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Armed with a passion for science and several large telescopes the Aspire to Astronomy team will be travelling the Pilbara over the coming fortnight introducing high school students to exciting careers in Astronomy and holding community observing nights.

On the celestial menu will be the gas giant planet of Saturn, the Orion Nebula, the Jewel Box star cluster, globular cluster Omega Centauri and a host of other night sky wonders.

The tour will also include special presentations on the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) and Australia's bid for this $2 billion global science project, that will build the world's largest and most sensitive radio telescope.

Aspire to Astronomy has been brought to the Pilbara by The University of Western Australia, the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research, SPICE and Scitech, working in partnership with the local high schools.

The event is part of Aspire UWA , an on-going program to encourage students from communities under-represented in higher education to aspire to university study.  It is funded by the Federal Government's Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations and The University of Western Australia.

Aspire UWA is a partnership between the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences; the School of Indigenous Studies; and Student Services at UWA.

Aspire to Astronomy community observing nights will be held in:

• Port Hedland on Monday 16 May
• Karratha on Wednesday 18 May
• Roebourne on Thursday 19 May
• Tom Price on Monday 23 May
• Newman on Wednesday 25 May.

Media references

Louise Pollard (Aspire UWA)  (+61 8)  6488 3646  /  (+61 4) 12 267 148
Janine MacDonald (UWA Public Affairs)  (+61 8)  6488 5563  /  (+61 4) 32 637 716