Royal Observatory Greenwich

Y11 GCSE Astronomers enjoyed a fantasic winter solstice trip to zero degrees longitude at the end of term.


We had a guided tour of the Universe, met young professional astronomers and learnt how to analyse exoplanet data. Of course we also visited the shop!


We were dazzled at the 18th century Harrison timepieces that ensured sailors could calculate their longitude and keep on track. Greenwich has had a pivotal role in the foundation of modern astronomy.

We finished the day with a magical double rainbow across the skies of London - reminding us that physics and astronomy really do dazzle our minds.

Happy Birthday Hubble

The Hubble Space Telescope has inspired many of us to learn more about the Universe here at Nonsuch. Today we celebrate 28 years of viewing the heavens.


The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990. Hubble is one of the largest and most versatile space telescopes, and is regarded as a vital research tool and a public relations boon for astronomy. The HST is named after the astronomer Edwin Hubble, and is one of NASA's Great Observatories.





Ms Halliwell's favourite image is the Hubble Deep Field (HDF) is an image of a small region in the constellation Ursa Major, constructed from a series of observations by the Hubble Space Telescope. It covers an area about 2.6 arcminutes on a side, about one 24-millionth of the whole sky, which is equivalent in angular size to a tennis ball at a distance of 100 metres. The image was assembled from 342 separate exposures taken with the Space Telescope's Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 over ten consecutive days between December 18 and December 28, 1995.


What is your favourite Hubble image?

Sun in our eyes

Students were delighted to meet Professor Lucie Green when she visited Nonsuch High School for Girls to speak to Ewell Astronomical Society.


Prof Green is solar researcher and since 2005 Green has been a Royal Society University Research Fellow at Mullard Space Science Laboratory (MSSL) of the University College London (UCL), based in the Surrey hills.


Many thanks to Ewell Astronomical Society for organizing the event. We look forward to attending further lectures.


For full details of the activities of the society visit http://www.ewellastro.org/ 

Gene Cernan R. I. P.

Eugene A. Cernan, NASA Astronaut (former)

Captain Cernan was the second American to have walked in space having spanned the circumference of the world twice in a little more than 2-1/2 hours. He was one of the two men to have flown to the Moon on two occasions, and as commander of the last mission to the Moon, Apollo 17, had the privilege and distinction of being the last man to have left his footprints on the surface of the moon.


As our students complete their coursework, we remember Gene and reflect on 'the right stuff'.



Apollo 17 - the last mission to the Moon.


Apollo 17 was a landmark mission for another reason. It represented the first flight of a trained scientist to the Moon. Harrison "Jack" Schmitt, a geologist, was the first U.S. scientist in space.


The astronauts departed the Moon on December 14, 1972 and returned to Earth on December 1972.