Can you paint the Northern Lights? Or write a short story about what happens in a solar storm? Space weather events like these can sometimes affect us on Earth, from interrupting our TV signals to creating beautiful views in the sky. We're inviting teams of young people to get creative and make some space weather artwork and write stories!
The competition is open to all young people across the UK in two age categories: 7-10 and 11-15 year olds. There are resources freely available to find out more about space weather topics and the wide variety of related careers.
Why take part
- It's a chance to combine scientific and artistic skills along with teamwork, whilst learning about natural phenomena and our place in the solar system.
- The top entries will win a bundle of prizes and the chance for their whole group/family/class to interact with space scientists, and a rare chance to see inside one of only three space weather forecasting facilities in the world.
How to take part
1. Make a team. For example teams can be groups of friends, your Girlguiding or Scouting unit, family members or school classmates and there is no limit on the number of people in a team. It could be a good idea to have a mix of people who enjoy science and art. If you don't have a team, we will also accept entries from individuals.
2. Choose your space weather topics. Watch our video playlist and have a look at some resources on the types of space weather and the effects it can have on Earth.
3. Get creative: choose to make something or write something. There will be one winning team for each category and for each age group (four prizes in total) and runners up.
- Make: a poster, drawing, painting, sculpture, cartoon strip or other artwork or craftwork. Be as imaginative as possible and use any materials you can find at home! If each member of the team makes something individually, a collage of all the art can be submitted.
- Write: a poem, short story, newspaper article, or script for a space weather forecast on TV, maximum 500 words.
4. Submit your entry online. An adult should complete the online submission form and upload your entry or a photograph of the artwork, before the deadline 5pm, Tuesday 27th October 2020.
Rules
- Entries must show at least one real type of space weather, but stories can either be fictional or based on true events.
- Entries will be judged on both the creativity and how well it shows the science.
- The competition has two age categories which will be judged separately: 7-10 years old and 11-15 years old (age at the time of closing of the competition). This is just a guideline and we expect there will be some teams of mixed ages, so in the submission form please select the age category that best represents your team.
- Terms and conditions.
Judges
We are delighted to have a panel of judges who are keenly involved in public engagement activities that bring their space weather and space science expertise to life.
- Lucie Green, Professor of Physics at the Mullard Space Science Laboratory. She studies the atmosphere of the Sun and is a science communicator, co-hosting TV shows including the BBC's Sky at Night programme.
- Helen Mason, Solar Scientist at the University of Cambridge. She researches the ultraviolet and X-ray spectra of the Sun. She leads the SunSpaceArt project, a team of scientists and artists who work with schools (upper primary, KS2, and lower secondary, KS3) funded by STFC.
- Geraint Jones, Professor of Planetary Science at the Mullard Space Science Laboratory. He researches how comets interact with the solar wind and he has produced Astrojots comic strips, which communicate science to the public through cartoons.
- Jackie Davies, Head of the Heliospheric Physics Group at RAL Space. She is the Project Scientist for the RAL Space-led Heliospheric Imager (HI) instruments on NASA’s STEREO mission, which image structures in the solar wind, such as Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) as they travel out through the inner solar system. Jackie is also the Consortium lead for the package of imaging instruments on ESA’s space-weather monitoring mission to the Lagrange L5 point, currently under development.
What is space weather?
Weather describes the day to day changes in the Earth's atmosphere, such as how hot or cold the air around us is. Space weather describes what happens much higher up and further away: in the upper atmosphere and out in space towards the Sun.
Sometimes the storms on the Sun can have an effect on the Earth's protective upper atmosphere and magnetic field. The Sun can release material into space, which can lead to power cuts on Earth or disrupt our satellites and telecommunications.
The biggest space weather event ever recorded is the Carrington Event of 1859, when a very fast stream of material travelled to Earth and weakened the magnetic field that normally protects us. Telegraph systems across Europe and North America stopped working and it created the brightest-ever auroras worldwide.
If a storm that big happened today, lots of items we use every day wouldn't work, including anything that relies on the internet or GPS – mobile phone apps, card payments, television – as well as power grids that supply our homes and schools. The radiation from a storm could also be a problem for astronauts and airline crews. We think it's important that people are aware of space weather and what the experts are doing to help keep us safe.
This November, people from across the world will get together at the online European Space Weather Symposium to talk about space weather. Scientists, engineers, satellite operators, power grid operators, people working in aviation and maritime, and space weather forecasters will discuss solutions to problems caused by space weather and ways to work together to reduce the impact of such events on our daily lives.
Image: Future space missions will look at space weather such Coronal Mass Ejections from the Sun. Credit: ESA/A. Baker, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
If you have any questions about the competition, please email the RAL Space Communications team.
