talkmagic.co.uk

SLOOH is an organisation that runs telescopes in the Canary Islands, Chile, and Australia. The exciting thing is that you can join in their missions looking at the sky in real time over the internet.

The SLOOH "editors" organise regular missions to view the most popular and spectacular things in the sky. But you can also book a five-minute slot to run your own mission and look at whatever you want, taking full command of the telescope for that time. You can also be a passenger on another member's mission.

You have to sign up, and there is a cost, but you only actually pay for time on the telescopes.

BUT WAIT! THERE'S EVEN BETTER NEWS. (For those in the UK, anyway.)

Go to the Freebie Gifts website, select "Kids' CDs and DVDs", and scroll to the bottom of that section. You should find a DVD called Explore Space Live for £1.99 + VAT. This is actually a full starter pack for SLOOH, including 200 minutes of telescope time and a beginner's mission book featuring 14 of the best things to look at.

There's no telling how many of these packs Freebie Gifts has available, so I'd advise grabbing one while the getting is good.

Thanks Robbie. I might get one of these for my son.

Bradford used to have a robotic telescope on the moors somwehere near the city. You could join the website and program the telescope to take a pic of wherever you wanted in the sky. There was always a bit of a queue, but it was great fun to do. I think the service died off a few years ago though. Shame.

Oooh, shiny!

The real thing is always better than looking at a planetarium program, and let's not forget that astronomy is one science where amateurs still make regular and significant contributions.

Tomo wrote:Oooh, shiny!

The real thing is always better than looking at a planetarium program, and let's not forget that astronomy is one science where amateurs still make regular and significant contributions.

But you love the plane...arium!

Gary Dickson wrote:But you love the plane...arium!

Real planetariums are immensely cool places.

But you love the plane...arium!

To not be at the plane...arium causes you great pain.

Tomo wrote:Let's not forget that astronomy is one science where amateurs still make regular and significant contributions.

Indeed, a classic example being our own Patrick Moore!