Latest version of the Cosmic Chatter - Tara Anglican School for Girls

Professor Katherine Blundell
From the Observatory
Last Saturday 4 th August 2012, the Space Odyssey Team had
the privilege of having Professor Katherine Blundell come
and speak to us. Professor Blundell is an astrophysicist at
the University of Oxford and initiated the Global Jet Watch
Program. During the meeting, Professor Blundell allowed us
to question her about astronomy and Tara’s involvement in
her program.
When asked why she went into astrophysics, Prof Blundell
answered that she had a love for maths and a love for
physics, the essential ingredients to becoming a keen
physicist. This prompted her to gain a degree in physics. She
then branched off into astrophysics. Professor Katherine Blundell
Currently mirror flaps are being installed on the telescope which can be controlled from the
computer. Computer connectivity infrastructure provided by Sophos allows for the computer in the
Tara dome to sync with Professor Blundell’s computer in Oxford. This will be extremely convenient
when data collection begins. Professor Blundell stated that the interface and all the software would
remain exactly the same.
When asked when we could anticipate the collection of Global Jet Watch data, Professor Blundell
answered that we could start collecting data as soon as we were ready to. Currently students in the
other countries where the telescopes are located – Chile, India, and South Africa – are also more or
less starting to make use of their telescopes, gaining knowledge, and taking images.
When we begin to collect data we will be taking images and making photometric measurements.
Professor Blundell explained that with all four telescopes in different parts of the world, it can be
ensured that there will always be at least one telescope in darkness allowing constant imaging and
data collection.
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