National Schools' Observatory

General information

Established by Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) the National Schools' Observatory (NSO) enables schools in the UK and Ireland to request their own observations alongside professional astronomers with the world's largest fully-robotic telescope, the Liverpool Telescope. Free access to the Liverpool Telescope as well as free web-based educational resources help with the challenging task of teaching science, technology and mathematics in the classroom environment.

The Liverpool Telescope was built by LJMU and is one of the world's largest robotically controlled telescopes. It helps scientists study the heavens and increase our understanding of how the universe works. The Liverpool Telescope is sited in the Canary Isles on a remote island called La Palma. This island is home to quite a number of telescopes and used by astronomers from many countries including the UK.The University has specially reserved observing time on the Liverpool Telescope for UK schools to use for free, making it possible for young people to study some of the amazing things that can be seen in the night sky for themselves.