Slooh will livestream astronomy lesson for K-12 students during coronavirus outbreak – Space.com

Slooh astronomers will livestream a free astronomy lesson for K-12 students who are homebound during the coronavirus pandemic.

On Thursday (March 19), Slooh will livestream a free, 1-hour astronomy lesson and live telescope views from around the world. The webcast, which is geared toward K-12 students, will begin at 4:30 p.m. EDT (2030 GMT). You can watch it live on Slooh's YouTube channel, or stream it here on Space.com, courtesy of Slooh.

"Slooh is committed to bringing out the very best in students and all people," Russell Glenn, director of education for Slooh, said in an emailed statement. "We believe that space education is crucial in understanding and gaining perspective on the world around us."

Related: Free space projects for kids (and adults) stuck at home during the coronavirus outbreak

During the webcast, Glenn and Slooh astronomer Paul Cox will walk viewers through one of Slooh's starter quests, called Cosmic Explorer, which introduces students to the Slooh interface and offers a basic lesson on the sun, moon, galaxies, and the birth and death of stars. This livestream will also provide views of objects that are visible in the night sky.

"We want to help people to share in the wonder of space together as a community so that we can recognize our shared humanity," Glenn said. "We will be bringing as much content as possible during this challenging time. We see this great challenge as a great opportunity for students to own their learning and get excited about space."

The webcast will also provide views of space from Slooh's 10 online telescopes, including those situated at the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands, which makes daytime astronomy possible for students in the United States, Slooh officials said in a statement.

In addition to this free astronomy lesson, Slooh offers several paid membership options for students, teachers and parents to learn about space while they are homebound. Slooh community members can control Slooh's telescopes online, schedule missions, and select and work on different educational activities, called quests.

"When their mission is active, they can be observing and capturing images in real time," Glenn said in the email to Space.com. "Additionally, students can observe other missions planned by other members of the Slooh community and capture images of the objects that they are viewing."

Slooh also offers astronomy clubs for educators to engage students and citizens from home and explore space together via a network of online telescopes. This includes remote learning activities and support from Slooh's astronomy educators.

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