News Luna Spearheads ORBYTS Astrophysics Research Collaboration with UCL 12.05.2026

Congratulation to Luna, Year 11, who has set up the initiative to work on a research project with a PhD Astrophysics student from UCL. Here Luna tells us about the project:

‘After learning about the incredible opportunity offered by ORBYTS and University College London (UCL), I decided that I wanted to become involved. As a result, I have been corresponding with Dr William Dunn from UCL since December 2024 to organise for ORBYTS to come to Godolphin and Latymer, and at the beginning of this academic year the club officially began.

‘Our group consists of three Year 11 students (including myself) and ten Year 12 students, working with Ben Wakefield, a PhD Astrophysics student from UCL. We are currently learning Python in order to create magnetic field vector maps from raw telescope data collected in Hawaii. Furthermore, we are also working towards presenting our progress at the ORBYTS conference where we will showcase our contributions to Ben’s research into magnetic fields in star-forming regions, such as Serpens South, DR21, NGC 6334, and Rho Ophiuchi A, and the interactions within them.

‘In the future, I would love to pursue research in Physics or Chemistry so being able to work directly with raw scientific data and apply my computer science skills in a real research environment has been both rewarding and inspiring. Additionally, learning the astrophysical background behind the project has been fascinating since it has allowed us to explore concepts beyond the scope of our school physics lessons.’

This has been an invaluable experience for all of the girls involved and Luna’s role in spearheading and organising the project has been truly impressive.