Description :

After a brief his­tor­i­cal review, the basic prin­ci­ples of tele­scopes will be explained. Students will have the oppor­tu­ni­ty to observe objects them­selves through tele­scopes used by ama­teur astronomers. We will then dis­cuss tele­scopes used by pro­fes­sion­als: on Earth we will talk about obser­va­to­ries, in space about space tele­scopes, such as the JAMES WEBB which was launched on 25 December 2021. The pre­ci­sion of the images they col­lect is such that they allow, among oth­er things, a bet­ter under­stand­ing of the dis­tant ori­gins of the Universe and the search for pos­si­ble traces of life on exo­plan­ets (plan­ets in orbit around stars oth­er than the Sun).

Public: 5^th pri­ma­ry to 6^th sec­ondary

Duration: 60 min­utes

Objectives: To explain in a sim­ple way the basic prin­ci­ples of tele­scopes used by both ama­teur and pro­fes­sion­al astronomers. We will also review the main objec­tives of the JAMES WEBB tele­scope that was recent­ly launched into space. This tele­scope should allow us to bet­ter under­stand the ori­gins of the uni­verse and the for­ma­tion of galax­ies and their evo­lu­tion. It should also clar­i­fy the con­di­tions for the appear­ance of life in solar sys­tems oth­er than our own.

Activity pro­posed by UTAN-CAA (Université Tous Ages Namur — Club des Amateurs d’Astronomie)