Rushden junior sea cadets spend an evening with the stars

A group of junior sea cadets from Rushden spent an evening with the stars and planets, learning about the night sky and taking in some amazing views.

The group were visited by the UK Astronomy Events team – a national charity based in Milton Keynes that specialises in delivering astronomy outreach events to the public.

This was their first official event since lockdown restrictions were lifted and the cadets were lucky enough to be the first to see the charity’s brand new AstroVan – designed to make it easier to travel further and introduce more people to the night sky.

After a fascinating talk on the solar system, they were able to go outside and see the planets for themselves, using the charity’s telescopes.

They were lucky enough to see the cloud bands of Jupiter and the four main Jovian Moons, but the star of the show was most definitely Saturn – they could not contain their excitement when they first saw the detailed ring structures around the most visually impressive planet in our neighbourhood.

One of the cadets even managed to get a wonderful photograph of Jupiter and its four moons using his mobile phone, taken through the eyepiece of the telescope.

The Sea Cadets is part of the national Marine Society and Sea Cadets Charity - a youth organisation that provides a wide range of fun activities to more than 15,000 youngsters between the age of 10 and 18, at almost 400 locations throughout the UK.

Sea cadets get involved in fun and challenging activities, such as sailing, wind-surfing, rowing and power boating, they also learn about aviation, cyber security and catering, and all of this while gaining confidence and learning skills for life.

To learn more about Rushden Sea Cadets click here or find them on Facebook @SeaCadetsRushden

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