The Childrens School of Atlanta will be again at Charlie Elliott’s TODS program this coming Thursday October 13th, where we will do a solar session at noon and an evening program starting at 7:00 p.m. We are well staffed for the solar, but if you can spare the time, please let us know and come out to Charlie Elliott for this great group of students to let them experience the Universe.
Clear Skies,
Theo Ramakers

This coming Saturday October 8th we are scheduled for two events of the IOMN. Steve Phillips and Steve Siedentop are scheduled for 8:00 p.m. at the Starling Elementary School in Grayson, while Frank Garner and Theo Ramakers will setup in the Kroger Parking lot in Covington in front of Hibbett Sports around 6:00 p.m.. If you have time and would like to join them for this event, just come by with your scopes or binos, or just stop by.
Clear Skies,
Theo

Frank and Theo were ready for solar outreach for the Harbour Oaks Students, but when they drove south of the I-20 it became pretty quick clear that there was no sun on our side of the clouds. So the Solar event ended up being cancelled.
The evening program however went ahead in the Visitors Center. The students learned how scientists track asteroids and near earth objects, and did some research on this themselves. Than they became meteorite hunters and finally went on a ride through the Solar system. Than it went out to see all this in real time at the Jon wood Astronomy Field, but the clouds did not cooperate much. The older group who stayed a little longer, was able to see the Ring Nebula, a globular cluster and Jupiter with three moons. Overall, despite the clouds, an very rewarding evening.  Thanks to Steve Siedentop, Frank Garner and Theo Ramakers for making their time available for these students!

So far we are planning for two teams to let people in our area look at the Moon during the International Observe the Moon Night on October 8th. Steve Phillips is planning to setup behind the Starling Elementary school, 1725 Grayson Hwy (GA Hwy 20), Grayson, GA 30017, around 8:00 p.m., while Frank and Theo are planning again to setup around 6:00 p.m. in the Kroger parking lot in Covington as they did last year. However, we could use some help. Steve is in need of 1 – 2 additional persons with binos or telescopes for the Grayson event. Anyone interested in coming and help out in Covington is also welcome. Please send a short email to the Yahoo group if you find that you can help out. If someone wants to setup at an additional site, please let me know the location and we can ask for volunteers for your location.
Thanks for considering, and making this international event a great success!
Clear skies,
Theo

Wednesday we are at Charlie Elliott for solar outreach at 11:00 and in the evening at 6:30 for an inside presentation followed by a star party around 8:30 at the Jon Wood Field for the Harbour Oaks Montessori school. If you would like to come out, please bring your scope and join us.
Clear Skies,
Theo

This afternoon’s outreach event was the third year where we took scopes and presentations to the Astronomy club at Morgan County’s Middle School. Thirty studends attended and in addition the science class showed up. They all were fascinated by what they saw on the Sun, and what they learned about Mars and its moons. Very gratifying for us knowing that 60 interested students learned some more from us about our Solar system and our nearest Star.

Clear Skies,
Theo Ramakers

Tomorrow, September 23rd, we will be reaching out, for the third year in a row, to the Astronomy Club at Morgan County Middle School. If the sun will be out, we will let them look at our nearest Star, but in either case we will show and discuss a lot of objects in the solar system and inform them about some interesting NASA missions.
Clear skies,
Theo Ramakers

We did an Astronomy outreach event at George Walton Academy in Monroe. 55 Minute presentations to 3 highschool astronomy classes and a shorter presentation for a physics class. Using our tools we reviewed why we have seasons on earth, why sometimes we can see the rings on Saturn very big and sometimes we don’t see them at all, how to pick real meteorites out of a pile of rocks, and we also took a ride through the solar System and did visit a number of planets and their moons. The students learned why you cannot see the marsian moons from every location on Mars and why the two moons seem to travel in different directions. They also became very familiar with the Mars Lander Phoeninx, and learned about the Mars Scientific Labratory Curiosity which which is planned to be launched right after Thanksgiving. A great event for some very interested Students. Click here for some pictures of the event.

Thanks Frank and Theo for the event, and Mrs. Harrison for inviting us.
Clear skies,
Theo Ramakers

On Thursday, September 22, 2011, Dr. Ned Wright will present Exploring the Dark Side of the Solar System with WISE.

The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) Mission is a NASA-funded mission that is providing a vast storehouse of knowledge about the solar system, the Milky Way, and the Universe. Among the objects WISE is currently studying are asteroids, the coolest and dimmest stars, and the most luminous galaxies.

Dr. Ned Wright of University of California at Los Angeles is principal investigator for the WISE Mission. Ned grew up in Fairfax County, Virginia, on land once owned by George Washington. He built a 6 inch Newtonian telescope while in high school, and ground and polished the mirror himself.

To log into the Telecon on Thursday, September 22nd, between 8:45 – 9:00pm (Eastern Time):

Use the IYA toll-free conference call line: 1-888-455-9236

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 PowerPoint and other download links here:
http://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/download-view.cfm?Doc_ID=473
Hope to hear you on the call!
Clear Skies,
Theo Ramakers

Great Job!! Thanks Marie, Dan and Theo for working the outreach program for the Stone Mountain Middle School. We had planned some inside presentations as well as observing the sun through our solar scopes, but the clouds did not open up. So, the 400 6th grade students learned in the Media Center about our Sun and how NASA studies our nearest Star. They than went on a ride through the Solar system and took a much closer look at the planets and some it its moons. Great Students! Very good questions!!

Clear Skies,
Theo Ramakers