Middle Ridge Elementary had their “Night under the Stars”. They were lucky as the weather gave a break in the icy cold snap that plagued us the last few days. We had 4 scopes at the ball field including the one of Chad Foster the organizing teacher of the school. Students and parents saw a variety of celestial objects such as Mars, the Ring Nebula, the Double Cluster, Alberio, the Pleades, the Andromeda Galaxy, and a globular cluster M15 and other like objects. A great evening for those that came out in the cold to learn more about “what’s up there” and those that showed it.
Clear Skies, Theo

The Garden Club wanted us to reach out with stargazing, or an inside program, for as group of their members, as they visited CEWC for a two day program. Unfortunately the skies were cloudy so we had to resort to an inside presentation. We showed them the same program we show their teens in the summer. We discussed what we see when we look at planets when they make their way through the Solar system on their way around the Sun, we showed them how we took Curiosity to Mars and what the effect of gravity is in space. Discussions about meteorites and asteroids completed the 1 3/4 hour program. Thanks to Frank and Theo for doing this event.
Clear Skies,
Theo

CEA went to the Science Night of the Title 1 Rocky Mount Elementary school in Newton county. Students and parents learned equally about the relative size of planets and stars, and were very impressed learning about NASA’s MSL Curiosity mission. They also learned how to inspect rocks to see if they potentially came from out of Space rather than our Earth rocks. I was impressed by how much younger students already knew about the solar system and Space. Great School! Please click on the image to go to the gallery.

Monday it went to Heard Mixon Elementary and because it was cloudy, we focussed on inside astronomy and took the students on a trip through the Solar System. They learned about gravity at different places in space and how Saturn appears to loose its rings twice when observed from Earth in its orbit going around the Sun. They learned about the different color of the belts on Jupiter as well as some features on Mars and how small and close to Mars the Marsian moons are. A great group of students with some very fine teachers! Click the image to go to the gallery of this event.

Frank and I went back to Flint Hill for the second day. Our program was basically the same as the first day however the skies were nicer and the Sun displayed some nicer details. The students saw a few small proms and some very nice filaments. Active regions were very much visible today. At the end of the two days, over 200 students learned a lot about our solar system and were able to get a good idea of what is happening at the Sun by observing it through our scopes. Please click the image below to link to the gallery.

Frank Garner and Theo Ramakers went to Flint Hill for the 4th grade Astronomy Days. The first day we made 1/2 hour presentations in the class room in which we took the students on a trip through the Solar System and showed close ups of the planets and explained to them what they were seeing. We also discussed the effect of gravity in those places. Outside they observed the Sun in visible light and Ha. Our relative size and distance activity concluded each class and the students went away having learned something they really did not know yet. Please click the image to link to some pictures from the event.

Our new outreach members Dan and Linda Thoman were our host for CEA’s Solar event at the Madison Chili Cook-off on Saturday. Almost 450 individulas did visit the cook-off not knowing that they would learn about the relative sizes and distances in the Solar system, and have a chance to look at the Sun showing some very nice features. A pyramid prom and hedgerow prom were visible as well as a nice filament. Some very interested people might show up at our next meeting and a few said they would visit the Hard Labor evening event. Thanks to Dan, Linda, Frank and Theo for making this a very favorite station at the Event.
Click the image to go to the gallery for more pictures.

The second day at the mountain. It was cloudy until after 3:00 P.M. However, by that time, several hundred visitors already learned, using our Scope On a Stick, how telescopes work, and they got a pretty good idea of the relative sizes of the Sun, Earth and the distance between them, by looking at the solar Pizza and hunting through a spotter scope for the little Earth 75 feet away. When the Sun came out the masses came by and loved to look of the Sun with the huge filaments, prominences and active regions, as well as the size and the number of Sun spots they saw. It was a great day to have about 750 visitors come by our station and learn about this. Thanks to Marie, Jim, Frank and Theo for attending what we first thought, based on the cloudy and rainy start, would be a slow event. Click the image to go to the gallery.

We did participate in this year’s Home School Day again at Stone Mountain Park. However, the weather was not good fot it. We intended to show the Sun, discuss and show how telescopes work and give a feel for the relative distances and sizes in the Solar System. Marie, Jim, Frank and Theo only were able to use the solar scopes a few times for very short periods of time. Despite this setback the 150 Students and parents were very impressed with what they learned while looking through our Sope On A Stick, and looking at a to scale Earth through a spotter scope that was located at the right relative distance in its orbit around the Sun. The bad weather kept some students and parents away, but those that came enjoyed our show and learned something while doing it. Click the image below for a few more pictures.

This event was scheduled with the intention to give the students a better insight into our Solar System and to let them observe our Sun. We tried for two days, but in the end Frank Garner and Theo Ramakers had to settle for an event without observing the Sun. However, the students were very much impressed with the program we presented. They flew with us through the Solar System, while we kept looking how gravity affects space travelers. They hunted for Asteroids, learned how to identify space rocks from earth rocks and how we slow down at reentry to land on a planet. Great students and great teachers!! Please click the image to go to the gallery for more.