Five-star course sees students look to the sky!

Photo: Mark Catto (far right) with some of the students who attended the Astronomy and Astrophotography Community Course.
 

A new online Community Evening Class has just ended with five-star reviews from the students who attended. The Astronomy and Astrophotography course, run by lecturer Mark Catto, saw the students meeting weekly online, then in person for a final in-person session.

Covering all aspects of the solar system, planets, moons, comets, the sun, the galaxy and the universe, the course was an introduction for those who wanted to be able to identify celestial objects and their position in the sky, and understand more about the galaxy we live in.

Also covered in the course was how to take amazing photographs of the planets and what equipment you can use to do this.

As a bonus, students were invited into College to look at the telescopes and cameras that Mark owns and uses. The course ended with a question-and-answer session.
 

Lecturer Mark Catto commented:

“As Astronomy is a passionate hobby for myself, it was great to share my knowledge and experience with like-minded people. The course was a great start for anyone wanting to begin to understand our solar system and the universe, and the participants showed great enthusiasm in the subject areas. I look forward to running similar courses in the future.”

On completion of the course, the students filled in an evaluation and the comments were very positive, with students saying:

“Mark is really enthusiastic about the topic and this came across.”

“I felt very comfortable and at ease. The subject area could easily have become too technical, and was not looking forward to that… needn’t have [worried].”

Mark intends to run more Astronomy and Astrophotography courses in the future. To ensure you hear about all of the Borders College Community Courses, please sign up to their eNewsletter at https://www.borderscollege.ac.uk/community .