethesun.org |
| Description | SUN at ASP Conference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Talk on SUN to public engagement parties at ASP Conference |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | SUN at Interact 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | SUN as part of the STFC/IOP Interact Symposium in Cardiff City Hall, Sept 2022 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | SUN at LIGHTPOOL, Blackpool Illuminations |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | SUN is a partnership between Prof. Robert Walsh and public artist, Alex Rinsler. SUN is a seven-metre diameter suspended projection sphere, presenting astrophysical data from NASA's Solar Dynamic Observatory in stunning 360° with additional smoke effects to mimic the sun's outer atmosphere. SUN displays 10 weeks in the life of our closest star in 12.5 minutes of real time. The continually revolving images reveal the Sun in extreme ultraviolet light, a part of the electromagnetic spectrum beyond human sight. The images make the sphere itself appear to rotate. Specialised image enhancement techniques highlight the finer details and texture of our solar neighbour, which would otherwise be lost. Cycling through different ranges of temperature from a cool 4500 degrees to an impossibly hot 10 million degrees, SUN reveals our star in a completely new light. SUN was premiered from 14th-26th October 2019 as part of the Lightpool Festival, Blackpool in the Olympia Space, Winter Gardens |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | SUN at LightUpLancaster |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | SUN is a partnership between Prof. Robert Walsh and public artist, Alex Rinsler. SUN is a seven-metre diameter suspended projection sphere, presenting astrophysical data from NASA's Solar Dynamic Observatory in stunning 360° with additional smoke effects to mimic the sun's outer atmosphere. SUN displays 10 weeks in the life of our closest star in 12.5 minutes of real time. The continually revolving images reveal the Sun in extreme ultraviolet light, a part of the electromagnetic spectrum beyond human sight. The images make the sphere itself appear to rotate. Specialised image enhancement techniques highlight the finer details and texture of our solar neighbour, which would otherwise be lost. Cycling through different ranges of temperature from a cool 4500 degrees to an impossibly hot 10 million degrees, SUN reveals our star in a completely new light. SUN was presented from 31st October -2nd November 2019 at the LightUpLancaster Festival, Lancaster. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | SUN at NAM2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | SUN installed at Warwick University as part of the National Astronomy Meeting 2022. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | SUN in Brussels |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | SUN installed in the Royal Museum for Central Africa, Brussels in April 2022. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | School trip (Alston Observatory: Westminster, Unity, Revoe) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | 90 pupils in three groups of 30 attended workshop at Alston Observatory. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | School trip (UCLan YSC: Westminster, Unity, Revoe) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | 90 pupils in three groupings attended day-long sessions at the UCLan-Ri Young Scientist Centre to take part in a workshop about the Solar System. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | School visit (Revoe) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Visit of Revoe Academy year 6 as part of the Fellowship activity. Two hour workshop/lesson on space weather. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | School visit (Unity Year 6) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Visit of Unity Academy year 6 as part of the Fellowship activity. Two hour workshop/lesson on space weather. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | School visit (Unity Year 7- two groups) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Two workshops held at Unity for Year 7 PIER group pupils support by Dr Shelia Kankani (RAS) - workshop entitled " How to be an astronaut". |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | School visit (Westminster Year 6) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Visit of Westminster Academy year 6 as part of the Fellowship activity. Two hour workshop/lesson on space weather. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Talk at STFC Advisory Panel For Public Engagement |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Talk, discussion and panel of STFC PE strategy for engagement with hard to reach, low science capital audiences. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://www.stfc.ac.uk/about-us/how-we-are-governed/advisory-boards-panels-committees/advisory-panel-... |