STEP into the Cosmos
Professor Katherine Blundell OBE, Research Fellow in Astrophysics at St John’s, has launched STEP into the Cosmos, a free and internationally accessible scientific literacy web app.
STEP into the Cosmos uses astronomy to help build wider scientific literacy and critical thinking skills with regular content releases in multiple local languages. The material is designed to be both approachable and engaging for its users.
Professor Blundell has developed the content with a team that includes a teacher and a former student from South Africa, both of whom have been involved in Global Jet Watch engagement activities through the GJW-SA station. Thanks to the work by her, Liselihle Majodina, Linda Schomer, and Ntombi Majodina, there will be regular updates every month with new material on topics ranging from orbiting moons and planets to the shining gases of glorious galaxies.
The initial release is available in English and isiXhosa. It is planned to expand the number of languages available in STEP into the Cosmos to include Zulu, Kannada, Hindi, Spanish and Afrikaans.
Professor Blundell commented:
" Astronomy is for everyone! And, astronomy is a welcoming gateway into other sciences. We want to welcome in everyone and our contribution towards this is to translate our web app into different languages so people can enjoy engaging with science in their mother tongue. "
About Professor Blundell
Professor Blundell is a distinguished astrophysicist, known for her pioneering work on black holes, relativistic jets and radio astronomy. She is a passionate advocate for making astronomy accessible and for the importance of curiosity-driven science. In 2013 she founded the Global Jet Watch programme, a unique international network of telescopes, designed to monitor the universe continuously, overcoming the limitations of single-location observatories. By placing research-grade telescopes around the world – in locations now including the United States, Chile, South Africa, Australia, and India – the Global Jet Watch is able to observe activity in the dynamic night sky around the clock.
The Global Jet Watch embodies Professor Blundell’s commitment to bridging the gap between complex scientific research and public engagement with science. The programme collaborates closely with local communities and schools to give them hands-on experience in the observatory to learn about astronomy and scientific discovery.