Another group of students from the Cornwall Schools Astronomy Project (CSAP) visited La Palma to use the Jacobus Kapteyn Telescope (JKT) during August 2001.

Amanda Willmott (15) and Mary Williamson (16), who are in the final year of their GCSE Astronomy course, together with Lauren Willmott (12) who has just started the course, spent the preceding day using stellar catalogues and software to select well placed objects and associated guide stars. During the night of 7th August, they used various filters and took over 100 different CCD images of planetary nebulae, spiral galaxies, Comet Linear, Uranus and open clusters of stars and galaxies. By taking images of Uranus and its moons at the start and end of the night's run, they hope to be able to estimate the orbital periods of both the planet and the moons. The students were accompanied by course tutor Mike Willmott and his wife Maggie, who are both qualified teachers, and everyone was grateful for the immense amount of time and inspirational help given by Javier Méndez over these three days, and also from Joanna Holt for the night's observations.

Lauren Willmott at JKT control room	Amanda Willmott takes the first images
The schoolchildren at the WHT control room accompanied by support astronomers Joanna Holt and Javier Méndez	The same group as before but now with Maggie Willmott standing on the right

This is the second year that CSAP students and tutors have been able to visit the site to use the JKT, and the experience gained by them is greatly valued, and is due in no small part to the supportive atttitude of ING staff.

Mike Willmott
willmott@cvwidegates.freeserve.co.uk

Images

Comet C/2001 A2 (LINEAR) [ TIFF ]	Comet C/2001 A2 (LINEAR) [ TIFF ]	Open Cluster M29 or NGC 6913 [ TIFF ]
Open Cluster NGC 457 [ TIFF ]	Galaxy M74 or NGC 628 [ TIFF ]	Planetary Nebula NGC 6543, Cat's Eye [ TIFF ]
Galaxy NGC 7457 [ TIFF ]	Uranus [ TIFF ]