The Charlie Elliott chapter will participate in JAKES Day at Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center this Saturday May 12th. Come and join us and the others at this event, which wille held around the Discovery building. The weather seems perfect to take a look at the sun and learn some more about astronomy.
Clear Skies,
Theo Ramakers

Join us for a teleconference on Wednesday, May 9th to learn all about Our Magnetic Sun with solar scientist and engaging presenter Dr. Bryan Mendez. This summer promises plenty of solar viewing opportunities. Be sure to be armed with sunscreen and solar trivia. And get ready for the newest Outreach ToolKit, Our Magnetic Sun, to be released the same week!
To join the Teleconference on Wednesday, May 9th at 9:00 pm Eastern call the toll-free conference call line: 1-888-455-9236
Call anytime after 8:45 pm the evening of the telecon. An operator will answer and:
- You will be asked for the passcode: NIGHT SKY NETWORK
- You will be asked to give your NAME and the CLUB you belong to, and number of people listening with you.
Find the presentation slides online here or download them here.
Clear skies,
Theo Ramakers

Frank and I spend a long day yesterday moving/delivering our large scopes to their new babysitters. Our webpage will soon reflect who is babysitting them. In addition, we now have the 16″ EQ in the trailer. This mount is in working condition and now can be moved easily to the Jon Wood Field for observing. The 12″ Optical Craftsman that was occupying the trailer up to now is in need of repair. The electronics started smoking a long time ago. So now we have the equipment ready for some more afternoon activity at the field as has been suggested by some of the newer members. We were happy to get ready for that.
Here is our Babysitter page on the web.

A beautiful day today for our outreach event for Trickum Middle School. We did a presentation about the launch and entry/descent/landing of Mars Science Laboratory’s Rover “Curiosity” for Mr. Patterson’s 6th graders, and in the class room we also took them on a trip to Mars, where they could observe the conditions and topography of the planet. In addition they got the opportunity to observe the sun with some nice prominences, sunspots and filaments. A few other classes took the opportunity to stop by to observe the sun as well as did some of the other teachers and administrative personell. Thanks to Frank and Theo, but mostly to Valorie Whalen, who participated today and learned very quick how to help out!! Thanks a thousand Valorie!

Yesterday, Charlie Elliott chapter members went to Scott Elementary in Atlanta for their first KITES Stem Festival.  Marie, Dan and Theo showed over 120 students the sun with a few prominences and some nice  filaments.  Theo did a presentation about the MSL mission, including how the rover Curiosity was launched and will land on Mars in August of this year.  Click the picture to take a look at the gallery.

Clear skies,
Theo

A great event today at East Newton Elementary. 85 fourth grade students learned a little more about the solar system and space weather. They took a closeup look at Mars and its topography and learned what happens if the gravity on a marsian moon is very small. They also learned the different phases of a rocket launch and how NASA lands a mobil laboratory on Mars. Last but not least they took a look at the sun through an H-alpha scope and a white light scope and saw a beautiful prominence and sunspots. Click the picture to look at the gallery

A great meeting last Saturday with the feature presentation “The Mass of Super-Massive Black Holes” presented by chapter member Annette Michel, followed by Steve Phillips “This Month’s Sky, for April 2012″. Thanks to both of them for the effort that went into them. Cloudy weather prevented the observing session after the meeting, but a makeup session has already been scheduled for next Saturday.Click here for some pictures. (The links might show errors until the respective documents have been uploaded)

Frank and Theo from the Charlie Elliott Chapter went to McConnell Middle School in Grayson on 2012-04-16 for a solar program and a presentation about Mars and how Curiosity was launched and will land on Mars. The three 6th grade classes of Mrs Sandidge were very interested and learned about the topography of Mars and about its moons. They also came up with a number of items how the trip to Mars could be improved!! If it would not have been cloudy we would have observed the largest solar flare in years, but clouds made us to postpone the solar observing until another time.

The Atlanta Kate’s Club came to Charlie Elliott for activities, and we did participate whith showing the kids the sun and the moon, while we teached them something about them. 85 Kids and adults took the chance to see both the sun and the moon. They also got a good feel for the relative sizes of both and the distance from Earth to the sun. Click the picture to see the gallery.

65 students and parents from East Newton Elementary attended our Starparty for these students. Smart and eager to learn more…. They saw 4 planets with some of their moons, Orion’s nebula, some double stars, star clusters and other galaxies. Thanks to Mrs. Thompson to bring the school out to Charlie Elliott and to Frank Garner, John Town, Jeff Rebitzke, Steve Phillips, Annette and Piere Michel and Theo for coming out and letting these kids experience the Universe over CE. Click the picture to see the gallery.