Announcement

Catch a Star 2018 Contest Winners Announced

31 January 2019

The winners of the Catch a Star 2018 Contest have been announced. Each winner will receive a mounted image featuring ESO telescopes in Chile, courtesy of ESO, such as the awe-inspiring Whirling Southern Star Trails over ALMA. Additionally, the European Association for Astronomy Education is providing the top 2 winners and the new special category winners with the unique opportunity to hold a video conference with a professional astronomer.

The prizes were awarded as follows:

First prize: “Detecting the exoplanet HD189733b” by Carl-Fuhlrott-Gymnasium Wuppertal/Germany

Second prize: “Cosmic rays” by Specialised Language High School "N.Y. Vaptsarov", Shumen, Bulgaria

Third prize: “Low Cost Astrobiology Studies” by Colegio Huerta de la Cruz, Cádiz, Spain

Fourth prize: “Calculations of the energy escaping from a black hole” by Evangelisches Gymnasium, Lippstadt, Germany

Fifth prize: “The 13th constellation Ophiuchus” by Skrundas Secondary School, Latvia

Special category winner (students up to 15 years old): “Sidereus Nuncius, a way to start astronomy in early ages” by Colegio Huerta de la Cruz, Cádiz, Spain

A detailed list of the winners can be found on the Catch a Star website.

School students from around the world were invited to take part in the European astronomical writing contest Catch a Star 2018. To participate, students had to submit a written report on an astronomical topic of their choice — for example, an astronomical object, phenomenon, observation, scientific problem or theory.

The Catch a Star contest is organised jointly by the European Association for Astronomy Education and ESO. Its aim is to encourage creativity and independent work amongst students, and to strengthen and expand their astronomical knowledge and skills.