St. Peter's Primary Bray Blog

As part of the Discover Primary Science and Maths Award, our principal, Ms. Whyte, arranged for us to have a visit from the amazing SkyDome Academy in school back in March.  It was a cool way to learn about the Science and the Solar System.

SkyDome Academy operates a mobile planetarium throughout Ireland. A mobile planetarium gives adults and children a chance to interact with the planets, stars, galaxies and other objects in our universe. The SkyDome visits you which means everyone can experience the wonders of the cosmos without having to travel astronomical distances.

During the visit we did such things as explore the planets of the Solar System and the moons of those planets. We also –

• Saw our galaxy, the Milky Way, in all its glory.
• Got to grips with the scale of the planets, the stars and the universe.
• Saw the night sky as it appears from Ireland or any part of the world.
• Saw the constellations with perfect clarity.
• Understood astronomy concepts quickly in a visual manner.
• Made sense of the sky that you see every night.
• Were able to locate stars and planets in the night sky.
• Watched the moon, planets and stars rise, traverse the sky and set in seconds rather than hours.
• Saw the stars better than if you were in the darkest part of the Irish countryside with perfectly clear skies.
• Viewed the entire sky, not just a small section at a time.
• Saw the sky facing any point on the compass and directly above your head.
• Saw how the spinning Earth makes the night sky rotate above your head.
• Learned what parts of the sky are always visible and what parts are never visible from Ireland.
• Learned why some stars and constellations rise and set over Irish skies and others do not.

It was so cool. Their site can be visited here. We really recommend it!

Thanks to the Bray Lions Club for helping us to organise this visit!