Skip to main content

What's hiding above us?

Look to the skies, what can you see? Is it a planet, is it a star or perhaps the International Space Station? Explore the skies above us.

Back to Activities

You’ll need

  • Compass
  • Clipboards
  • A4 paper
  • Pens or pencils
  • Red light torches
  • Printed star maps or astronomy apps
  • Blank paper – log sheets
  • Spare warm clothing or blankets

Before you begin 

  • Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. There's also more guidance to help you carry out your risk assessment, including examples.
  • Make sure all young people and adults involved in the activity know how to take part safely.
  • Make sure you’ll have enough adult helpers. You may need some parents and carers to help. 

Planning and setting up the activity

  • Make sure that the young people are briefed in advance about appropriate clothing for the activity.
  • Download any apps that could help to improve the experience. 
  • Prepare any materials beforehand, including printing any resources you will need. 
  • Choose a suitable location that has minimal light pollution so that visibility is as clear as possible.
  • Check the weather forecast ahead of time, paying particular attention to cloud cover.
  • Research what will be visible in the night sky on the date of your activity.

Running the activity  

Opening challenge (10 minutes) 

  1. Start in a darkened area with minimal light pollution. 
  2. Ask everyone to silently look at the sky for 60 seconds. Explain that: 
    • Keeping things as quiet as possible can help everyone enjoy the atmosphere and focus on what they can see.
    • Eyes take around 20 minutes to fully adjust to darkness -  so the longer the look the more they will see.
  1. Ask these four questions: 
    • How many “stars” do you think you can see right now?
    • Would this number change back in our village, town or city?
    • Why?
    • Are they all stars that you can see?

  1. This can lead into a short discussion. You could break into smaller groups, depending on the number of young people taking part. You could discuss:

    • Light pollution which is artificial light that makes the night sky brighter. Street lights, buildings and LEDs all reduce visibility of stars.
    • You may have seen some planets from our own solar system such as Venus, Mercury, Mars or Saturn – all of which can be visible with the naked eye.

Naked eye astronomy hunt (15 minutes) 

  1. Split into smaller groups and give them a challenge sheet on a clipboard. This could be to: 
    • Find the brightest object in the sky 
    • Find something that does not twinkle 
    • Find a group of stars that are forming a pattern 
    • Can you find North using the stars? 
  1. Here's some discussion points you could use during the hunt:
    • Stars twinkle because of Earth’s atmosphere. 
    • Planets will usually shine steadily because they appear as discs rather than points of light.
    • At the right time you may see the red glow of Mars. 
  1. Help the young people to find some of the following: 
    • A visible planet
    • A bright star such as Sirius
    • A constellation, such as the Plough (Big Dipper), Orion or the zodiac constellations
    • The Milky Way
    • The International Space Station 

Planet or star? - Interactive game  (5 minutes) 

  1. Point to different objects in the sky and ask the young people to vote whether they think it's a planet. star or something else.
  2. Reveal the answer and give a fact such as:
    • Venus is often called the “Evening Star”.
    • Jupiter’s light can travel hundreds of millions of miles to reach us.
    • Polaris helps to determine North. 

Navigation connection  (5 minutes) 

  1. Talk about how people have historically used the stars for navigation. Explain that before GPS, sailors and explorers relied on the night sky to guide their journeys. You could introduce Polaris (the North Star), which helps to indicate north, and discuss how people in the Southern Hemisphere used different star patterns to find their direction.
  2. Ask groups the question 'Would you trust the night sky and stars to help you travel?' 
  3. Encourage them to share their thoughts and reasons with the group.

Wrap up  (2 minutes) 

  1. Explain that the stars visible tonight are only a small fraction of what is actually above us. Encourage young people to continue exploring the night sky in their own time by trying stargazing in different locations.
  2. Suggest that they compare what they can see in urban areas with rural locations, where there is less light pollution. You could also encourage them to use stargazing or sky map apps to help them identify stars, planets, and constellations.

Reflection

Take some time to reflect on the activity and think about light pollution. Ask everyone to imagine what the sky would have looked like to our ancestors before cities and electricity.

Some discussion topics could then be:

  • What might future generations miss if light pollution increases? 
  • Why does darkness matter for humans and wildlife?
  • Should towns and cities reduce light? What are the pros and cons to this?

Safety

All activities must be safely managed. You must complete a thorough risk assessment and take appropriate steps to reduce risk. Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Always get approval for the activity, and have suitable supervision and an InTouch process.

You must run your activities in line with the Safeguarding Code of Conduct for Adults (Yellow Card) and report any concerns to the UK HQ Safeguarding Team.

Outdoor activities

You must have permission to use the location. Always check the weather forecast, and inform parents and carers of any change in venue.

Visits away from your meeting place

Complete a thorough risk assessment and include hazards, such as roads, woodland, plants, animals, and bodies of water (for example, rivers, ponds, lakes, and seas). You’ll probably need more adult helpers than usual. Your risk assessment should include how many adults you need. The young people to adult ratios are a minimum requirement. When you do your risk assessment, you might decide that you need more adults than the ratio specifies. Think about extra equipment that you may need to take with you, such as high visibility clothing, a first aid kit, water, and waterproofs. Throughout the activity, watch out for changes in the weather and do regular headcounts. 

Online safety

Supervise young people when they’re online and give them advice about staying safe. Take a look at our online safety or bullying guidance. The NSPCC offers more advice and guidance, too. If you want to know more about specific social networks and games, Childnet has information and safety tips for apps. You can also report anything that’s worried you online to the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Command. As always, if you’ve got concerns about a young person’s welfare, including their online experiences, follow the Yellow Card to make a report.

  • To make it easier use constellations maps to help find things from the very start.
  • To make it harder, try some extension activities and more advance ideas such as telescope station, night photography, constellation mythology challenge, night hike using stars for direction, or satellite/ISS tracking.

Make it accessible

All Scout activities should be inclusive and accessible.

Explorers Space Activity badge