Comet 46P at primary school

A primary school student from St Mary's RC Primary School in Bridgend, UK, with an image of Comet 46P/Wirtanen. It was taken using the Faulkes Telescope in Australia, which was remotely controlled by the students from their classroom.

Students from schools across Europe are observing the comet and analysing the data as part of an effort coordinated by Helen Usher, a PhD student at the Open Universityand Cardiff University, working with the Faulkes Telescope Project in the UK.

The Faulkes Telescope Project makes use of a worldwide network of robotic telescopes, built and operated by Las Cumbres Observatory, including two 2-m telescopes in Hawaii and Australia, which can be used to observe in the night-time when students are at school during the day in Europe. In particular, the Faulkes Telescope North in Hawaii is equipped with a series of filters that were provided by ESA to study Comet 67P from the ground during the Rosetta mission, and are now being used to observe 46P.

A group photo of students at St Mary's RC Primary School studying the comet is available here.

Full story: December comet brings back Rosetta memories