A major success for the Rhein-Waal University of Applied Sciences’ Astronomy Club: the team of students from Kleve has been awarded 10,000 euros in the 2023 University Competition for their project idea for the ‘Astro Day’n Night Path’ astronomy trail. The competition is organised annually by Wissenschaft im Dialog (WiD) in cooperation with the Federal Association for University Communication and the German Rectors’ Conference, and is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research as part of the Year of Science.
The university’s Astronomy Club is made up of students from Kleve’s three faculties. The project is being carried out under the leadership of Michaela Schnappinger (on the right in the photo), Bateatey Achale (second from the left) and Ariana Sopaj (left, all students at the Faculty of Technology and Bionics). They are supported by Prof. Dr Alexander Struck.
Under the title ‘Astro Day’n’Night Path’, the project team is developing an adventure trail that makes the universe accessible in an interactive and playful way and can be explored both during the day and at night. Learning and information stations will be set up along the trail, providing information about planets, the starry sky and the universe. These will be complemented by various citizen science experiments that members of the public can carry out themselves whilst on the walk. Digital resources will also be available, such as videos explaining the experiments.
The team will discuss the exact location of the trail in Kleve with the city authorities over the coming weeks. At the same time, work is already underway on the first prototypes for the interactive stations. Ultimately, interested members of the public should be able to use the trail to determine the orbits of celestial bodies themselves, for example. However, the team is taking care to ensure the experience appeals equally to all visitors; the programme will therefore be multilingual, and every station will be accessible to all age groups. The “Astro Day’n Night Path” is expected to open next year.
